By David Arnold

LaLaLand, out now

 

At long last, the complete score – and extras – for David Arnold’s first Bond movie…

1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies – Pierce Brosnan’s second Bond film – has a complicated musical history. The original 1997 soundtrack release contained only Arnold’s music from the first half of the film, up to “Backseat Driver” (the piece accompanying the Hamburg parking lot chase), plus Sheryl Crow’s title track and kd lang’s end title song, “Surrender,” and a bonus “James Bond Theme” by Moby.

The two songs themselves, of course, have a complex history of their own, with Arnold’s score having been written around the melody for what became “Surrender” while Crow’s “Tomorrow Never Dies” was originally titled “Until That Day” and intended to be the end title song until MGM insisted it headline the film…

As the original foreshortened release had never been satisfactory, in 2000 a second album was released: “Tomorrow Never Dies Original Score” removed both songs, “Station Break” and the Moby track, added in a bunch of tracks from the second half of the film up to the climax, and threw in an 11-minute or so interview with David Arnold. This was a huge improvement, but the end of 2022 brought us the most complete version possible in a two-disc edition.

This was probably one of the best Bond scores from the outset, and the new expanded release merely reinforces that. David Arnold in his Bond debut score threw everything including the kitchen sink at it in terms of  character themes, tracks evocative of exotic locations, sweeping and relentlessly tense action cues, and of course every type of use of the James Bond Theme possible. All of that is still here, only more so, with alternate versions here and there, where tracks like “Back Seat Driver” and “Bike Shop Fight” have their on-screen edits and arrangements in the correct places, and then album edits later.

Starting from Disc 1, we have the most complete score possible, in film order, with Sheryl Crow’s theme song placed third, and “Station Break” restored. A number of shorter cues never released before, or partially incorporated into album edits, take their places throughout, such as the “Printing Press Fight,” “Okinawa HALO Jump,” “Grenade,” and so on. The score last longer than a single disc, and so continues onto Disc 2, where “Surrender” closes the film score as track 9.

That’s not the end of the awesomeness, however, as Disc 2 continues for another fourteen tracks including the earlier album edits of “White Knight,” “Sinking Of The Devonshire,” “Company Car,” Bike Shop Fight” etc. We also have some bonus tracks in the form of three source music tracks from the Carver party scenes, other alternate versions of tracks from the score, and a lovely smokier version of kd lang’s “Surrender”.

If you’ve ever enjoyed the music from this movie, whether in the previous releases, just by watching the film, or listening to the music-only track on the DVD/Blu-ray, you’ll surely find this is the soundtrack album you always wanted from it.

Forget the 1997 release altogether, and the 2000 release, while nice, pales by comparison. The Moby track has not been reinstated, but it was never part of the film anyway.

This is a supreme example of Arnold’s Bond scoring, and of Bond music in general, as well as a masterclass in how to assemble high-quality 25-years-later special editions that basically invalidate the previous releases not just by being newer but by being correct and thorough and as near to complete as can be. If you’re a Bond fan who enjoys Bond music, you need this, whether or not you have or had a previous release.

Verdict: This is definitive, and also thrilling, exciting and gorgeous.  A great marker for the film’s 25th anniversary, while it may not be the best ever Bond movie, this is totally the best ever Bond soundtrack release by a long, long way. 10/10

David A McIntee