The 007 music thread

[MacNimon]

We've done various polls over the years regarding our favourite 007 songs. I think it's about time to revisit the subject, but give it a little twist. Each week, I'll pick a few 007 songs/instrumentals (title tracks or otherwise) each with something in common and simply line them up against each other. Where possible I'll put up a link to a video on YouTube.

So to kick things off, this week it's a straight choice...which is your favourite Casino Royale theme...

Burt Bacharach/Herb Alpert from 1967

or

Chris Cornell from 2006

[Dino]

Chris Cornell tries to be the hardest James Bond theme ever. I'm really impressed it even knocks "Live And Let Die" down a notch.
And yet, despite the seriously poor sound quality in the other clip, "Casino Royale" gets my vote for sheer melody. And 1.16 gear change.
Only wished You Tube had a clip with a better sound quality to do it justice?

[MacNimon]

I agree. Cornell's certainly sounds more like a 'typical' Bond song, if there is such a thing, but maybe with a harder edge to suit the mood of the film. I like it a lot.

But still, I have to agree with you in your choice of the original...it's simply such a catchy, cheerful little tune which never fails to lift my spirits. Fair enough, the film may be a spoof but the theme tune catches the mood perfectly. Brilliant stuff!

A much better quality audio (without the title sequence) can be found here.

[Dino]

The next poll should be the "Battle of the Bassey". Diamonds, Goldfinger and even Moonraker! (have I missed any out?)

[MacNimon]

The next poll should be the "Battle of the Bassey". Diamonds, Goldfinger and even Moonraker! (have I missed any out?)

That's one of several I've thought of! Whether it's next week or not will simply depend on what I fancy at the time...

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Like the film in general, that 1967 theme is awful

[Darren]

Casino Royale (1967) isn't a real Bond film.

[SiHart]

The Chris Cornell theme is one of my favourite Bond themes. It's really strong but definitely in keeping with the best of the Bond themes. It helped that it was accompanied by a really strong set of visuals as well at the top of the film.

The Herb Alpert one is lovely, but it's not really a Bond theme in the way we understand them. I have a CD of the soundtrack actually and it's lovely stuff, but it's not Bond-y enough.

Si xx

[SiHart]

Great idea for a poll BTW Kenny! I suspect there'll be some difficult choices coming up in the next few rounds...

Si xx

[MacNimon]

I've got to admit that I really like both tracks here, and it was very hard to choose from two completely different sounding tracks. But I think nostalgia (with the music at any rate, if not the actual film itself) won it for me.

Some of the polls I've been thinking of should be quite interesting, concentrating on the music itself rather than the films - it doesn't matter how good or bad the films in question may be, it's just the music we'll be dealing with here. There will be some really strong songs/tracks pitted against each other, some similar to each other and some very different as in this case.

[Jeff]

It may not have been official, and it may not have been that great, but wow did it ever have some star power.

Voted for Cornell btw.