The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Decca Records, out now

Cover versions of the first 25 official Bond movie themes…

October is the 60th anniversary of the official EON series of James Bond films, which to date has run for 25 movies. It’s fortunate for Decca that they can release this for the anniversary, as it was actually recorded in late 2019 to be released ahead of (as their website says) “2020’s release of No Time To Die”.

The Royal Philharmonic have a long history of albums blending classical and contemporary music, with the likes of the Hooked On Classics and various compilation albums of melodies from modern songs played in an easy-listening orchestral style. That, of course, is exactly what this album is, but constructed as easy-listening versions of the theme tunes from each of the 25 official Bond movies – hence the title of this compilation.

Each movie is represented by one track, from a nice version of the James Bond theme representing Dr. No through to No Time To Die. All the tracks are instrumental with no lyrics, and of course all are very familiar to any Bond fan. Having 25 tracks means it’s a pretty full release, and so it’s understandable that Never Say Never Again – not one of the official series – isn’t represented, though it’s a nice theme and would fit well with the style of the album. (Thankfully this also keeps the 1967 Casino Royale out of the picture, though.) What’s more disappointing is that we don’t get either “Underneath The Mango Tree” – more specifically Dr. No’s main theme than the series theme – or “All The Time In The World” here, with the latter being one that especially fit with the style the Royal Philharmonic have gone for.

That style, basically, largely consisting of turning most of the themes into gentle orchestral muzak of the kind you might expect to hear as a background to a romantic or gambling scene in a Bond movie. In fact, this take on it really works well for the Connery-era themes, most of which did exactly that in the relevant films. In particular the Thunderball and Dianmonds Are Forever themes sound spot-on to cues from those films that were used in that way.

Unfortunately, this tone becomes a little tiresome by the later Moore-era tracks, and really doesn’t fit the Brosnan and Craig era tracks. It’s not that the style and approach are bad, mind you, but it has a lack of ambition or boldness in range. “From Russia With Love” has a slightly different intro which is actually pretty nicely done, and has a good sense of broad and epic sweep to it, while it’s weird to head “Goldfinger” without that opening blare, and the light music continues with an oddly pastoral sound to several of the Moore era tracks, especially the intro to “All Time Hight”.

“You Know My Name” is, of course a highlight, as the best Bond theme should be, and “The Man With The Golden Gun” has a nice take as well, while “Another Way to Die” actually is improved here, sounding better than the original. The orchestra almost manages to vastly improve Spectre’s “The Writing’s On The Wall,” but then fails by including a strange little warble at the bit where Sam Smith’s voice appears to be breaking on the vocal, which isn’t a feature of the backing music in the original.

Overall, if you’re a Bond theme fan, these are nice enough adaptations, though favouring the light and easy listening side a little more than some of the tracks ought to; there’s rarely any hint of punch or verve to the compositions whose originals had those. If you’re an orchestral easy-listening fan, this is a good choice, gathering a proper canon of work in that style. If you’re a fan of exploring a variety of arrangements within a canon of work, this isn’t going to be your best bet – the waltz is not enough.

Verdict: In the end, pleasantly inoffensive, with some diamonds and gold scattered throughout in the form of a modern feel to orchestration too. 6/10

David A McIntee

Click here to order from Amazon.co.uk