Damned Rodan's Album Review

Rating (out of 5):

The 1999 edition of The Best of Bond...James Bond came out very shortly before the release of The World Is Not Enough, so it's a pity it doesn't include the excellent title song from that film. And, most disappointingly, the album omits the instrumental main theme to From Russia With Love, which I find far more satisfying than the relatively bland song featuring Matt Monro.

Otherwise, the album is what one would expect from a collection of main themes (plus—as a bonus—"We Have All the Time in the World," sung by Louis Armstrong, from On Her Majesty's Secret Service). Reviews of the title songs are included on the individual soundtrack album pages, so it would be redundant to devote space to them here. Suffice it to say that, love 'em or hate 'em, they're on this CD, and if you didn't love 'em, you probably wouldn't be seeking out this particular selection.

The CD is now out of print, but it can be found on Amazon.com, Ebay, and other assorted Web sites, usually at a reasonable price. The newer, 40th Anniversary edition features the theme songs from Dr. No through The World Is Not Enough, as well as two alternative versions of the James Bond Theme: the Moby version from Tomorrow Never Dies and a previously unreleased version from the GoldenEye theatrical trailer.

CD Tracks

1.  James Bond Theme (from Dr. No) Monty Norman Orchestra (1:45)   2.  Goldfinger (from Goldfinger) Shirley Bassey (2:46)   3.  Nobody Does It Better (from The Spy Who Loved Me) Carly Simon (3:29)   4.  A View to a Kill (from A View to a Kill) Duran Duran (3:33)   5.  For Your Eyes Only (from For Your Eyes Only) Sheena Easton (3:02)   6.  We Have All the Time in the World (from OHMSS) Louis Armstrong (3:11)   7.  Live and Let Die (from Live and Let Die) Paul McCartney & Wings (3:11)   8.  All Time High (from Octopussy) Rita Coolidge (3:01)   9.  The Living Daylights (from The Living Daylights) A-Ha (4:14) 10.  Licence to Kill (from Licence to Kill) Gladys Knight (5:13) 11.  From Russia With Love (from From Russia With Love) Matt Monro (2:32) 12.  Thunderball (from Thunderball) Tom Jones (3:00) 13.  You Only Live Twice (from You Only Live Twice) Nancy Sinatra (2:44) 14.  Moonraker (from Moonraker) Shirley Bassey (3:07) 15.  On Her Majesty's Secret Service (from OHMSS) John Barry (2:31) 16.  The Man With the Golden Gun (from The Man With the Golden Gun) Lulu (2:33) 17.  Diamonds Are Forever (from Diamonds Are Forever) Shirley Bassey (2:40) 18.  GoldenEye (from GoldenEye) Tina Turner (4:46) 19.  Tomorrow Never Dies (from Tomorrow Never Dies) Sheryl Crow (4:47)