Since 1981 (For Your Eyes Only) I’ve generally managed to go to the opening day of each new Bond film. (Although after the disaster that was Goldeneye I was in no particular hurry to go to Tomorrow Never Dies.)
When Brosnan started, they shifted the normal opening weekend to be on or about my birthday, so now I often have to “adjust†the day I go see the films to coincide with a birthday dinner. Our baby sitter has been sick all last week, so it doesn’t look like I’m even going to get to see Casino Royale on my birthday tomorrow.
In lieu of seeing the film, I did go out an buy the soundtrack so I could listen to it while using my extra time to re-read the original novel. (A novel I haven’t dusted off my bookshelf since 1979.)
What I can’t help noticing is that, while I cheered David Arnold’s brilliant capturing of the John Barry “feel†in the early parts of Tomorrow Never Dies, his work has gotten more and more repetitive in each subsequent film. Now, I’m the first to admit that there’s a lot of repetition in John Barry’s scores, too, but somehow they remain “fresherâ€. This score might well just be more of Die Another Day. It’s enjoyable, but it drifts off into the background, until you get to track 25, The Name is Bond… James Bond and the old John Barry arranged, Monty Norman composed James Bond theme kicks into high gear. It certainly ends the album on a high note.
Unless you bought your album all digital like from the iTunes music store, which has 13(!) bonus tracks not available on the CD, nor are they available for individual purchase.