| Tomorrow Never Dies: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
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| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | November 27, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| James Bond soundtrack chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Tomorrow Never Dies | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Filmtracks | [2] |
| Uncut | [3] |
Tomorrow Never Dies:Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack of the 18th James Bond film of the same name.
Contents
David Arnold composed the score of Tomorrow Never Dies,his first full Bond soundtrack. Arnold came to the producers' attention due to his successful cover interpretations in his 1997 album Shaken and Stirred:The David Arnold James Bond Project —which featured major artists performing classic James Bond title songs.
The theme tune was chosen through a competitive process. There were approximately twelve submissions;including songs from Swan Lee,Pulp,Saint Etienne,Marc Almond,and Sheryl Crow. [4] According to Nina Persson of Swedish pop group The Cardigans,they were also asked to submit a theme song candidate,but rejected the request due to exhaustion that would be exacerbated by the potential added workload;Persson has called her decision to turn down the offer "one of my biggest mistakes." [5]
Crow's theme was eventually picked by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In the meantime,a bold,brassy number in the classic John Barry/Shirley Bassey vein that Arnold himself wrote with David McAlmont and lyricist Don Black with the intent of being a theme,was relegated to the end credits with the title "Surrender". While McAlmont recorded the demo,"Surrender" was eventually recorded by k.d. lang after an extensive selective process. [6] [7]
The score itself follows Barry's classical style in both composition and orchestration,together with modern electronic rhythms present in most cues. Because the title song was changed so close to the film's release date,there was no time to work Crow's melody into any of the score. As a result,melody patterns from "Surrender" appear prominently many times in the score,mainly in the action cues,but it can also be heard in the dramatic "All in a Day's Work" track. [8]
The DVD version of the film has an "isolated music track" allowing the viewer to watch the film with just the background music.
Scoring of the film had not been completed when the soundtrack was released so on January 11, 2000 a second album was released by Chapter III Records which removed the theme songs,Moby's "James Bond Theme" remake and "Station Break",and had additional music,as well as an interview with David Arnold. [9]
In 2022,La-La Land Records released a two-disc limited and expanded edition of the complete score by Arnold. The title song is also contained in the release along with some unreleased material.