LYDEN AF BOND.

Sometimes a few seconds of music is enough. A low guitar starts, brass instruments come forward and before anyone has said their name, the world is recognizable. James Bond has a sound. That sound fits a chase, but also a farewell. It can seduce, threaten and doubt. How did that musical identity remain intact while the films, singers and recording techniques constantly changed?

A CHARACTER YOU CAN HEAR.

It starts in 1962 with Dr. No. Monty Norman writes the James Bond Theme; John Barry makes the arrangement of the famous orchestral recording. That distinction is important. The composition and the way a piece is performed are different contributions. Together they deliver a theme in which a sharp electric guitar and a powerful orchestra reinforce each other.

Listen to the short, repeated figures. They give the music a fixed attitude, while the brass instruments provide movement. The tension does not come only from speed. Also a chord that lingers for a moment can give the feeling that something is about to happen. You do not need to know the scene to feel that expectation.

In film music, the instrumental music under and between the scenes is called the score. A title song has a different task: in a few minutes to open the atmosphere of the film, while the names appear on the screen. In a Bond film, both can intertwine. A melody from the song can later, without singing, call up a character or memory again.

THE VOICE ENTERS THE ROOM.

Matt Monro gives From Russia with Love in 1963 a warm, controlled singing voice. A year later, Shirley Bassey with Goldfinger opens a completely different door. The brass instruments have sharp edges and her voice draws large lines through the arrangement. She sings as if an ordinary room would be too small for the story.

There arises a recognizable way to build up a Bond song: a clear melody, space for drama and a voice that not only follows the music, but determines its direction. Tom Jones gives Thunderball a solid start. Nancy Sinatra makes You Only Live Twice precisely lighter and more floating. The same film universe seems to tolerate different temperatures.

Bassey returns for Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker. Three title songs, each with its own character. Her presence connects multiple periods of the film series, without that the arrangements need to sound identical.

THE FORMULA CAN MOVE.

Paul McCartney & Wings make in Live and Let Die the transition from quiet piano to sudden orchestra and guitar almost into a small action script. The song changes rhythm and scale. That alternation lets hear that film music does not need to constantly hold the same kind of tension.

In Carly Simons Nobody Does It Better, the smooth singing line stands more in the foreground. The song from The Spy Who Loved Me moreover proves that a Bond song does not necessarily need to carry the film title. The same applies to All Time High by Rita Coolidge, which belongs to Octopussy.

Duran Duran and a-ha then bring the sound of their pop era along. Synthesizers, a pronounced pulse and clear singing give the eighties their own place in the series. Bond remains recognizable because the tension and the melodic start remain present. The surface may change.

FROM GOLDENEYE TO A WHISPER.

Tina Turner gives GoldenEye in 1995 a controlled threat. The song is written by Bono and The Edge, but the film performance is by Turner. That difference between writer and performer also explains our collection: the artists are connected to their actually recorded Bond contribution.

Then follow among others Sheryl Crow, Garbage and Madonna. Listen once directly after each other to The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. At Garbage, the singing remains embedded in a broad, more orchestral whole. Madonna makes of her voice and the electronic production a more angular game. Two completely different answers to the same assignment: how does this Bond sound?

Chris Cornell gives Casino Royale a tense rock voice. Jack White and Alicia Keys choose for a duet with sharp accents in Another Way to Die. Adele, Sam Smith and Billie Eilish then each lay their own connection between vulnerability and a big arrangement. Especially with Eilish, the proximity of the voice is striking. The music does not need to become loud immediately to hold the attention.

THE FILMS. THE YEARS. THE SONGS.

Below are all 25 films from the official main series, from Dr. No to No Time to Die, with their central title song or instrumental main theme. The order follows the first film year, not the year of a later Dutch premiere or a re-release. That is why Billie Eilish is at 2021, although her single already appeared in 2020. Click on an artist to discover further.

STAY FOR THE END CREDITS.

The opening does not tell the whole musical story. Some films give a second singer or band space during the film or the end credits. These six additional songs therefore belong to the listening route. They do not replace the title songs above.

Also outside these main and closing songs contain the films music: think of the calypso in Dr. No or the music that sounds in a club, car or hotel. A complete soundtrack contains moreover many instrumental scenes. This overview is a guide along the Bond themes and the mentioned additional film songs, not a list of every individual background cue.

TWO FILMS OUTSIDE THE MAIN SERIES.

For a good musical round trip, two side roads belong. Casino Royale from 1967 is the Bond parody with music by Burt Bacharach. Never Say Never Again from 1983 brings Sean Connery back as Bond, but stands likewise outside the official series above. Their most famous songs stand here separately, so that the two different Casino Royale films do not get confused.

LISTEN BEYOND THE SINGLE.

A Bond song can be a first acquaintance with a much larger oeuvre. Who comes to Adele via Skyfall, can listen further to her albums. Who recognizes the voice of Shirley Bassey, can discover how she also outside the cinema lets a melody grow. That is why our JAMES BOND COLLECTION collects the artists behind this music, with their songs, films and years included.

At the same time, the distinction remains clear: an album from a Bond artist does not automatically contain their Bond song. Look for a specific song always at the tracklist of the relevant release. The connection with the film is an occasion to discover, not a promise about the content of every record.