To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise, CultBox conducted a poll to discover the most popular James Bond soundtrack ever.
Turn up the volume on your new home cinema system and enjoy some of the most iconic film music of all time…
#1: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Comfortably winning with around a third of all votes, composer John Barry’s 1969 score for George Lazenby’s debut/swansong features some of the series’ most recognisable music, despite the film itself often being overlooked by the general public.
The music’s distinctive sound is in no small part down to Barry’s use of the Moog synthesizer in its recurring bassline. This was the first time the instrument had been heard in a film and it became a mainstay of 1970s movie soundtracks. While the film’s title track is the series’ only instrumental theme, OHMSS also features Louis Armstrong’s classic love song ‘We Have All the Time in the World’ – his last recorded song before his death in 1971.
#2: The Living Daylights
John Barry’s final Bond score, 1987’s The Living Daylights is also notable for its pioneering use of technology, this time with the introduction of sequenced electronic rhythm tracks overdubbed with the orchestra.
The title song was recorded by Norwegian pop group a-ha, who infamously did not collaborate well with Barry. In a first for the series, the film also includes two additional songs, both performed by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. As well as these, The Living Daylights features several pieces of classical music in scenes with the character of Kara Milovy, a cellist.
#3: Goldfinger
The first of three Bond films with a theme song sung by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey, the 1964 Goldfinger score is widely considered (much like the film) to have set the template for future entries in the series.
As well as the heavy use of brass, the music incorporates repeated strokes on a metallic anvil for Oddjob’s theme. The film won an Academy Award for sound editing thanks to its use of music and various sound effects.
#4: You Only Live Twice
With its instantly recognisable opening bars, You Only Live Twice‘s oft-covered title track was sung by Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy. (According to John Barry, Sinatra was so nervous whle recording that the final song uses 25 different takes.) Robbie Williams famously sampled the song for his 1998 track ‘Millennium’.
Barry has stated that he tried to incorporate the “elegance of the Oriental sound” on the 1967 score, with Japanese music-inspired tracks.
#5: Casino Royale
Composer David Arnold returned for his fourth Bond score in 2006 for Daniel Craig’s debut as 007. With its restrained use of Monty Norman’s ‘James Bond theme’, due to the film’s arc of Bond still becoming the agent we know, Casino Royale‘s score instead features motifs from Chris Cornell’s title song, ‘You Know My Name’. (Some of these motifs, as well as Vesper’s theme, would later appear in Arnold’s score for 2008’s Quantum Of Solace.)
Only at the very end of the movie does the traditional James Bond theme appear in its full form.
#6: Live And Let Die
Marking his first absence from the Bond series since Dr. No, Roger Moore’s 1973 debut saw John Barry replaced by Beatles producer George Martin. This change also featured the first rock and roll song being used to open a Bond film, as Martin teamed up with former Beatle Paul McCartney and his new group, Wings.
Martin has spoken of working very closely with the film’s director Guy Hamilton on the score, with the director practically dictating how some of the music should sound.
#7: Thunderball
The original main title theme for 1965’s Thunderball was entitled ‘Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’, a phrase taken from an Italian journalist in 1962, and was recorded by Shirley Bassey and later rerecorded by Dionne Warwick.
Ultimately, a new song (titled ‘Thunderball’) was sung by Tom Jones, who held the song’s final, high note for so long that he fainted in the recording booth. Barry’s score perfectly captures the grand scale of the film, with the underwater scenes’ music is particularly memorable.
#8: Moonraker
The third of Shirley Bassey’s three Bond themes, 1979’s ‘Moonraker’ made surprisingly little impact on the charts, reaching only 159. However, the luscious romantic score marked a turning point in John Barry’s output, abandoning the Kenton-esque brass of his earlier Bond scores and instead scoring the film with slow, rich string passages. In a pleasing throwback, however, the score uses the ‘007 theme’ (a secondary Bond theme first used in From Russia With Love) for the first time since Diamonds Are Forever.
#9: Tomorrow Never Dies
On a recommendation from John Barry, 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies saw a new regular composer join the series; Independence Day‘s David Arnold.
Following Eric Serra’s frequently bizarre music for GoldenEye, Arnold’s debut Bond score returned to the traditional Barry-esque orchestral Bond sound, backed by modern electronic rhythms. The score also heavily utilises the ‘James Bond theme’, a welcome return after its scarce use in GoldenEye.
#10: The Spy Who Loved Me
With Bond veteran John Barry unavailable to work in the UK because of tax reasons, American composer Marvin Hamlisch filled in for 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. In keeping with the fun tone of the film and the era, Hamlisch’s score incorporated a more disco-oriented sound, even featuring a disco rendition of the ‘James Bond theme’ entitled ‘Bond 77’.
Regularly voted one of the best movie songs of all time, Carly Simon’s theme song ‘Nobody Does It Better’ is also notable for being the first Bond theme song to be titled differently than the name of the movie.
Which James Bond soundtrack is your favourite? Let us know below…
> Order the 50th Anniversary Blu-ray boxset on Amazon, containing all 22 James Bond films.
Watch the 50th anniversary trailer…