| The James Bond Collection |
| Composed by Various Artists |
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Conducted by Nic Raine Performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra Produced by James Fitzpatrick Release Date: 2002 |
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Essentially a coupling of Bond Back in Action with Bond Back in Action 2, this is the ultimate gift for those looking for the biggest set of re-recorded James Bond music ever made available. Unlike the two previous Bond albums, however, no score is left untouched, even if the only track available is the symphonic version of the main title. Having been assembled from material that was previously released with the Back in Action albums, this 4-CD set suffers from the same problems. While Nic Raine and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra pretty much nail the cues from the original scores, a few tracks are more miss than hit. Some of the title songs don't necessarily translate well to symphonic versions, while others suffer from the same fate as most other re-recorded scores do (varying tempo, changes made that don't reflect well on the cue as an entire whole, ect.). That said, a vast majority of the music here is quite the enjoyable homage to the delightful Bond scores of the past forty years, and the generally style of the scores (even from those that aren't from John Barry) and captured quite well. This release also expounds upon the previously released albums with the inclusion of an additional track from Diamonds Are Forever, along with material from the recent David Arnold scores. I was disappointed that Tomorrow Never Dies was only represented by the opening and closing title songs, as a couple of cues from the score itself would have been greatly appreciated (Station Break and Paris & Bond would have been two good choices). Thankfully, The World is Not Enough gets better representation, with choice renditions of Ice Bandits and the opening title being the highlights. The packaging is a rather interesting cardboard box with sleeves which hold the CDs. It's not too bad, but nothing to special either. However, after the cool packaging of the Back in Action CDs, this one is a lacking because the excellent liner notes from that series are nowhere to be found. Even the track titles are only listed on the back of the box itself. Truth be told, the new material isn't all that important if you already own one or both or the Bond Back in Action albums, but for those of you who might be new to this series this is a great purchase if you're interested in such a comprehensive album. It's definitely one of the better James Bond compilations you can get. **** |
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