{"id":41244,"date":"2008-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-best-of-bond-james-bond-2008\/"},"modified":"2008-12-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-01T00:00:00","slug":"the-best-of-bond-james-bond-2008","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-best-of-bond-james-bond-2008\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Of Bond… James Bond (2008)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This newly updated collection of James Bond theme songs is as good as it gets in the world of popular music. It goes without saying; it\u2019s like taking a high-octane journey through the years. And where else can you find the mediums of film and music blended so dynamically? From Matt Munro crooning to the 1963 chestnut \u201cFrom Russia With Love\u201d to Soundgarden\u2019s Chris Cornell on the balls-out 2006 rocker \u201cYou Know My Name,\u201d there are 23 delicious cuts to be found here. All the artists involved are bound to tell you what an honor — and what a challenge — it was when they were first called upon to record a theme song for the lucrative Bond franchise.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

To date, there have been six actors to play the coveted role of the dashing British spy James Bond. It was all started by Sir Sean Connery in 1962\u2019s Dr. No<\/i>, which had the signature instrumental \u201cJames Bond Theme\u201d performed by the John Barry Orchestra.<\/o:p> Connery also had the likes of Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, and Nancy Sinatra provide the music for his subsequent Bond films, and all of them are fondly remembered classics in their own right. The second James Bond was George Lazenby, who only made one film before deciding it just wasn\u2019t for him. Personally, On Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Service <\/i>is my favorite Bond film. Maybe it\u2019s due to the fact that it was released in my birth year — 1969.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Next up was, of course, the sly dog himself Roger Moore, who released the most Bond films — seven to be exact. During the \u201870s and \u201880\u2019, his Bond themes really made impressive showings on the Billboard charts. We had \u201cLive And Let Die\u201d by Paul McCartney and Wings, \u201cNobody Does It Better\u201d by Carly Simon, and \u201cFor Your Eyes Only\u201d by Sheena Easton. However, nothing could match the achievement of Duran Duran, which has the dubious distinction of being the only act to bring their James Bond theme all the way to #1, with \u201cA View To A Kill.\u201d Ending the \u201880s on a solid note –and with yet another effective James Bond at the helm, Timothy Dalton — were offerings by <\/o:p>a-ha (\u201cThe Living Daylights\u201d) and Gladys Knight (\u201cLicense To Kill\u201d).<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The \u201890s brought much more box-office success for the Bond film series, when popular actor Pierce Brosnan was tapped to become the fifth James. In the course of four films, he seemed to bring the action to a new level. Unfortunately, controversy ensued when it came to the choice of musical selections. Tina Turner\u2019s \u201cGoldeneye\u201d fared the best of the lot, but Sheryl Crow, Garbage, and Madonna didn\u2019t exactly impress a whole lot of people. Such artists gave off the impression that they were either a.) trying too hard or b.) foolishly deviating from the script entirely. Madonna got the hugest amount of scorn thrown her way for \u201cDie Another Day,\u201d which was her completely deconstructed take on a typical James Bond theme — a risk that didn\u2019t exactly pay off in the end. Elton John deemed it the worst James Bond theme ever. Ouch.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

With fair-haired Daniel Craig as the sixth James Bond, a new generation of fans have come onboard the exciting multimedia Bond train. With both Casino Royale <\/i>and Quantum Of Sol<\/i>ace<\/i><\/st1:personname> <\/i>under his belt, it appears that Craig will be likely to remain in place<\/st1:personname> for the foreseeable future. The new direction that the theme songs seem to have taken has been called into question, though, especially since the orchestra has been traded out for electric guitars. Sure, it plays to the more intense action that the newer films seem to provide for younger audiences, but the taste level and sophistication seem to have been sadly left behind. I\u2019m a traditionalist at heart, so I much prefer the campy, double-entendres that made themes like Lulu\u2019s \u201cThe Man With The Golden Gun\u201d so fun and memorable. I prefer my Bond stirred, not shaken.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The high production values need to be brought back if the James Bond themes still have any hope of staying relevant. If this should be the end of the road, so be it. It was a terrific run of some top-notch hit songs. As they say, it\u2019s better to burn out than fade away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":29645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5827],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-41244","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-various-artists","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41244"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}