Description

Lightly James, lightly. The character of James Bond had been revamped in LIVE AND LET DIE in an attempt, I suppose, to dissociate Roger Moore's interpretation of Bond from that of Sean Connery's. In LIVE AND LET DIE gone were the "Martinis shaken not stirred," the Dom Perigone, Bond's virility, worldliness and sardonic wit. Even his wardrobe was over-the-top. However the greatest element and asset to the series that was missing was a John Barry score. The proof of the pudding was John Barry's mix of traditional and innovative synthesized musical elements for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, whichmore… almost single-handedly proved that another actor other than Connery could fill the role with a little help. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN opens with Maurice Binder's gun barrel trademark, accompanied with the "James Bond Theme" this time played on strings, instead of Vic Flick's guitar. That was a real innovation by John Barry, which he continued to use for Roger Moore. Unfortunately this cut did not make it onto the album. However, it was clearly evident Barry was back. The first camera shot is of a surrealistically exotic locale on a beach where a beautiful girl towels down a tall dark man emerging from the water. The man is Scaramanga, the Man with the Golden Gun. John Barry's familiar background music accentuates the Epicurean surroundings and the film immediately looks like it has returned to more familiar Bondian territory. There is an excellent camera shot that follows gangster Hood and Nick Nack through an anteroom. This sets up Track-2: "Scaramanga's Fun House" where Scaramanga enters his domicile and lures gangster Hood into the funhouse in a duel to the death. This is a great track full of John Barry's unique sound where he creates a spiraling 'stalking theme' mixed with source music from a Western saloon and Chicago type gangland back alley. It is also a precursor for a lighter sounding musical approach that director Guy Hamilton wanted for this film. Track-1: "Main Title: The Man With the Golden Gun" sung by Lulu over Maurice Binder's titles is really not bad. She has a strong voice but I think the song has a certain rock element that was in contradiction to Binder's titles. However, on the album it sounds great and has improved with time. Track-5: "Getting the Bullet" shows early signs that Barry was beginning to tire writing action scores as he has stated repeatedly. Track-8: "Hip's Trip" is an excellent example where Barry is able to write suspense music using a repeating dynamic melody that builds in intensity. This is a technique he developed and has mastered ever since the safe-cracking scene in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. This technique is probably the most identifiable trademark in the second half of John Barry's career. The film flounders in the middle but Barry keeps it moving. Track-3: "Chew Me in Grisly Land" is rich in oriental flavor yet ends on a vaudevillian sounding note as Bond takes on two sumo wrestlers. Track-9: "Kung Fu Fight" features a lightweight oriental motif but ends with a very catchy instrumental version of "The Man with the Golden Gun." One of the best cuts on the album is Track-6: "Goodnight Goodnight" which is a very slow and haunting nocturnal version of "The Man with the Golden Gun." It was truncated in the film but is presented in its entirety here. The film starts to get back to business as demonstrated with Track-7: "Let's Go Get 'Em" which is a tour de force of John Barry's new orchestration of "The James Bond Theme" identifiable with his Roger Moore scores. Track-10: "In Search of Scaramanga's Island" is a great background composition to Bond's impressive solo flight through the uprooted rock formations near Phuket, Thailand to Scaramanga's island. Track-11: "Return to Scaramanga's Fun House" mixes Nick Nack's theme, the 'stalking theme' and elements of "The James Bond Theme" as Bond is now lured into Scaramanga's game of death. Track-12: "End Title: The Man With the Golden Gun - Reprise" is in the tradition of the YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE album. The last track begins with a beautifully orchestrated version of the main title, which leads into Lulu's strong vocal rendition. Track-4: "The Man with the Golden Gun (Jazz Instrumental)" is a complete version of the gangland back alley rendition heard in Scaramanga's Fun House. It actually sounds like it is straight out of Dixieland to me. I like this album. It contained quite a bit of music from the film for once, running close to 45 minutes. It also did not spare use of "The James Bond Theme" which most fans can't get enough of. My favorite cuts are Track-6: "Goodnight Goodnight" and Track-8: "Hip's Trip." "Goodnight Goodnight" besides being a beautiful piece of music also represented Barry's unwillingness to totally bend to Guy Hamilton's wishes of delivering a light score. "Goodnight Goodnight" stands its ground alongside Barry's best Bond compositions. "Hip's Trip" even though lightly orchestrated as I already mentioned represented a new technique of repeating a dynamic melody that builds in intensity. John Barry really culminated his mastering of this technique with his score for KING KONG very similar in a way that Bernard Herrmann was the master of his distinctive 3 note motif. All in all this is a great sounding album and highly recommended.

Tracks

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Info:

Category:

Music > Soundtracks

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

Comments:

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Cover Info:

Title:

John Barry - The Man with the Golden Gun (1991) Retail CD

Part:

Front

Dimensions:

946 x 941 px

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274 KB

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14/10/09 by smect21

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