On Her Majesty's Secret Service [Remaster] by Original Soundtrack (CD, Feb-2003, Capitol/EMI Records)

it's the best score of John Barry, the best score for all bond movies ! The best music for the best film, a real pleasure, from the first plage to the last. Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood !

John Barry, the composer of this score, virtually went over the top with this one. With Hal David he penned what is in my opinion the most romantic and pensive song of the Bond series. "We have all the time in the world", that's the title of the song, was performed by Louis Armstrong. It wasn't used as the title music. They took instead one of the all time killer action themes for the titles, "On Majesty's Secret Service". Both themes are used throughout the score in many different versions. And, for the first time, you have with this remastered and expanded CD edition even more music actually used in the film, even some outtakes are on it. Unfortunately, the complete score is too long to find on one CD. So there's still some music missing, not much, but a couple of minutes for a bonus program on a second disc would be a collector's dream come true!

The original album with about 37 minutes of music is a classic on its own right. For completists and friends of cracking 60's albums, I really recommend to keep both, the old album and the new one. Because you won't get the same. Besides of the extra music, the tracks are differently assembled even though they are still labelled the same. Of course, the sound mixing is also slightly different.

It's an amazing score for a somehow ill-fated movie, but well worth all your attention!

OHMSS is likely the finest music John Barry ever wrote and conducted. The layering and textureing of sound, the drive of the music is the most surrounding and complete of any of the Bond flicks. No one could leave the theatre with out humming the theme. It is the best of the Bond music for what has belatedly been seen as the best of the Bond movies. This remastering does a wonderful job of bringing out the layering and "feel" of the music.