Search - John Barry :: The Man With The Golden Gun (1974 Film)

Good Transitional Bond Score

hille2000 | USA | 08/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an interesting album for several reasons. John Barry's music in general seemed to be going through a state of transition around 1974 and this album is a good example of that. Also, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN was the first James Bond score that Barry composed for Roger Moore as Bond. Moore at this point was trying to define his own interpretation of the character. Moore actually tried to reverse his performance from LIVE AND LET DIE, this time delivering his version of James Bond as a more stoic 007 within a script full of comedic trappings. Added to this director Guy Hamilton wanted an even lighter score than he had previously pressed John Barry into delivering in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. Considering all these factors, what we get is probably the most unique score from the James Bond series. Some people were pleased, some were not and some were indifferent. I happen to enjoy this CD quite a bit. It sounds great, having the same technical qualities the DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER album has, and it really contains quite a bit of the background score which you can never get enough of from any James Bond album. I really enjoy the main title that Barry composed for THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. Lulu's vocal renditions are strong but the really power of this composition is demonstrated in the many instrumental variations that Barry composes using this theme. "Goodnight Goodnight" and "In Search of Scaramanga's Island" are very beautiful sounding tracks. Also, if you like the James Bond theme, Barry composed whole new variations utilizing the power of the orchestra giving the theme a whole new dimension and sound. You can hear these on "Chew Me in Grisly Land" and "Let's Go Get `Em." All in all I think this is a great sounding album. It is well presented and balanced and is a good representation of the music heard in the film. I like it."

Good soundtrack, often underrated thanks to the movie

scottie | Sintra, Portugal | 10/02/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a powerful score, as much as Diamonds are Forever, but some guys tend to despise it thanks to the flavour of the movie. Well, I think the movie ROCKED! It has a good pace plus the best villain since Telly Savalas.
John Barry gives us a kind of Oriental touch and in rock 70's way.
Well, I must say that I skipped Live and Let Die because I thought the music in that CD was a bit forgettable (altough I loved Paul McCartney's tune).Some guys tend to despise Lulu's theme for "The Man With The Golden Gun", calling it too explosive, offensive or having bad lyrics. Well I thought it wasn't so bad, but of course there are nicer Bond main themes. Its 70's style works better in the soundtrack in a instrumental way, in cues like the much-adored "Let's Go Get'em" (exciting in the car chase with Bond theme really cool), "Kung Fu Fight" (what a funny beginning!) and the more sentimental "Goodnight Goodnight" (it covers a sad dialogue in the movie about Bond's duty)."Scaramanga's Fun House" is the pre-title sequence, and one of the best tracks with real dark notes for a cat-and-mouse thrill. It occurs again in "Return To Scaramanga's Fun House", even darker.
Other tracks- "Chew Me In Crisly Land" (the most oriental music), "Getting the Bullet" (sexy first notes!) "Hip's Trip" (mysterious), "In Search of Scaramanga's Island" (beautiful beginning then it creates darker tones for the villain).
There's also a new thing in this soundtrack, the last theme adds the main title rearraged, thing that would be used in the next Bond scores.The CD includes a variation of the main theme in track 4, in a loud jazzy style. This one doesn't appear in the movie, thing that some buyers will dislike.
Well, I liked this CD a lot and it includes almost every music from the mov.P.S: Again I'm not hoping for some complete rerelease. I know there's Bond Back in Action, but those themes don't sound like in the movie."