The Best of Bond... James Bond | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album from the James Bond films by various artists | |
Released | 1992 |
Recorded | 1962–1989 |
Genre | Soundtrack |
Length | 58:17 |
Label | Capitol, MGM Music |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | 1992 |
AllMusic | 2002 |
AllMusic | 2008 |
The Best of Bond... James Bond is the title of various compilation albums of music used in the James Bond films made by Eon Productions up to that time. The album was originally released in 1992 as The Best of James Bond, as a one-disc compilation and a two-disc 30th Anniversary Limited Edition compilation with songs that had, at that point, never been released to the public. The single disc compilation was later updated five times in 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, and 2021. [1] The 2008 version was augmented with the addition of a DVD featuring music videos and a documentary. Another two-disc edition, this time containing 50 tracks for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, was released in 2012. [2]
The 30th Anniversary Collection of The Best of James Bond was released in 1992. It featured 19 tracks including 16 title songs for the 16 films that had thus far been released.
A limited 2-disc edition, released in the US only, reshuffles the tracks, sorting chronologically the 16 title songs on disc 1, the three remaining tracks appearing on disc 2. It also includes four tracks that were originally missing from Goldfinger's soundtrack (US release), although these four were included in the remastered soundtrack for Goldfinger in 2003 and appeared on the British LP in the 1960s. The "Thunderball Suite", was likewise not released on the Thunderball soundtrack until it was split up and used on the remastered release in 2003, along with extra unreleased music.
Two rare additions were also made to the second disc. The first is the original version of "Goldfinger" sung by Anthony Newley who also wrote the song in collaboration with the film's composer, John Barry. Newley's jazz version was, however, replaced by Shirley Bassey's version in 1964 for the film and for release on the album. Newley's version was first released with the 30th Anniversary Collection. The second rare addition is Shirley Bassey's version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" for Thunderball. Bassey had originally recorded the vocals for the track which initially was to be used as the main title theme; however, the song was replaced by Tom Jones' "Thunderball" after a decision by the producers that the title theme should feature the name of the film. Dionne Warwick was subsequently chosen to rerecord "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", but even her version wasn't released on the Thunderball soundtrack till the 1990s.
Released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series, the 2012 release eschews the gun barrel sequence that served as the cover motif so far to instead feature the "Golden Girl" from Goldfinger . It was released in two versions, a two-disc edition with 50 tracks, and a single-disc edition with only the first CD, comprising 23 tracks. [3]
Released to coincide with the release of No Time to Die , the packaging reverts back to the gun barrel design and it was released on 2-disc CD and 3-disc Vinyl.
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists in Britain.
John Barry Prendergast was a British composer and conductor of film music.
Ian Fleming Publications is the production company formerly known as both Glidrose Productions Limited and Glidrose Publications Limited, named after its founders John Gliddon and Norman Rose. In 1952, author Ian Fleming bought it after completing his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale; he assigned most of his rights in Casino Royale, and the works which followed it to Glidrose.
Since its inception in 1962, the James Bond film series from Eon Productions has featured many musical compositions, many of which are now considered classic pieces of British film music. The best known piece is the "James Bond Theme" composed by Monty Norman. Other instrumentals, such as "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and various songs performed by British or American artists such as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger", Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice", Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die", Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only", Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill", Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" also become identified with the series.
The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since Dr. No, released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman, the piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in every Eon Bond film besides the 2006 reboot Casino Royale.
Peter Curtis Lamont was a British set decorator, art director, and production designer most noted for his collaborations with filmmaker James Cameron, and for working on eighteen James Bond films, from Goldfinger (1964) to Casino Royale (2006). The only Bond film that he did not work on during that period was Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), as he was working on Cameron's Titanic (1997) at the time. He also worked extensively as a set dresser on the Carry On series in the 1960s.
James Bond was a comic strip that was based on the eponymous, fictional character created by author Ian Fleming. Starting in 1958 and continuing to 1983, it consisted of 52 story arcs that were syndicated in British newspapers, seven of which were initially published abroad.
Thunderball is a 1965 spy film and the fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham devised from a story conceived by Kevin McClory, Whittingham, and Fleming. It was the third and final Bond film to be directed by Terence Young, with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins.
Moonraker is a 1979 spy-fi film, the eleventh in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Cléry, and Richard Kiel. Bond investigates the theft of a Space Shuttle, leading him to Hugo Drax, the owner of the shuttle's manufacturing firm. Along with space scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond follows the trail from California to Venice, Rio de Janeiro, the Amazon rainforest, and finally into outer space to prevent a plot to wipe out the world population and to recreate humanity with a master race.
Thunderball is the soundtrack album for the fourth James Bond film Thunderball.
"Goldfinger" is the title song from the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. Composed by John Barry and with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, the song was performed by Shirley Bassey for the film's opening and closing title sequences, as well as the soundtrack album release. The single release of the song gave Bassey her only Billboard Hot 100 top forty hit, peaking in the Top 10 at No. 8 and No. 2 for four weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart, and in the United Kingdom the single reached No. 21.
Goldfinger is the soundtrack of the 1964 film of the same name, the third film in the James Bond film series, directed by Guy Hamilton. The album was composed by John Barry and distributed by EMI. Two versions were released initially, one in the United States and the United Kingdom, which varied in terms of length and which tracks were within the soundtrack. In 2003, Capitol-EMI records released a remastered version that contained all the tracks within the film.
Moonraker is the soundtrack for the eleventh James Bond film of the same name.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to James Bond:
The Bond Collection, a.k.a. Bassey Sings Bond, is a 1987 studio album by Shirley Bassey, notable for having been released without the artist's consent and subsequently withdrawn from sales by court order.
"You Only Live Twice", performed by Nancy Sinatra, is the theme song to the 1967 James Bond film of the same name. The music was by veteran Bond film composer John Barry, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. The song is widely recognized for its striking opening bars, featuring a simple 2-bar theme in the high octaves of the violins and lush harmonies from French horns. It is considered by some to be among the best James Bond theme songs, and has become one of Nancy Sinatra's best known hits. Shortly after Barry's production, Sinatra's producer Lee Hazlewood released a more guitar-based single version.
The James Bond series of films contain a number of repeating, distinctive motifs which date from the series' inception with Dr. No in 1962. The series consists of twenty five films produced by Eon Productions featuring the James Bond character, a fictional British Secret Service agent. The most recent instalment is No Time to Die, released in UK cinemas on 30 September 2021. There have also been two independently made features, the satirical Casino Royale, released in 1967, and the 1983 film Never Say Never Again.
The series of theatrical feature films about James Bond have been filmed since the 1960s; in each decade at least three movies have been filmed. Before the films there was an episode of the television series Climax! which was produced that adapted the novel Casino Royale into a one-hour TV movie.