Has anyone tried the new releases? I honestly don't see the need for them if they aren't complete scores. There's really no excuse for not going the extra mile and actually releasing definitive complete scores after all these years for what are some of the most important film scores in history. The Dr. No film score is still unreleased!
Skyfall was issued on vinyl, which I think is the first Bond film with a vinyl soundtrack since Licence to Kill (1989). For the ones in between, several Bond songs were issued as 7-inch singles: "Die Another Day" by Madonna, "Another Way to Die" by Jack White & Alicia Keys and "Skyfall" by Adele (which is not on its soundtrack album). In addition, there were two vinyl compilations. The first was the 10th Anniversary Album. a double LP released in 1973; it includes both instrumental and vocal selections from all the films through Diamonds Are Forever. In the 1980s was James Bond: 13 Original Themes, which contains the "Bond song" from each of the flicks through "All Time High" by Rita Coolidge (from Octopussy). Don't forget the non-canonical Bond soundtrack from the 1967 Casino Royale, a long-time audiophile favorite, especially in stereo. The other non-canonical Bond film, Never Say Never Again, didn't have an official soundtrack at the time, though its theme song was released on a 45 by Lani Hall. Ten years after the film, a CD soundtrack was issued by the Silva Screen label.
I have most of the early Bond soundtracks on LP in US and UK versions . Love the music but the recordings are pretty strident for me in general and a bit of a tough listen as they're really bright.
A sliver of my record collection includes Bond soundtracks and those fun and sometimes godawful records that tried to capitalize on the Secret Agent craze... RZ
I've found the Never Say Never Again soundtrack on CD, but still need to pick up a nice clean copy of Casino Royale in stereo on Colgems. I see there's several CD reissues of Casino Royale, are any of them worth seeking out or should one stick to the original vinyl? Heard a lot of good things about the vinyl.
Has anyone heard these yet? I'm tempted by Live & Let Die and like the idea that these are analogue sourced but would be grateful for any feedback.
I haven't gotten any of the new 180 gram issues yet, but may in the near future. Recently added some htf copies to my collection: The Spy Who Loved Me- US promo with beige UA label-this sounds generally a bit better than the common Sunset label version. The deadwax is a bit different as well. Octopussy-Sounds phenomenal with a great sense of warmth, but the remaster is needed for the missing score. AVTAK-sounds the best I've ever heard it, the master was done by Wally Traugott but what I didn't know until now was that he also cut the US vinyl. This is better than the remastered CD easily. Licence to Kill-again, super rare vinyl, and defeats the CD. The score sounds wonderful, mastering by Bernie Grundman, Precision deadwax, and filled with terrible source songs on side 1. TSWLM and LTK badly need complete score releases. The former's album is all re-recorded to boot. Are any of these the same? I've always wondered what differences may have existed between US and UK issues, other than the differing Goldfinger track listings.
Any details about these latest reissues? Read somewhere they were cut by Ron McMaster from "Analog Source"... would very much like to learn about how exactly they were mastered and how they sound...
While I generally agree with your positive assessment, it does not take into account the dreadful instrumental version of "Goldfinger:" It is absolutely horrid sounding, clearly a mistake on the part of producers. They took the out-of-phase mono version that appeared on the stereo LP and collapsed it back to mono. It sounds like someone is trying to suffocate it with a pillow. The CD is certainly worth owning, but you still need the mono LP to hear this track as it should sound. How this track made the cut is mind-boggling.
I can't remember how that sound, but I agree that when you're dealing with a fake-stereo source, trying to get it back to "real mono" is an absolute nightmare. I once worked on a project where the film had been processed into fake stereo, and the left channel alone sounded horrible, the right channel sounded worse, and when you summed it together, it was even more horrible. I hate fake stereo.
Yes, spin it when you have a second, and then if you have the original mono LP, compare. I bring this issue up only because the OP asked about sound quality of the CDs, and while I think they generally sound good, I think this one glaring error is worth mentioning.
stumbled across several Bond Soundtracks lately, glad to find this thread, it will make picking some up easier.
My mother rushed out to get the Spy Who Loved Me soundtrack in 1977 after seeing it theatres and still has it to this day. It still sounds amazing even though there are a few scratches.
If you can find the rarer brown 70's UA label, it sounds slightly better. Wonderful LP. Hopefully they issue the original recording someday. After A/B-ing the Licence to Kill LP and CD, it's more of a toss up. The CD will save you $ and noise but like The Living Daylights there seems to be some element that is missing somehow. (However, with this one it's very minor. TLD sounds far better on the Warner Bros. LP for the album score tracks.) But why did they cut up the score in this godawful manner? And those source tracks...they're so bad! I have not yet gotten the 80's US themes compilation, but so far the best version yet is the relatively uncommon UK early 80's LP. It features 20 tracks with some score pieces thrown in, and though my dollar bin find is noisy, it actually tops the 1992 30th Anniv. CD and was cut by Harry T. Moss. Give this one a definite try.
I just picked up the original UK pressing of Spy Who Loved Me- sounds great! Seems to have that first-generation presence in the vocal title-track especially.
I would think that since Hamlisch did the music for that one that the original master would be from the US but who knows.
Hi guys. I'm a bit late to the party on this one but I've got some great information through this thread so far. Over the last 6 months or so, I've been collecting all the Bond soundtracks on vinyl - and I'm almost there. I even have the super-rare pressing of Never Say Never Again (only pressed in Japan). Just two more to go - License To Kill and the 1967 Casino Royale. I've found both of these online, so they're next on the list (Discogs is a wonderful thing!). What's annoying however is the missing soundtracks. Goldeneye through to Quantum Of Solace only received a CD release - that's six films in total, obviously through the period that vinyl was very much 'in hiding'. Going forward, with the resurgence of vinyl, and considering that Skyfall got a vinyl release, it looks like future films will get a vinyl release. But that six-film gap in my collection will always be a problem. What are the chances, do you think, of them bringing out vinyl pressings of these soundtracks in the future? And who should I write to to ask? The majority of them are by David Arnold - maybe I should just hunt him down!
I like the 2 CD set on Quartet Records, not the original, limited release but the revised reissue. It contains the soundtrack album in stereo on one disc and the music stems from the film on the other disc. On their limited release they used a tape copy as a source for the soundtrack album disc and for this reissue they have reportedly gone to the master as a source. The stems disc isn't perfect, as they monkeyed with it a bit to make it sound better, but it is very listenable. There have been at least six CD issues of the soundtrack to date Varese Sarabande I (with tape damage) (also on Colosseum label) Japanese SLCS (same as Varese I) Varese Sarabande II (compressed/brickwalled) (also on Colosseum label) Kritzerland Quartet 2 CD set (limited edition) Quartet 2 CD set (revised reissue) and I think the revised Quartet is the best of them. Classic Records also released two different hi-res DVD audio discs along the way.
I though that it was strange that the Skyfall soundtrack did not include the Adele sung main title song - I picked up the CD single for that one.
So I stumbled across a big stack of brand new sealed Thunderball copies today. Looks like they've started doing a few more and Music Direct has listings up for FRWL, OHMSS, TSWLM, DAF and YOLT. What the **** is up with more pointless reissues of the terribly short LP programs when they cannot take the time to faithfully reproduce the scores on disc? These are 25 a pop and now have no sign of mastering credit. And they won't even include the completely essential extras that were finally resurrected in 2003. And they can't even get the cover printing right because both my mono and stereo copies from 1965 are more detailed, colorful and have a nice glossiness to them. Capitol has GOT to step up to the plate here. It is ridiculous that many of the series scores continue to languish in obscurity or remain unreleased while they flog overpriced shortened copies of what ostensibly are the 2003 remastered titles which themselves were compromised due to an insanely short window and limited to no budget. Plus the first 180gr LPs appeared on HD Tracks so these probably will at some point. I think the 03 session was done to 24 bit 44.1 kHz.
Indeed, a handful have appeared in the past few weeks @ 192/24: http://www.hdtracks.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=john+barry I'm tempted to try OHMSS as it's one my all-time favorite John Barry scores/film music soundtracks. That said, the fact that the accompanying vinyl LPs are apparently equally mysterious (i.e. no mention of lineage, source, mastering engineer, etc.) makes me cautioned enough not to impulse-buy.
I've been listening to the mono Thunderball & it seems to me that at least some of these mixes are unique from the stereo edition. Especially, the last cut, Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, certainly seems different. And better.
