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Best Bond Theme?

Jam

Jam

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,051
SimplisticAgedBobwhite-small.gif


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Bond is a franchise steeped in tradition. From the gun barrel sequence, repeated plot motifs, Bond girls... but arguably the biggest tradition is the theme; no other franchise can boast so many classic film themes from A-List artists. There are some incredible songs, but also some duds, and I have made a list below of all the official Bond themes from EON produced films. So what is your favorite?

It has to be included in the mainline EON franchise, so sorry to rejected themes like Radiohead/Muse/Lana Del Rey/Johnny Cash/Pulp/Blondie/Ace of Base and the rest that didn't make the cut - you just get honorable mentions. And this is the theme on its own merit, the film can be lacklustre or amazing; as long as the theme is your favourite. It doesn't hurt if it is attached to a top tier Bond film though...


________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sean Connery Era

Dr No - Bond Theme (John Barry)
From Russia with Love - From Russia with Love (John Barry)
Goldfinger - Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey)
Thunderball - Thunderball (Tom Jones)
You Only Live Twice - You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra)

George Lazenby Er- Film

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - We Have all the time in the world (Louis Armstrong)

Sean Connery 2: Electric Bugaloo

Diamonds are Forever - Diamonds are Forever (Shirley Bassey)

Roger Moore Era

Live and Let Die - Live and Let Die (Wings)
The Man with a Golden Gun - The Man with a Golden Gun (Lulu)
The Spy Who Loved Me - Nobody does it better (Carly Simon)
Moonraker - Moonraker (Shirley Bassey)
For your eyes only - For your eyes only (Sheena Easton)
Octopussy - All Time High (Rita Coolidge)
A view to a kill - A view to a kill (Duran Duran)

Timothy Dalton Era

The Living Daylights - The Living Daylights (A-Ha)
License to Kill - License to Kill (Gladys Knight)

Pierce Brosnan Era

Goldeneye - Goldeneye (Tina Turner)
Tomorrow Never Dies - Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crow)
The World is Not Enough - The World is Not Enough (Garbage)
Die Another Day - Die Another Day (Madonna)

Daniel Craig Era

Casino Royale - You Know My Name (Chris Cornell)
Quantum of Solace - Another way to die (Jack White + Alicia Keys)
Skyfall - Skyfall (Adele)
Spectre - Writings on the Wall (Sam Smith)
________________________________________________________________________________________________


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It's a hard one for sure but my top five in no particular order would probably be Shirley Bassey's Diamonds are Forever/Goldfinger, Wings' Live and Let Die, Carly Simon's Nobody Does it Better, and Nancy Sinatra's You Only Live Twice. If I absolutely had to choose one I'd lean into Goldfinger.





I do consider Goldeneye, Skyfall, You Know My Name as upper tier themes. Then there's a big draw from quite a few others, then you descend into the bad ones. I didn't name Dr No's Bond theme in my favourites because it is kind of cheating since it is the series' overall orchestral theme going forwards.

But honestly my ranking could change day to day, but what is your favourite Bond theme?


Special mention in particular goes to:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ured0oVW10[/quote]
 
Joyful

Joyful

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
503
its Live and let die

edit: nobody does it better is close

i also like you know my name, song wise., visuals are just ok
 
Toadofsky

Toadofsky

User requested ban
Banned
Mar 8, 2018
303
I was always thought The World Is Not Enough by Garbage was a top tier Bond song (the absolute best? Maybe not, but still really good). The movie was a lot better than Die Another Day to me at least.
 
Miker

Miker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,020
You Only Live Twice from the classics. Lovely melody, instruments fit with the Japanese theme.

Then You Know My Name of the more modern ones.
 
djplaeskool

djplaeskool

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,785
Three-way tie between:
Goldfinger
You Know My Name
The Living Daylights

No slight to the majority of the other tunes. By and large, they're all classics.
I'm hard pressed to name a series with a better selection of themes.
 
Window

Window

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,284
While We Have All the Time in the world is really good, this is the theme for OHMSS and it's the best:

 
ascii42

ascii42

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,798
Honorable mention to KD Lang's Surrender, which was the original theme for Tomorrow Never Dies before they went with Sheryl Crow's song. You hear the theme during the movie, then the song plays during the credits.
 
Sanjuro

Sanjuro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,111
Massachusetts
I think putting the orchestrated variants throws this off a bit.

If we are going by lyrical songs, you have a top five covering just about every decade.
 
thefro

thefro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,996
People forget this one is a Bond theme:



I still think this should have at least been referenced in the EON Casino Royale, since it really could have worked as a serious Bond/Vesper theme.

For EON only, my top 5 probably includes Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, Nobody Does it Better, A View To A Kill, You Know My Name.
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 2145

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
29,223
gotta be You Only Live Twice. the intro is so good and it just slides so smoothly into the main groove. beautifully sung. love the lyrics. I could listen to the song on loop forever and still anticipate the "and love is a stranger" section every time it comes around. just that one harp chord that precedes it does everything. great song



gets an extra nod for being perfectly utilized for a Mad Men season finale



runners up for me are Nobody Does it Better (probably the objectively correct choice, let's be honest)



and Thunderball, just epic stuff with the composition. love how it teases with the Bond theme with the horns

 
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OP
OP
Jam

Jam

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,051
siteseer

siteseer

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,048
what about the one we never got from amy winehouse. something along the lines of 'back to black' would have been incredible.
 
OP
OP
Jam

Jam

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,051
I guess you could say Nobody Does it Better than Carly Simon huh
 
Window

Window

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,284
thefro said:
People forget this one is a Bond theme:



I still think this should have at least been referenced in the EON Casino Royale, since it really could have worked as a serious Bond/Vesper theme.

For EON only, my top 5 probably includes Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, Nobody Does it Better, A View To A Kill, You Know My Name.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Okay this is the best one.

In all honesty though, it's impossible to select even just a handful of favourites or best. The Bond films are extremely uneven but have produced some great music over the years.
 
Sanjuro

Sanjuro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,111
Massachusetts
Jesus. Alright, going to have to do it, despite my reservations. Here we go...


From Russia with Love - From Russia with Love (John Barry)
Goldfinger - Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey)
Casino Royale - You Know My Name (Chris Cornell)
The Living Daylights - The Living Daylights (A-Ha)
Thunderball - Thunderball (Tom Jones)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - We Have all the time in the world (Louis Armstrong)
Skyfall - Skyfall (Adele)
Live and Let Die - Live and Let Die (Wings)
The Spy Who Loved Me - Nobody does it better (Carly Simon)
You Only Live Twice - You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra)
For Your Eyes Only - For your eyes only (Sheena Easton)
Spectre - Writings on the Wall (Sam Smith)
A View to a Kill - A view to a kill (Duran Duran)
Goldeneye - Goldeneye (Tina Turner)
Dr. No - Bond Theme (John Barry)
Diamonds are Forever - Diamonds are Forever (Shirley Bassey)
Tomorrow Never Dies - Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crow)
Moneymaker - Moonraker (Shirley Bassey)
License to Kill - License to Kill (Gladys Knight)
The World is Not Enough - The World is Not Enough (Garbage)
Die Another Day - Die Another Day (Madonna)
Quantum of Solace - Another way to die (Jack White + Alicia Keys)
Octopussy - All Time High (Rita Coolidge)
The Man with a Golden Gun - The Man with a Golden Gun (Lulu)
 
Maquiladora

Maquiladora

Member
Nov 16, 2017
5,094
We Have All The Time In The World is a beautiful song that transcends the dated tropes of the Bond films and becomes something that can be totally removed from those films and be appreciated by anyone today.
 
Soapbox Killer

Soapbox Killer

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,142
I can't see how anyone in here is saying that anyone one song trumps another. This is insanely hard for me to choose.
 
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