James Bond music

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Since its inception in 1962, the James Bond film series from Eon Productions has featured many musical compositions, many of which are now considered classic pieces of British film music. The best known piece is the "James Bond Theme" composed by Monty Norman. Other instrumentals, such as "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and various songs performed by British or American artists such as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger", Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice", Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die", Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only", Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill", Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" also become identified with the series.

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Madonna's "Die Another Day" became a dance hit around the world, while "A View to a Kill" is the only Bond song to have reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Three Bond songs have won the Academy Award for Best Original Song: "Skyfall" by Adele, "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith and "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish, while Writing's on the Wall also became the first Bond theme to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart. [1]

"James Bond Theme"

The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since Dr. No , released in 1962. The piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in every Eon Bond film before Casino Royale .

"James Bond Is Back"

The briefest of "James Bond themes", this composition started off the "Opening Titles" music of From Russia with Love . It was heard in the On Her Majesty's Secret Service film trailer, [ citation needed ] as well as in the pre-title sequence of Tomorrow Never Dies . WLS (AM) used the theme in the mid-1960s for their secret agent radio serial "The Wild Adventures of Peter Fugitive" that appeared on "The Art Roberts Show". [2]

"007 Theme"

"007 Theme", also known as "007 Takes the Lektor", is an adventure theme composed by John Barry in 1963 for the Bond film From Russia with Love . [3] "The John Barry Seven" had pop chart hit with a cover version of Elmer Bernstein's theme to The Magnificent Seven that included seven beats repeated throughout the theme. Barry used seven beats throughout the "007 Theme".

It became a secondary theme for the Bond films, being used throughout the series, primarily during action scenes. Its most notable appearances are:

The theme has not been used in its entirety in a Bond film since its use in Moonraker .

This piece of music was also used by Al Primo, the news director at KYW-TV in Philadelphia for its long-time theme to Eyewitness News , and was adopted by other Group W stations in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Boston and San Francisco as well as other non-Group W stations, including WLS-TV in Chicago. The theme was also sampled by Big Audio Dynamite for the 1986 song "Sightsee M.C!"

"Suspense" motif

Like John Barry, David Arnold has left his own mark in the music of James Bond. In this case, he has established what can be called the "suspense motif", which is a descending, often repetitive four-note motif that can be heard in all of the Bond films he has scored. This motif can be heard in:

Composers (Eon Productions)

The largest contributions to the Bond films, save for the "James Bond Theme", are works from John Barry. Barry composed eleven Bond soundtracks and is credited with the creation of "007" (dominated by brass and percussion) and the popular orchestral theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service .

Next to Barry, David Arnold is the series' most regular composer. He composed the scores for five Bond films: Tomorrow Never Dies through Quantum of Solace . His orchestrations combined with electronic rhythm elements gave the Pierce Brosnan era its musical identity. Arnold was essentially Barry's anointed successor, Barry having recommended Arnold to Barbara Broccoli when she took over the Bond films from her father Albert R. Broccoli.

Other major composers and record-producers include George Martin, Bill Conti, Michael Kamen, Marvin Hamlisch, Éric Serra, Thomas Newman and Hans Zimmer. Each of these composed for only one Bond film, with the exception of Newman. The departures from John Barry had various causes; sometimes Barry declined in order to avoid paying double income tax—US and UK. Barry died in 2011. Sometimes the director of a Bond film had worked with the composer of his choice on other films – the latter happened to Thomas Newman with Skyfall and Spectre .

FilmYearScore composer
Dr. No 1962 Monty Norman
From Russia with Love 1963 John Barry
Goldfinger 1964
Thunderball 1965
You Only Live Twice 1967
On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969
Diamonds Are Forever 1971
Live and Let Die 1973 George Martin
The Man with the Golden Gun 1974 John Barry
The Spy Who Loved Me 1977 Marvin Hamlisch
Moonraker 1979 John Barry
For Your Eyes Only 1981 Bill Conti
Octopussy 1983 John Barry
A View to a Kill 1985
The Living Daylights 1987
Licence to Kill 1989 Michael Kamen
GoldenEye 1995 Éric Serra
Tomorrow Never Dies 1997 David Arnold
The World Is Not Enough 1999
Die Another Day 2002
Casino Royale 2006
Quantum of Solace 2008
Skyfall 2012 Thomas Newman
Spectre 2015
No Time to Die 2021 Hans Zimmer

Music from Eon Productions

Title themes

The "James Bond Theme" is the main theme for Dr. No , and has featured in all the Eon Productions Bond films in different versions. The theme has also featured on the gun barrel sequences at the beginning of the films. The original theme was written by Monty Norman, and was performed by John Barry and his orchestra in 1962. In the opening credits of Dr. No, two other pieces were played: an untitled bongo interlude and a Calypso-flavored rendition of "Three Blind Mice", titled "Kingston Calypso". Due to this, Dr. No is the only film to have more than one opening theme. The "James Bond Theme" reached No. 13 in the UK Singles Chart, and remained in the charts for 13 weeks. [4]

The opening credits of From Russia with Love were accompanied by an instrumental version of the main theme, arranged by John Barry and written by Lionel Bart. A single by The John Barry Orchestra reached No. 39 in the U.K. At the film's end, a vocal version by English singer Matt Monro is heard. This song spent 13 weeks in the U.K. charts, peaking at No. 20. [4]

Goldfinger was the third soundtrack composed by John Barry, and this time the theme song had lyrics written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. The soundtrack reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent 70 weeks on the charts. [5] It also peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart, [4] and received the Bond series first Grammy Award nomination, Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show. [6]

Welsh singer Shirley Bassey is the only singer to perform more than one Bond theme – she recorded the themes to Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. Bassey also recorded her own versions of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" for Thunderball and it was rumoured that "No Good About Goodbye" was intended for Quantum of Solace, however David Arnold said 'No Good About Goodbye' was never intended as a Bond song. [7]

Paul McCartney's performance of "Live and Let Die" was the first Bond theme song to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song; it reached No. 2 as a U.S. single, and No. 9 on the U.K. charts. [4] [5] George Martin's work in the song won the Grammy for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists. [8]

Marvin Hamlisch's (music) and Carole Bayer Sager's (lyrics) "Nobody Does It Better" (performed by Carly Simon) received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as did Bill Conti's "For Your Eyes Only", which was performed by Sheena Easton.

It was not until the 2013 Oscars that a Bond theme song finally won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the theme song from Skyfall by Adele. Thomas Newman's score also got the first nomination for Academy Award for Best Original Score in the series since Hamlisch's own for The Spy Who Loved Me, while winning the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. Adele's song also won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. [9] Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre and Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die" from the film of the same name would also win Oscars for Best Original Song.

Duran Duran and John Barry's "A View To A Kill" topped the singles charts in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the only Bond theme to hit No. 1 in the United States. [5] No James Bond theme had topped the charts in the UK until Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" entered the charts at number one on 2 October 2015. [10]

Several of the later films have alternative theme songs, often during the closing credits. The Living Daylights featured The Pretenders performing "If There Was a Man," composed by John Barry with Chrissie Hynde. Licence to Kill has "If You Asked Me To" sung by Patti LaBelle. GoldenEye featured Éric Serra's "The Experience of Love". Tomorrow Never Dies included k.d. lang's "Surrender" during the closing credits, a song which was originally proposed by composer David Arnold to be the title sequence theme instead of the Sheryl Crow title song. The "Surrender" theme is heard throughout the score while the melody of Sheryl Crow's song is not used again during the film. This harks back to the Thunderball soundtrack, where "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" was originally proposed as the opening credits music, only to be replaced by the eponymous title track as sung by Tom Jones. [11]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service featured an instrumental theme tune, something which remains unique amongst the post–From Russia with Love films, and included a vocal theme in the form of Louis Armstrong's performance of "We Have All the Time in the World", written by John Barry and Hal David.

FilmYearScore composerTitle songComposed byPerformed by UK peak
position
US peak
position
Dr. No
(soundtrack)
1962 Monty Norman "James Bond Theme" Monty Norman John Barry & Orchestra; Monty Norman 13
"Kingston Calypso

Arrangement of "Three Blind Mice"

Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
From Russia with Love
(soundtrack)
1963 John Barry "Opening Titles: James Bond Is Back/From Russia with Love/James Bond Theme" John Barry
Lionel Bart
Monty Norman
John Barry (title sequence)20
Goldfinger
(soundtrack)
1964"Goldfinger" Leslie Bricusse
Anthony Newley
John Barry
Shirley Bassey 218
Thunderball
(soundtrack)
1965"Thunderball" John Barry
Don Black
Tom Jones 3525
You Only Live Twice
(soundtrack)
1967"You Only Live Twice" John Barry
Leslie Bricusse
Nancy Sinatra (charted single is produced by Lee Hazlewood and arranged by Billy Strange and in marked contrast to soundtrack version)1144
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
(soundtrack)
1969"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" John Barry The John Barry Orchestra
Diamonds Are Forever
(soundtrack)
1971"Diamonds Are Forever" John Barry
Don Black
Shirley Bassey 3857
Live and Let Die
(soundtrack)
1973 George Martin "Live and Let Die" Paul McCartney
Linda McCartney
Paul McCartney & Wings 92
The Man with the Golden Gun
(soundtrack)
1974 John Barry "The Man with the Golden Gun" John Barry
Don Black
Lulu
The Spy Who Loved Me
(soundtrack)
1977 Marvin Hamlisch "Nobody Does It Better" Marvin Hamlisch
Carole Bayer Sager
Carly Simon 72
Moonraker
(soundtrack)
1979 John Barry "Moonraker" John Barry
Hal David
Shirley Bassey
For Your Eyes Only
(soundtrack)
1981 Bill Conti "For Your Eyes Only" Bill Conti
Mick Leeson
Sheena Easton 84
Octopussy
(soundtrack)
1983 John Barry "All Time High" John Barry
Tim Rice
Rita Coolidge 7536
A View to a Kill
(soundtrack)
1985"A View to a Kill" John Barry
Duran Duran
Duran Duran 21
The Living Daylights
(soundtrack)
1987"The Living Daylights" John Barry
Pål Waaktaar
A-ha 5
Licence to Kill
(soundtrack)
1989 Michael Kamen "Licence to Kill" Narada Michael Walden
Jeffrey Cohen
Walter Afanasieff
Gladys Knight 6
GoldenEye
(soundtrack)
1995 Éric Serra "GoldenEye" Bono
The Edge
Tina Turner 10102 [12]
Tomorrow Never Dies
(soundtrack)
1997 David Arnold "Tomorrow Never Dies" Sheryl Crow
Mitchell Froom
Sheryl Crow 12
The World Is Not Enough
(soundtrack)
1999"The World Is Not Enough" David Arnold
Don Black
Garbage 11
Die Another Day
(soundtrack)
2002"Die Another Day" Madonna
Mirwais Ahmadzaï
Madonna 38
Casino Royale
(soundtrack)
2006"You Know My Name" David Arnold
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell 779
Quantum of Solace
(soundtrack)
2008"Another Way to Die" Jack White Jack White
Alicia Keys
981
Skyfall
(soundtrack)
2012 Thomas Newman "Skyfall" Adele
Paul Epworth
Adele 28
Spectre
(soundtrack)
2015"Writing's on the Wall"
Sam Smith
Jimmy Napes
Sam Smith 171
No Time to Die
(soundtrack)
2021 Hans Zimmer "No Time to Die" Billie Eilish
Finneas O'Connell
Billie Eilish 116

Secondary songs

A number of Bond films include one (or more) additional songs in the soundtrack. Some of these pieces of music, such as "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong, have gone on to become as well known as the main themes, while other songs remain exclusively linked to the film in which they appear.

FilmTitleYearPerformed by
Dr. No "Jump Up!"
"Three Blind Mice1"
"Jamaican Rock"
"Under the Mango Tree"

1 'Three Blind Mice' is a.k.a. the 'Kingston Calypso'

1962 Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
Monty Norman
Diana Coupland
From Russia with Love "From Russia with Love" (End Credits)1963 Matt Monro
Thunderball "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"1965 Dionne Warwick
and another version by Shirley Bassey
(not on soundtrack, only instrumental version appears in film)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service "We Have All the Time in the World"
"Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?"
1969 Louis Armstrong
Nina
For Your Eyes Only "Make It Last All Night"1981Rage
A View to a Kill "California Girls" (not on soundtrack)1985 Gidea Park
The Living Daylights "Where Has Everybody Gone?"
"If There Was a Man"
1987 The Pretenders
Licence to Kill "If You Asked Me To"
"Wedding Party"
"Dirty Love"
1989 Patti LaBelle
Ivory
Tim Feehan
GoldenEye "The Experience of Love"
"James Bond Theme" (GoldenEye trailer version)
1995 Éric Serra
Starr Parodi and Jeff Fair (used in teasers, not in film)
Tomorrow Never Dies "Surrender"
"James Bond Theme"
1997 k.d. lang
Moby (trailer music)
The World Is Not Enough "Only Myself to Blame"
"James Bond Theme" (End Title)
"Sweetest Coma Again" (Japanese End Title)
1999 Scott Walker (original end credits song, not in film)
David Arnold (not on soundtrack)
Luna Sea (only on Japanese soundtrack)
Die Another Day "London Calling"
"James Bond Theme (Bond vs. Oakenfold)"
2002 The Clash (not on soundtrack)
Paul Oakenfold (trailer music)
No Time to Die "We Have All the Time in the World"2021 Louis Armstrong

Foreign songs

Some songs have been dubbed for the foreign versions of the films.

FilmOriginal titleTranslated titlePerformerCountry
From Russia with Love"From Russia with Love""Bons baisers de Russie"
"Die Wolga ist weit" (not on DVD releases)
Bob Asklof
Ruth Berlé
France
Germany
On Her Majesty's Secret Service"Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?""Savez-vous ce qu'il faut au sapin de Noël?"
"Wovon träumt ein Weihnachtsbaum im Mai?" (on German DVD releases)
Isabelle Aubret
Katja Ebstein
France
Germany
Diamonds Are Forever"Diamonds Are Forever""Vivo di diamanti" Shirley Bassey Italy

Additional music

FilmTitleScore composer
The Spy Who Loved Me"Lawrence of Arabia Theme"
"Doctor Zhivago Theme" (Music box)
"Concerto for Piano N°21" (Elvira Madigan) – Andante
"Air on the G String"
Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Johann Sebastian Bach
Moonraker"Close Encounters of the Third Kind Theme"
"The Magnificent Seven Theme"
"Prelude No. 15 (Raindrop prelude)"
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka
Romeo and Juliet Overture
John Williams
Elmer Bernstein
Frédéric Chopin
Johann Strauss II
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
A View to a Kill"The Four Seasons"
"Swan Lake"
Antonio Vivaldi
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Living Daylights"40th Symphony in G minor" (1st movement)
"Finale-Act II-Le Nozze di Figaro"
"String Quartet in D major"
"Variations on a Rococo Theme"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Alexander Borodin
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

GoldenEye"Stand By Your Man" (Minnie Driver) Billy Sherrill / Tammy Wynette
Tomorrow Never Dies"It Had to Be You" (Instrumental) Gus Kahn / Isham Jones

Non-Eon Productions songs

Main title themes

FilmYearScore composerTitle songPerformed by
Casino Royale 1967 Burt Bacharach "Casino Royale" Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Never Say Never Again 1983 Michel Legrand "Never Say Never Again" Lani Hall

Secondary songs

FilmTitleYearPerformed by
Casino Royale "The Look of Love"

"Dream on James, You're Winning"

1967 Dusty Springfield

Mike Redway

Never Say Never Again "Une Chanson d'Amour"1983 Sophie Della

Unused songs

A number of songs have been recorded for Bond films but not used.

Cover versions and spin-offs

Bond music has inspired a number of cover albums in a variety of genres, including the 2007 album Mister Bond – A Jazzy Cocktail of Ice Cold Themes (lounge) and Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project , the latter of which features David Arnold collaborating with several contemporary artists. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra recorded several albums with Bond music and performs in premieres and special events of Bond films. Britain's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra released an album of several Bond songs performances called Best Of James Bond, some of which were used on the menus of "Ultimate Edition" DVD releases. Billy Strange released "Secret Agent File" in 1965. In 2004, The Cavaliers played a show titled 007 using Bond music such as "GoldenEye", "For Your Eyes Only", "Live and Let Die", "Hovercraft Chase", "Welcome to Cuba" and "Paris and Bond". Some of them are Italo disco-like rhythms and soundtrack albums promote hits that matches the film's theme. In 2000 'An Electronika Tribute to James Bond' album was released adding yet another genre to the Bond fandom.

TitlePerformer(s)
"James Bond Theme" Billy Strange
Neil Norman
The Art of Noise
Naked City
The Skatalites
The Selecter
Bond
Count Basie
Moby
LTJ Bukem
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Soft Cell
The Ventures
Alizée (Sample in the song "J.B.G.")
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Leningrad Cowboys
Hank Marvin (as part of a medley)
"From Russia with Love" Natacha Atlas
Count Basie
Thomas Lang
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Hank Marvin (as part of a medley)
"Goldfinger" Count Basie
Billy Strange
Bébé
Anthony Newley (original demo recording)
Magazine
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Leningrad Cowboys
Hank Marvin
Alan Partridge
Chaka Khan
"Thunderball" Martin Fry
Mr. Bungle
Shirley Bassey
The Kingpins
Guy Lombardo
Billy Strange
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
"You Only Live Twice" Soft Cell
Mark Burgess
Björk
Coldplay
Natacha Atlas
Robbie Williams (Sample in the song "Millennium")
Shirley Bassey
Trashcan Sinatras
Billy Strange
Eddie Peregrina
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Billy Mackenzie
Hank Marvin (as part of a medley)
Mark Lanegan
"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" Propellerheads
Vernian Process
Hank Marvin (as part of a medley)
The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra
"We Have All the Time in the World" Fun Lovin' Criminals
The Pale Fountains
Iggy Pop
My Bloody Valentine
The Puppini Sisters
"Diamonds Are Forever" David McAlmont
Arctic Monkeys
Kanye West (Sample in the song "Diamonds from Sierra Leone")
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Chaka Khan
"Live and Let Die" Chrissie Hynde
Escala
Guns N' Roses
Geri Halliwell
Lizzy Borden
Butch Walker
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Hank Marvin
"The Man with the Golden Gun" Emilíana Torrini
Funkstar De Luxe
Thin White Rope
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
"Nobody Does It Better" Radiohead
Aimee Mann
8mm
Alan Partridge
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
"Moonraker" Shara Nelson
Neil Norman
"For Your Eyes Only" Thomas Anders
Edenbridge
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
"All Time High" Pulp
"A View to a Kill" Diablo
Leningrad Cowboys
Lostprophets
Northern Kings
Shirley Bassey
Tape Five (ft. Iain Mackenzie)
"The Living Daylights" The Narrow
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Cassandra Steen
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Soho Strings
Ian Rich Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
London Starlight Orchestra
"Licence to Kill" Count Basic
"If You Asked Me To" Patti LaBelle
"GoldenEye" Wise Guys
Bono (original demo recording)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Tina Arena
Nicole Scherzinger
"Tomorrow Never Dies" Uwe Kröger
"The World Is Not Enough" Jackie Moore
"You Know My Name" Poets of the Fall
"Skyfall" Within Temptation
Vitas
"Writing's On the Wall" Conchita Wurst

Video games

With the increase in audio quality for video game consoles and personal computers, in addition to the continued popularity of computer and video games, publisher Electronic Arts as well as Activision (since 2008) has included opening themes and film-style credit sequences to some of its more recent Bond video games & spin offs.

Video gameYearScore composerTitle songPerformed by
GoldenEye 007 1997 Graeme Norgate and Grant Kirkhope "The James Bond Theme"
Tomorrow Never Dies 1999 Tommy Tallarico "Tomorrow Never Dies" Sheryl Crow
The World Is Not Enough (Nintendo 64 and PlayStation)2000Neil Baldwin (Nintendo 64) and Don Veca (PlayStation)
Agent Under Fire 2001Don Veca"The James Bond Theme"
Nightfire 2002Steve Duckworth, Ed Lima, Jeff Tymoschuk "Nearly Civilized" Esthero
Everything or Nothing 2004 Sean Callery, Jeff Tymoschuk "Everything or Nothing" Mýa
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent 2004 Paul Oakenfold "If You're Gonna..." Natasha Bedingfield
From Russia with Love 2005 Christopher Lennertz "From Russia with Love" (instrumental remix) John Barry
Quantum of Solace 2008 Christopher Lennertz "When Nobody Loves You" Kerli
GoldenEye 007 2010 David Arnold, Kevin Kiner"GoldenEye" Nicole Scherzinger
Blood Stone 2010 Richard Jacques "I'll Take It All" Joss Stone
007 Legends 2012 David Arnold, Kevin Kiner"Goldfinger" (instrumental remix) David Arnold

Novels

The 2008 continuation novel Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks was the first James Bond novel to receive its own theme song. Also called "Devil May Care", the song was written and recorded by Cardiff band SAL and was available on the UK audiobook release of the novel. [22]

See also

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The James Bond series of films contain a number of repeating, distinctive motifs which date from the series' inception with Dr. No in 1962. The series consists of twenty five films produced by Eon Productions featuring the James Bond character, a fictional British Secret Service agent. The most recent instalment is No Time to Die, released in UK cinemas on 30 September 2021. There have also been two independently made features, the satirical Casino Royale, released in 1967, and the 1983 film Never Say Never Again.

<i>Skyfall</i> (soundtrack) 2012 soundtrack album by Thomas Newman

Skyfall: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 23rd James Bond film of the same name. Released by Sony Classical on 29 October 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2012 in the United States, the music was composed by Thomas Newman. This is Newman's first Bond soundtrack, making him the ninth composer to score a Bond film. The score won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. In 2013, it became one of two Bond scores to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The other to be nominated was the score from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

<i>Spectre</i> (2015 film) James Bond film

Spectre is a 2015 spy film and the twenty-fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. Directed by Sam Mendes and written by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth from a story conceived by Logan, Purvis, and Wade, it stars Daniel Craig as Bond, alongside Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, and Ralph Fiennes. It was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. In the film, Bond battles Spectre, an international crime organisation led by Franz Oberhauser (Waltz).

<i>Spectre</i> (soundtrack) 2015 soundtrack album by Thomas Newman

Spectre: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 24th James Bond film of the same name. Released by Universal Music Classics on 23 October 2015 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2015 in the United States, the music was composed by Thomas Newman, who previously composed the soundtrack of the 23rd Bond film Skyfall, making him the third composer after John Barry and David Arnold to score more than one film in the series. The film's theme song "Writing's on the Wall" performed by Sam Smith is the fourth theme song that doesn't feature the title of its film in the lyrics. It is also the third song after "You Know My Name" (2006) and "Skyfall" (2012) that did not appear on the film's official soundtrack album.

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