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I'd say that the theme song is something to do with it, but also in the way George Martin uses it as his main theme for the movie. He uses it more than the Bond theme.
Actually, I do like that score, very much. But here's the thing. Barry, for me at least, always served five-star dishes, whereas most of the others cooked awesome street food at best. LALD is good street food, the kind that serves its film well and is fun to listen to in isolation. But nothing compares to Barry for me, and that includes the likes of OP, FRWL, GF, ... Barry's choice of instruments, his killer tunes, his understanding of how to make music "sexy", his creative blending of the theme songs with the rest of the score, those heavenly strings, ... and on top of everything else: how he manages to readily communicate the exotic flavours of foreign countries Bond visits. I feel like I'm in Instanbul in FRWL, and the Orient Express takes me deeper into Europe along with Barry's subtle musical details. The incorporation of DN's score was not Barry's doing. Overusing the Bond Theme wasn't Barry's choice either.
Listen to the DN score. Then plug in FRWL: the difference is huge, like grabbing a candy bar first and going to London's top restaurant next, where we're staying for a very long time. Then, having listened to DAF, plug in LALD next. The drop in quality is huge!
But, as usual, this is just a matter of taste, of course. ;-)
That being said, I think Martin brings in a lot of that cultural flavour (Harlem, the Carribean) into LALD and it works fantastically well even though it's not in the same style as Barry's work either side of it.
I actually really like the way it's arranged in Moonraker too. That's my own favorite take on the theme. You're right, the 007 theme does have a classically Western feel to it. It's upbeat with a bit of a skip in its stride. The slower tempo of the Moonraker version does make it sound less like music for a Western. It fits well with the rest of Moonraker's more expansive and lavish approach. It's breezy yet confident (and now I sound like a makeup commercial).
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
Music composed by
JOHN BARRY
Another score that proves to be considerably more popular than the film it was made for, DAF collected one silver medal, one 4th place and four 5th places.
Eight more top 10's were received. One bottom 5 was noted as well, a single 22nd place.
The original music of DAF was awarded 142 points in total.
You've said it perfectly @Some_Kind_Of_Hero. My #5.
After that it became significantly harder to choose between GF, DAF, LALD and MR for the next best scores.
GF, while certainly the most iconic Bond score ever released, ended at #7. I love that soundtrack but it’s one I cannot listen to without visualizing the movie that accompanies it, much like TMWTGG which ended at #8.
For me a truly outstanding score is one that is able to ‘stand on its own’ which is exactly what DAF and LALD achieve.
Biggest challenge was to decide which of them to place at #4 and while I ended up giving that honor to LALD since it’s a score I revisit more often, DAF could be actually tied for that position as I equally adore it.
Both are the most eclectic scores in the series while also having superb arrangements, which is something I think people don’t give Martin’s LALD enough credit for.
Having great melodies is one thing, but it’s what you build around them that creates timeless magic and that is why Barry and Martin are leagues above everyone else that followed.
John Barry produces one of his great space cues "007 And Counting" with that beautiful twinkling diamond motif. This track is often sampled by bands doing chillout and ambient music.
Nah, I'm not angry. ;-) More like this:
;-)
And the intrigue around LALD's placement is getting hot! Can it outlast a couple more Barry scores (AVTAK, TB?) and sneak into the top 5?
I'm kind of disappointed that the top ten basically just turned into a Barry fest, to be honest. Obviously he's the best composer of the franchise but a lot of great scores have been sidelined in favor of some of his weakest.
You're gonna be so surprised, I'm sure.
LIVE AND LET DIE
Music composed by
GEORGE MARTIN
Now, LALD ended up as someone's favourite, so that's one gold medal to Martin. In addition to that, LALD also received one bronze medal, one 4th place and two fifth places.
LALD obtained nine more top 10's, of which four were 10th places. One bottom 5 was noted, a single 24th place.
The original music for LALD collected 146 points.
George Martin is the only composer with all of his scores in the top 10, although with only one score I realise that's not the most useful of statistics.
I see that Martin was also nominated for a Grammy in the category Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special. Give that the McCartney's are also mentioned here, I'm not quite sure whether it was for the score or the song however.