Moonraker


Capitol/EMI Records (0724354142529)
Movie | Release date: 02/25/2003 | Film release: 1979 | Format: CD, Download
 

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# Track Artist/Composer Duration
1.MoonrakerShirley Bassey3:12
2.Space Laser Battle2:50
3.Miss Goodhead Meets Bond2:49
4.Cable Car - Snake Fight3:10
5.Bond Lured to Pyramid2:06
6.Flight into Space6:33
7.Bond Arrives in Rio - Boat Chase2:39
8.Centrifuge and Corrinne Put Down2:38
9.Bond Smells a Rat2:26
10.End TitleShirley Bassey2:30
 30:52
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Moonraker - 08/10 - Review of Tom Daish, submitted at
One of the better Roger Moore Bonds, Moonraker made some rather obvious attempts to cash in on the success of Star Wars by taking Bond into space. It still contained its fair share of Earth bound adventures and a great villain/henchman in Richard Kiel's Jaws. The score is one of John Barry's more sedate Bond efforts and one of the earlier scores to echo his broad style of recent years. Even tracks that sound as though they should be exciting such as Space Lazer Battle are taken at a very leisurely pace.
The highlight of the album is undoubtedly the extended Flight Into Space which takes the well known chord progressions of the Bond theme and twists them around, adds a choir and turns into something of an imposing set piece. It more resembles The Lion in Winter than Bond, but Barry was obviously feeling the need for more drama and less of the Mickey Mousing he was undoubtedly a little bored of providing. The cue gets quite intense and faintly apocalyptic, but is turned a little more uplifting midway with a gorgeous melody performed on horns then brass. Perhaps the most typical cue is Bond Arrives in Rio, with its on location 'exotic' guitar riffs, but even this contains a background choir which ought not to work, but does admirably. Barry's 007 action motif is put to brief, but good use in Boat Chase which makes up the second half of the cue. The score is quite notable for not featuring the Bond theme at all, although I imagine it must crop up in the film at least once or twice.

The title song isn't one of the most memorable of Barry's, but is still a great effort and given a slightly more restrained than usual performance by the ever reliable Shirley Bassey. About the only misstep on the entire album is the pretty dire disco version End Title rendition. I can't imagine how it could have sounded good in 1979 and even if it did, it sounds awful and horrendously dated today, spoiling an otherwise perfectly acceptable song. Not a particularly typical Bond score, but if you're a fan of Barry's broader and more romantic style, it's likely to appeal much more than many of his other Bond efforts. I don't know how much other music the film contains, but an expanded release would be most welcome and improvement in the sound wouldn't go amiss either. Compared to other scores recorded around the same time, it is pretty disappointing aurally sounding about ten years older than it actually is. Still, one of Barry's best Bond scores and only loosing points for the disco version and the lousy production on the album.

Other releases of Moonraker (1979):

Moonraker (1979)
Moonraker (1988)
Moonraker (1999)
Moonraker (2012)

Soundtracks from the collection: James Bond

Best of Bond... James Bond, The (2002)
View to a Kill, A (2003)
Man With the Golden Gun, The (1988)
Diamonds Are Forever (1999)
Goldfinger (1963)
Living Daylights, The (2003)
Man With the Golden Gun, The (2003)
Goldfinger (1991)
Never Say Never Again (1993)
Operation Tonnerre (1965)


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