Goldeneye - I love everything about this song. The way the opening string line begins while the scene of the exploding facility is still going (element of surprise), the brass crescendos, Tina Turner’s sultry but aggressive voice, and the overall mysterious tone of the song. I’m not just saying this because the movie was the definitive Bond film of my generation, I actually think the song is really well done.
Octopussy - this is one of the more obscure Bond themes, and I’m sure a lot of people didn’t like it, but I like this one because it’s different. It’s mostly major, instead of minor (like most of the other Bond songs) which is unique, and it’s a more subdued and non-threatening song. As a standalone song, I wouldn’t like it, but it fits with the movie because Octopussy’s character is less evil and sinister, and I feel like the female voice in the Bond movie’s theme should fit the women in the movie.
Live And Let Die - unique because of the male vocals (I think McCartney did a good job) and the multi-sectioned structure of the song. It begins with the soft piano part, then the action-packed part, then the funky bridge section (where the lyrics go, you’ve got to give the other man a hand, but everyone, including me, thinks they say give the other fella hell. Then back to the action music, then a reprise of the original piano part, and then more action. It’s one of the more radical Bond themes, actually, in terms of its structure. I’ll add that I did not like Chris Cornell’s singing on You Know My Name for Casino Royale - I thought his distinctly American grunge style voice was ill-fitting for a Bond movie - but I liked the instrumentals on it.
Okay, not really. I’ve been partial to Nancy Sinatra’s You Only Live Twice since I first heard it. It was the first Bond movie I saw. I also like Sheena Easton’s for For Your Eyes Only.
“Diamonds Are Forever” is fun to sing in the shower, but I gotta go with “Goldfinger.” And “From Russia With Love” as a runner-up, because it’s so overblown.
And if you want to count it, “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is the pits.
Barring Monty Normal/John Barry’s original James Bond theme from selection (which headlines Dr. No but occurs iconically in every EON-produced film) the theme to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Louis Armstrong’s “We Have All The Time In The World” (though not sung over the opening credits) is my stand-alone favorite, with Shirley Bassey’s trio of “Goldfinger”, “Diamonds Are Forever”, and “Moonraker” as collectively being the second-best. “Live And Let Die” rocks (and is the best thing McCartney and Wings ever did…far and away better than his drug-addled reign of purveyor of “silly little love songs”), and while I’m not a fan of the genre, a-ha’s Europop theme to The Living Daylights and Duran Duran’s “A View To A Kill” are excellent themes.
I was serioulsy disappointed by Tina Turner’s theme to Goldeneye; I love Tina’s days with Ike and was expecting a modern Bassey-esque theme, and instead got a disposable pop melody. I can’t say I even remember the theme songs to other Brosnan-era films, which are as forgettable as the movies themselves. I know that Sheryl Crow sang one of them and found it tolerable but I can’t even remember which movie (Tomorrow Never Dies, maybe) much less the lyrics. Nancy Sinatra almost redeemed herself with “You Only Lived Twice”, though I doubt royalties paid for what it cost her father to set up her recording career.
I started out really hating the theme to the recent Casino Royale, but I like the way David Arnold worked it into the incidentials (I can’t say much about his work on previous Bond films, but he did some excellent melding of traditional big band Barry-esque themes with some evocatively minimalist electronic stuff this go-around), but Cornell’s “You Know My Name” has kind of grown on me; it’s still not my favorite, and I think it would haven better sang by someone who didn’t screech like a death-metal karaoke version of Tom Jones, but I don’t cringe reflexively when hearing it now.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (instrumental), John Barry, composer- A better Bond theme than Norman’s, at least to me. Pixar used this theme to comedic effect in the original trailer for The Incredibles.
want2know, I respectfully disagree with many of your choices, but if you don’t include Madonna;s contribution among the worst Bond themes, then you either haven’t seen the movie, or haven’t heard the music.
I’ve always been amazed by the affection for Live and Let Die, which is about as stupid a song as I can think of–barely any lyrics (and what few there are are nothing to be proud of) and tonal/melodic shifts that try to be cool and “rockin’” but are simply clumsy and L-A-M-E. My vote for the worst (tied with Madonna’s only because her song is interminably longer as well as being awful). L&LD also distinguishes itself by having some terrible visuals in the opening credits, too.
Best of all time: Goldfinger
Best Roger Moore song: The Spy Who Loved Me
Best Pierce Brosnan song: The World Is Not Enough (though none are particular good)
I also really liked Casino Royale’s song a lot, but I can’t really count “We Have All the Time…” because it’s not in the opening credits.
