| Bond Music |
|
24. Lani Hall - "Never Say Never Again." It's hard to say whether this song belongs on this list: is it officially a Bond theme? Does it qualify as a song? This is so horrible, and quite rightfully, belongs to the worst Bond movie. Early 80's trash. |
|
23. Jack White & Alicia Keys - "Another Way To Die." Wow. There is so much that is wrong here, it's hard to figure out what makes this so bad. The title sounds like a generic 007 wannabe, Jack White sings, Jack White writes (and it sounds like a bad Jack White tune,) it's a duet between two vocals that do not go together well. I think had Alicia Keys come up with something on her own it would have been much better. |
|
22. Gladys Knight - "Licence to Kill." One of the lesser Bond tunes. It starts off like it could be cool, incorporating the bond theme in their nicely. Then the verses hit, and it's a bit too 80's adult-contempo. And then the chorus hits, ugh... |
|
21. Lulu - "The Man With The Golden Gun." The same way that the previous song, License to Kill, falters because of it's 80s-ness, this one dies a death because of it's 70s-ness. Interesting chord choices at time. Nice bridge. |
|
20. Madonna - "Die Another Day." This has been remarked as the worst Bond theme of all time (although as you can see, that's untrue.) It is very 'new' sounding, which is nice, but it's got that horrible new-madonna production. And the 'melody' is hardly there at all. |
|
19. Garbage - "The World Is Not Enough." Like Sheryl Crow's song (higher up on this list) Garbage is trying to hard to make a "Bond-sounding" theme song. This one is less-successful than Crow's. (But I can take this song more than Madonna's!) |
|
18. John Barry Orchestra - "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Here's another them that starts out cool, but then gets caught up with trying to sound modern (which at the time, was late 60's, I believe.) One of the few instrumental themes. |
|
17. Rita Coolidge - "All Time High." One of the slow Bond themes. It must have been almost impossible to write a song with the title "Octopussy" so this was the main theme. This is the section of the list where Bond songs start getting better. This ones alright. |
|
16. Louis Armstrong - "We Have All The Time In The World." The second "theme" from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It's in a similar vein to his own "What a Wonderful World," only more 70s-ish. Especially nice bridge/ending. |
|
15. Sheena Easton - "For Your Eyes Only." A slower Bond theme which is very atmospheric. Kinda cool, but it does pick up into a more uptempo, but adult-contempo (read dental-rock) love song. |
|
14. Sheryl Crow - "Tomorrow Never Dies." Sheryl tries so hard here to make a "Bond-Sounding" theme song. She may have pulled it off though. The intro sounds like a plane is landing - kinda cool, considering most Bond films involve travel. Nice dichotomy between the slow and heavy sections. Amazing neo-classical bridge. |
|
13. Shirly Bassey - "Diamonds Are Forever." Shirly - Queen of the Bond themes. She did no less than 3 bond themes, including this very 70s sounding one. The intro is great, and without Shirly singing, this song would be alot lower on the list. "For when loves go-oo-oo-one..." |
|
12. Matt Monro - "From Russia With Love." This was the song that started the trend of a Bond theme song using the title. Not a bad start. A little light, but the feeling of the song is 'exotic,' if not Russian. Great ending. |
|
11. Tom Jones - "Thunderball." This song is a little over-the-top, but it works. I mean, come on, it's Tom Jones, how could it NOT be a little over-the-top? Slyly includes the James Bond theme inside, which will become an almost annoying trait in the bond themes. As usual, a great ending. |
|
10. Chris Cornell - "You Know My Name." Casino Royale's theme song at first left me a little cold. Like Sheryl Crow's tune, it tries a little too hard to be a Bond song. But upon repeated listenings it's really grown on me - though it's not a classic. But being the song following Madonna's pitiful attempt, at least the rollercoaster's back on it's way up. |
|
9. Shirley Bassey - "Moonraker." Another atmospheric Bond theme (love that triangle!) Again Shirley Bassey is an asset on this song, although this time the song is pretty good even without her great voice. The ending is AMAZING. This is the part of the list where everything gets REALLY good. |
|
7. Tina Turner - "Goldeneye." The best of the contemporary Bond themes. Tina Turner sounds like a raspier Shirley Bassey, and the songwriters are the Edge & Bono from U2, so it's quality is all but guaranteed. This is the way Bond songs should be done nowadays. Sheryl Crow, Garbage and Madonna should have taken better notes. |
|
6. Nancy Sinatra - "You Only Live Twice." It's sad that when most people think Nancy Sinatra, they think "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'." This song is heads above that 60's novelty hit. Written by Mr. Bond-theme himself, John Barry. Expertly references asian-sounding chords (the movie has scenes in Japan.) |
|
5. Carly Simon - "Nobody Does It Better." Holy crap, where did this song come from. It sounds like no other Bond song, and at the same time fits perfectly. Pulled away from the trend of being a big huge number using the title of the film as it's own title. Carly does fit "the spy who loved me" in the chorus, though. More low-key than most Bond themes, and still manages to outdo them. |
|
4. John Barry Orchestra - "James Bond Theme." Alright, I do feel a little weird not having this as number one. It's certainly the most famous, and is really awesome. But it's broadness ranks it a little lower than the 3 above it. It's not Dr. No's theme song... it's James Bond's. Stil awesome, though. |
|
3. Duran Duran - "A View To A Kill." This song is super cool, even with the silly sound effects. But that's another reason to like it. The movie itself is silly, but still cool. Nice upward key change from the verses into the chorus - which ultimately makes it a little difficult to move back to the verses. But they make do. |
|
2. A-Ha - "The Living Daylights." This song and the previous one by Duran Duran are like sister-songs for me, which only makes sense. They sorta have a similar sound, were back-to-back films, and were done by 80s new-wave-y bands. This one is just a smidge cooler (the vocals definitely help in that category.) The keychange from the verse to the prechorus is so startling in a good way. And then, amazingly, there's another keychange into the chorus, which is great also. Expert. The change back to the verse is alot less confusing than "A View To A Kill." |
|
1. Paul McCartney - "Live And Let Die." Ok, I swear. This isn't number one because of who wrote/performed it... well, maybe just a little. But seriously, this is the greatest Bond theme of them all. When you hear it you PICTURE bond, but in a different way than what you picture from James Bond's theme. This is one of Paul McCartney's greatest songs to boot. Ushered in a new James Bond - Roger Moore (who I like more than Connery. I know, Blasphemy!) |
Stuff