Shaken & Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project

David Arnold | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 2, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sire / London/Rhino
• ASIN: B000003MSM
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,956 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Diamonds Are Forever

2. Nobody Does It Better

3. Space March

4. All Time High

5. Moonraker

6. The James Bond Theme

7. Live and Let Die

8. Thunderball

9. From Russia With Love

10. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

11. We Have All the Time in the World

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes Shaken...Often Just Stirred, June 13, 2000

By 

C. Michael Massey "litterateur" (St. Louis, Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shaken & Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project (Audio CD)

I think this is a great album, but have to admit that, for the most part, Arnold doesn't do anything too radical with these classic James Bond themes. Instead, most of the album (7 of the 11 songs) is pretty traditional, molding original compositions to contemporary electronic styles without any particularly ingenious interpretation in the vocals.

Songs like David McAlmont's "Diamonds Are Forever," Shara Nelson's "Moonraker," Martin Fry's "Thunderball," and Iggy Pop's "We Have All the Time in the World" seemed pretty much as they did back in the seventies and eighties with Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, and Louis Armstrong singing them. Others, like Aimee Mann's "Nobody Does It Better" (one of my favorite Bond themes), and Natacha Atlas' "From Russia With Love" actually seem a little weak and seem to *lose* something in their new skins.

On the other hand, Chrissie Hynde seems to breathe a little (but not too much) new energy into the now oft-played "Live and Let Die" and Pulp does a nice-sounding rendition of "All Time High" that's a lot less fluffy sounding than the original.

What I *can* credit Arnold with is collecting some great instrumental interpretations of traditional Bond themes. Leftfield does a great play on "Space March," LTJ Bukem does a smooth (if a little monotonous) version of "The James Bond Theme," and the Propellorheads spin an awesome take on "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (which includes a short bit of "Space March" in it). If you're a Bond music enthusiast at all, you'd buy it just for these three awesome tracks, which are a perfect blend of 60s pop bases with millenium-era electronic and hip hop sensibilities.

Regardless of the few somewhat lame songs, this is definitely worth your time for the three instrumentals, if nothing else. Arnold has done a great job composing for the last two Bond flicks and this shows his talent and enthusiasm for the project before it began.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good CD if you're planning a James Bond party, November 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shaken & Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project (Audio CD)

Bond goes Techno-pop. I enjoy a little more than half of the tracks on this CD. Great for my Bond party, but I doubt I'll keep this CD in regular rotation otherwise. It is a good companion to the 30th Anniversary Bond CD, and it's worthwhile for diehard Bond fans to add to their collection.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Arnold does it again., September 23, 2001

By 

Josh Swanner (Baltimore Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shaken & Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project (Audio CD)

I'm a big James Bond fan, and i have a very big collection of James Bond music. This cd is definetly good for any James Bond collection, or just to listen to. David Arnold does a great job with the songs. OHMSS is definatley the best song on it. Nobody does it better is ok. I did excpect more from it. All time high was one of my favorites, and on this cd it is one of the best. Live and Let Die, Diamonds are forever, and We have all the time in the world are also very good. The James Bond Theme was ok. It really didn't have much of the theme as OHMSS did. I hope you enjoy this cd as much as i have!