"I’m Fond, Very Fond … of Monty Norman’s James Bond Theme, in all
its incarnations, arrangements and stylisations. Like the best work of Morricone and
Mancini its appeal lies in the polar atmospheres and emotions it evokes: humour and
violence, menace and romance, seduction and revenge. It is always fascinating to find out
how each new Bond soundtrack exploits the familiar motifs and adds its own surprises. Not
surprisingly, this one opens with a dramatic title track in the de rigueur style, and
it’s Garbage… they perform it that is. I couldn’t rubbish the song, nor the
performance, but while Garbage lead singer, Shirley Manson is fine chop as a pop starlet
she ain’t no Shirley Bassey or Carly Simon. And despite an infectious chorus, David
Arnold’s composition never soars like a Diamonds Are Forever nor displays the
inventiveness of, say, Paul McCartney’s pseudo-reggae explorations in Live and Let
Die – there is room for originality without shattering the mould. For the body of the
soundtrack, Arnold uses the modern Bond feature of high tech wizardry as a cue for
90’s-style pop-dance arrangements; there’s a plethora of compressed and gated
drum samples and touches of miscellaneous percussion for exotic colour. Natacha
Atlas’ magnificent voice is given a brief license to trill on Welcome to Baku; and
swirling strings against a metronomic bass on Going Down -- The Bunker suggests an appropriately
menacing milieu. Otherwise it’s the lush and slinky jazz noodlings of Casino and the
closing Only Myself to Blame (reminiscent of Sting’s Moon Over Bourbon Street) that
provide the highlights. Overall, there IS enough to satisfy… but not to thrill."
Brad Green
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