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What unites them all? They are done in the Barry style. The style and the Bond sound existed before he wrote the Bond theme.


We're sorta in a circular argument/discussion here, because what you call the "Bond sound" and the "007" theme may not be what I call them. It's tough to do the dum-dum-da-da over the internet.

I'm not sure what you mean about the Bond sound existing before the theme (whoever wrote it). I've listened to plenty of Barry, and as you say, his style is recognizable. But I've never heard a "Bond sound" in any of the other scores in my collection.

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He does that in all his Bond scores.


Well, maybe. Some are certainly much more noticable and enjoyable than others. He's consistently repetitive with simple up and down chords to the point it gets annoying.

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But brace yourself, the Bond theme plays only once in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.

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GOLDFINGER does not use the Bond theme completely at all.


Just listened to You Only Live Twice this afternoon. Not a very good score, despite having one of the better opening songs (that Barry recaps three times in an 11-track score). There is just a hint of the Bond theme at the beginning of one track, and then Barry diverts into something different. This score is worse than TLD or OHMSS.

I'm reserving judgment on FRWL and Goldfinger until I can find and listen to the scores.


I
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just think the criteria should be the quality of the music, not whether one theme is present in its entirety.


As far as I'm concerned, my criteria centers directly on the quality of the music. I don't know how you can defend these short little scores that really don't blossom fully. Here's a different example -- Jerry Goldsmith's score for Hour of the Gun uses a 3-5 chord theme in almost every track. That _could_ get really annoying except the Goldsmith alters the presentation of that theme so that the tracks are recognizable but present differently. Barry's scores (the ones I've listened to, anyway) are short and lethargic by comparison, almost giving notice that he's whipping through the tracks just to get them finished.

... Reed