Customer Reviews

Diamonds Are Forever: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

John Barry returns again with another masterpiece. Shirley Bassey for her second time performs the title song with sensational class and charm. Don Black returns with the title song lyrics. This soundtrack also features the classic "007" theme with track To Hell with Blofeld. Also heavily featured on this CD is quite a lot of lounge Las Vegas music such as tracks Circus Circus and Tiffany Case. There are also two Diamonds are Forever instrumental tracks that are featured on this soundtrack. All in all, one of the best 007 soundtracks and throughly enjoyable.

This excellent CD can be summed up in two words: woefully incomplete.

Perhaps some of John Barry's best work on the Bond series, "Diamonds'" music accurately captures the hazed, odd quality of this movie that makes it one of the most fascinating 007 outings. Shirley Bassey's rapturous title track makes it on this album in its luxurious entirety, along with two other versions (one in Tiffany's flat, the other from the Whyte House) that are equally entrancing. The satellite theme "007 and Counting" makes it here in grand form, and Barry fans will be delighted with the interpretation of Barry's own Bond theme in "To Hell with Blofeld" to close the CD. Also don't miss "Moon Buggy Ride" which has something for everyone: a light, lilting romp, a bombastic chase, and then the lustrous, lascivious sax tones of the title, all rolled into one great track -- and "Q's Trick", an entertaining jingle with a compelling sweet swing.

Now, the bad news: about half the film music didn't make it (a sin when the CD is barely 35 minutes long). Particularly egregious is the complete omission of the pre-title music and almost none of the fight cues, and the absolutely fabulous Wint and Kidd theme is relegated to a bare minute-and-a-half on track 5 "Death at the Whyte House" and a miniature cue on track 8. Bond's stroll around the Whyte House also failed to appear, and there is no Norman Bond theme except for a snippet on track 2. Sacrilege! You can get an almost perfect version of the Wint/Kidd theme on "Bond Back in Action" if you're really desperate (I was), but the rest is seemingly lost unless MGM relents and releases a remaster.

Even as it is, this is great stuff, and worthy of your CD player and hard-earned dollars. But can we please get the rest of the music? Please?

This is one of my favorite James Bond Soundtracks. The score for DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER left me slightly shaken and definitely stirred. That was in December 1971. I remember getting the soundtrack album for Christmas. The soundtrack album: that was about the only thing I thought was good about this film. It sounded great. It sounded sharp, clean and crisp. Technically it was the best recording on LP I had ever heard. However good the recording sounded, the music was a departure to what John Barry had been writing for the Bond films up to that point. John Barry's score was much more lightweight, not in substance, but in sound. He appropriately reflected the tone of the film. The string and percussion sections are much more prominent here than in earlier Bond films. He obviously conceded to many of the demands of director Guy Hamilton for delivering a score light to the ear. Actually, it is one of his better Bond scores. It has sort of a magical and glistening quality about it and is much more complex than given credit for. Yet one can not help but think that all the key filmmakers of the Bond series just wanted to wipe the slate clean after ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE.

The first six Bond films were played straight. If there was any comedy at all it was delivered in a very subtle and sophisticated manner. It was never diverting or done at the expense of the story line. It was always peripheral to the scene and meant to enhance the scene, not be the focus of it. In fact all the humor of the first six Bond films usually emanated from James Bond himself. He frequently threw off paradoxical droll commentaries to accentuate the scene at hand, but always took his job seriously and was dedicated to the bitter end of each assignment. The music in this film bolstered the new direction. Take Track-12: "To Hell With Blofeld" and you can hear the lightweight tone that Barry used for Bond's final confrontation with Blofeld on the oilrig. Here Barry reverted back to his 007 theme, which he had used to better dramatic effect in THUNDERBALL. Track-3: "Moon Buggy Ride" is extremely lightweight as Bond is chased across the desert outside Las Vegas by Willard Whyte's guards.

Track-1: "Diamonds Are Forever" the Main Title Song sung by Shirley Bassey is fantastic and is a much better recording than the one presented over Maurice Binder's credits in the actual film. You can really hear the power behind Bassey's voice on this album. The villains in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER with the exception of Joe Robinson as Peter Franks, never present any real threat. They seem to be there for the sole purpose of getting some chuckles like performers in a vaudeville act. Yet in Track-2: "Bond Meets Bambi and Thumper" Barry gives us one of the best cuts from any Bond soundtrack. This is pure Bond full of atmosphere and the Bond mystique as Sean Connery enters Willard Whyte's desert home and is greeted by Bambi and Thumper. This one Track is worth the price of the album. It seems as though this piece was written specifically for Connery.

Many Bond fans were not pleased with Charles Gray's performance as Blofeld. He was not the same Blofeld we saw, or didn't see in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, THUNDERBALL or YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. He was closer to Telly Savalas' Blofeld in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE but infinitely much more sophisticated. Given the tone of this film Gray's performance was on target. Track-5: "Death at the Whyte House" is pure atmosphere and sophistication as Bond and Blofeld come face to face in a duel of words. Bruce Glover as Mister Wint and Putter Smith as Mister Kidd, Blofeld's henchmen, are not even pale shadows to Robert Shaw's Red Grant or Harold Sakata's Oddjob yet in Track-8: "Bond Smells a Rat" we hear an imaginative arrengent as they leave Bond to be literally buried alive. Barry returned to a stylistic space march similar to that used in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE in Track-10: "007 and Counting" used as Blofeld's satellite fires a laser beam powered by stolen diamonds around the globe knocking out military targets.

For the Las Vegas scenes Barry seems intrigued by the glamour and glitter of the casinos. Track-4: "Circus, Circus" and Track-11: "Q's Trick" are great examples of the alluring beauty and swing of the gambling tables and machines. Track-6: "Diamonds Are Forever" is a reflective after dinner instrumental rendition used in the suit at the Whyte House reserved by Felix Leiter for Bond and Tiffany Case.

Some great Source Music is heard on Track-9: "Tiffany Case" used for the initial meeting between Tiffany Case and James Bond disguised as Peter Franks. Track-7: "Diamonds Are Forever" is a beautiful instrumental rendition heard on board the ocean liner just before Mister Wint and Kidd wish to leave them in piece. All in all this is a great sounding album worth many repeated a listening. One of the best and it has a nice cover too.

I really enjoyed this cd. Some reviewers say that the tracks get boring or whatever, but they don't. And I feel that the two instrumental versions of "Diamonds Are Forever" are fine. I like the jazzy-feel of this cd. One of my favorite tracks is #4, "Circus, Circus." I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this track in their reviews. Anyway, the reason it only gets four is because they left several good tracks out on this cd. The music itself is worth five stars.

Although this album does lack some of the better moments in the film the music still stands alone from anything else and although not being the perfect representation of the film the music is so typically bond you have to love it. Out of the many films barry scored Diamonds are forever has the most characteristic and enjoyable no-nonsense music in any of the bond series

Diamonds are Forever has some great music in it... so buy the video. The soundtrack is just NOT a good representation of what John Barry did for the film. It lacks all the interesting cues (Bond goes to the mortuary; Bond on the hovercraft; Wint and Kitt... the list is endless) and instead they pumped it full of non-interesting tracks such as 3 different versions of the title song, another version of 007, and the Tiffany Case tune (the dullest song John Barry ever wrote). Better wait until Rykodisk or someone else re-issues it with about 25 bonus tracks... Don't buy this one (that'll teach them). Two stars for "007 and counting" and "Circus Circus".

I'm a John Barry (and James Bond) fan from way back, and have even interviewed him and visited the sets of both "The Spy Who Loved Me" as well as "Diamonds Are Forever." The best parts of the score from this film are missing from this release. The theme song is great, Don Black's lyric is great (as usual), Shirley Bassey is always a wonderful welcome, and the "007 and counting" space march theme is highly evocative. I just wish they'd have included the fight music, as well as the other missing cues. The film itself was Connery's worst Bond, but even that's more entertaining than your average film. As for John Barry, well, nobody does it better...

Diamonds are Forever has some great music in it... so buy the video. The soundtrack is just NOT a good representation of what John Barry did for the film. It lacks all the interesting cues (Bond goes to the mortuary; Bond on the hovercraft; Wint and Kitt... the list is endless) and instead they pumped it full of non-interesting tracks such as 3 different versions of the title song, another version of 007, and the Tiffany Case tune (the dullest song John Barry ever wrote). Better wait until Rykodisk or someone else re-issues it with about 25 bonus tracks... Don't buy this one (that'll teach them). Two stars for "007 and counting" and "Circus Circus".

DIAMONDS ARE FOEVER is one of my favorite James Bond Soundtracks. Even though much lighter sounding than its predecessors, this is one of the better James Bond soundtracks composed by John Barry. It has a shimmering sound much like that of John Barry's GOLDFINGER. Track-2: "Bond Meets Bambi and Thumper" is one of the best cuts on this soundtrack full of that inscrutable James Bond magic established by John Barry for Sean Connery and it actually sounds better than the re-mastered version. Track-5: "Death at the Whyte House" is full of atmosphere and elegance as Bond and Blofeld finally confront each other. It is a very thought provoking piece. Track-4: "Circus, Circus" is very glamorous matching the beauty of the female performers high above the gambling tables. Track-7: The instrumental "Diamonds Are Forever" is an exquisite rendition of the main theme and goes to prove that all that glitters is not just gold. John Barry's Diamonds Are Forever.

I am noticing alot of redundance in the use of laid back instrumentals and not enough action music. Three versions of "Diamonds are forever" , One as sung By Shirley Bassey, Plus a piece called "Q's Trick" and "Tiffany Case". I'm sure John Barry did his best tyo round off the instrumentals but he couldve taken out several of those and included "Death of Wint & Kidd" or "Fight In The Elevator". I think its one of those rare situations where they should've made a two disc set of some soundtrack recordings. I can think of at least 6 great sections of music from the film that they couldve included if they made a second record of it. ... There are still some great pieces on the album, "The Moon Buggy Chase", "Bond At the Whyte House", and "007 & Counting". But why do they always assume they must play the theme song a trillion times on a recording for it to be any good? Couldn't they have at least lopped off a version of the instrumental song so they could add some new and interesting music? What happens to all that other music that , while still not marketable for most humans, still comes across as more exciting than hearing the main song over and over? Anyway its an ok soundtrack, but a bit too repetitious on the lounge instrumentals.