From Russia With Love Soundtrack

John Barry's association with James Bond began with his arrangement and production of the James Bond Theme (attributed to Monte Norman) for "Dr No" (1962), an otherwise very ordinary score. "From Russia With Love" (1963) was Barry's first full score for the Bond series, and it is amazingly rich and varied. Barry's skill at weaving local and exotic idioms into his scores is evident here with some Turkish and Gypsy touches. The title song was written by Lionel Bart and works much better as an instrumental arranged by Barry than as a vocal (sung by Matt Munro). Note that the opening credits uses Barry's version, while the vocal is delegated to background music later in the film ("Goldfinger" actually established the Bond tradition of the vocal title). Barry also introduced his own James Bond theme, "007," in this film which appears in several of the Bond films but never quite replaced the original Norman-Barry theme. Barry was an emerging talent with "From Russia With Love," but his skills are unmistakable integrating suspense, action, menace and romance as few film composers can. Barry seems to have a special liking for the pre-title sequences since some of his most memorable Bond music appears in them, and that is true here as well with "Stalking," the intriguing opening that suggests for a moment that 007 has been strangled, a scene that is subtly accentuated by Barry. Most of Barry's score is included on the soundtrack with the exception of the "train music" which is to be found, in brief form, on Nic Raines' "Bond Back in Action" ("The Zagreb Express"). In many ways the soundtrack recording works better than the score on the screen since some of the music is repeated in what is sometimes an annoying manner in the film. It is said that the film editor was to blame, rather than Barry. Sadly, Barry ended his relationship with the 007 series after "The Living Daylights," but his imprint remains on all of the Bond films. John Barry's style, which came into full flower with "From Russia With Love," has become as much of an artistic trademark for the series as the "007" logo.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is a no-nonsense Bond film in the tradition of the Ian Fleming novels. The FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE soundtrack is an example of exceptional film scoring and a very satisfying album drawing on all the elements of the film's score to deliver an experience that musically runs the gamut of rhythm, romance, intrigue and flavorful vignettes of the film's locale that seems to go in tandem with Fleming's literary sense for these elements. John Barry began his "official" scoring duties in tandem with his screen credit on FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE bringing a highly recognizable and definitive substantiating sound to the Bond series that distinguished it with his unique and inimitable musical style. That has been a hallmark, which brings a cohesive quality to the whole series even in Barry's absence. John Barry not only firmly incorporated his prowess as a film composer with this soundtrack but also demonstrated his ability to establish his own unique sound on compositions composed by others. "From Russia With Love" from track 1 and "Bond Meets Tania" from track 6, with a melody composed by Lionel Bart, inimitably have that "Barry Sound" stamped on them. Once again Barry also demonstrated his unique musical handling of "The James Bond Theme" on track 14 with "James Bond With Bongos" while his "007 Theme" heard on tracks 7 and 18 bring a staccato and drive to the force of this James Bond classic. The re-mastering is good eliminating much of the background tape hiss. This recording sounds very good.

Two important & great songs are not on the disc & should be as bonus tracks.007From Russia With LoveThese songs were issued as a 45rpm in America on Mercury & in England on Ember007 features the guitar of Vic Flick (I believe)& From Russia With Love is a very intense version.They are mono & you can get the songs on disc:BIG SOUND: Ember Soundtracks and ThemesI try and get all these funky versions on 45rpm which is Mercury 77261 white label promo[...]007 on the flip side is not off Dr. No (that is a mistake)

Was most disappointed...only purchased it becaues the description gave a longer time/length of ablum only to discover it is EXACTLY THE SAME AS I ALREADY HAVE. There was no difference in the timing...Better acuracy need to be put in the descritption...returned item for refund

This is the first Bond film to have John Barry at the helm and it is fantastic.This version is the same as the original LP because they said they could not find any additional music from the film when they remastered it like they have for some of the other Bond soundtracks which is too bad.For example the music that is played during the credits has an organ in it but the version on the album the organ is not used. The remaster sounds great and takes me back to being a kid when I got this and a Partridge Family LP for Christmas. I dont know what happened to the other one but I still have the Bond LP.

The best James Bond movie in the minds of many has a lean and mean score by John Barry that's memorable in its hard driving simplicity. The wonderful 007 theme is here, used for the first time, and remains as rousing as ever. A wonderful song performed by Matt Munro makes this a time capsule of Cold War fears and one of the few "realistic" Bond adventures. Barry delivers and the remaster of a master's work is essential listening.

The best of all the Bond soundtracks. Before I bought this, I bought a CD that had all of the Bond themes, but it had more forgettable music than I cared to sit through. This has the most memorable music, the themes that come instantly to mind when you remember James Bond movies.And From Russia With Love is also my favorite of the Bond films, and Sean Connery my favorite Bond, though his new guy Craig ain't bad.

Nice release of the first John Barry James Bond soundtrack.

One of the vital aspects of the James Bond series success was the music. The big, bold Bond action theme, the 007 intro at the start, the memorable title songs - they were great pieces of music, which are instantly recognisable. And synonymous with these great tunes, which are still being used in the series today, over 40 years later, is the name of John Barry, the composer, who created a huge legacy of film music.One thing that distinguishes Barry's work, to my mind, is that the film scores can be listened to in isolation from the film. And so it is here. This is an album of orchestral music that is in turns stirring, romantic, martial and flighty. There are regular themes and motifs appearing throughout, associated with particular characters, but not knowing anything of the film does not diminish the litening pleasure. Compare this with, for example, the Italian Job soundtrack which requires a good knowledge of the film, and you will see what I mean. It is almost a symphony for Bond.Added into the mix is a superb vocal track, delivered by the incomparable Matt Monroe. Along with Bassey's Goldfinger I consider this to be one of the finest Bond theme songs.This is an excellent release from EMI. The sound comes through as clear as crystal and as sharp as a pin. There is a short booklet with a few notes, but this is largely disposable. As another reviewer has noted, not all of the tracks are lifted directly from the film, some are contemporary alternative recordings. But this does not really detract from the set, it is instantly recognisable as the from Russia With Love soundtrack for anyone familiar with the film. My one small niggle is that there is no dialogue from the film. Barry's music stands up very well by itself, but I would have liked the odd classic line thrown in That's not enough to stop me giving this excellent release of some excellent music 5 stars though.

As a JB fan and collector of his soundtracks I was pleasantly surprised by his first adventure into composing for the Bond films. The song was written by Lionel Bart but the music arranged by JB. The soundtrack has many trademark Barry harmonic structures and use of instruments that he goes on to develop in future work. His sense of space and jazz chords transposed to orchestral scores that make his sound unique.

Reviewed Vinyl LP edition reissue 2014 on Doxy Cinematic label. The score is fine as you already know if you are reading this. My issue is with a rather cobbled together vinyl reissue, seemingly without much pride from the company. It says the disc is 140g virgin vinyl......feels like a wobble board nonetheless. The sleeve has scant info on the score, writers, orchestra etc. There appears to be another edition due for release end of 2015, so I wish I'd waited a bit. I bought this at same time as a Capitol vinyl Reiss of Goldfinger, which is faithful to the original & emphasises quality variations which are not always easy to vague with online shopping.Incidentally, the company's web address printed on the sleeve is for a website which does not exist.

Although he did work on the music for Dr. No, From Russia With Love was John Barry's first 007 soundtrack as composer. And he really hit the ground running. The varied styles of music suit the changing moods of the film: exciting, mysterious, menacing and romantic. For example, "The Golden Horn" brilliantly brings to life the exotic feel of Instanbul. The sound quality throughout this remastered and extended version is superb.Without a doubt, this album belongs in the collection of every Bond music fan.

John Barry's impeccable crafting of his theme, to fit the scenes, and Matt Munroe's title track, make this a must have for any Bond-o-phile