Casino Royale (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

About the Soundtrack:This is quite literally a movie soundtrack, meaning it features the background music from the film "Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)". The tracks on this 74 minute album are in the same sequence as the tracks appeared in the film. Since the tracks are in sequence, many of them blend well into each other - which is nice if you'd like to listen from start to finish.Many reviewers correctly point out that Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" (the theme song) is not included. The album itself says this as well. Don't worry. The theme song (sans lyrics) inspired much of the soundtrack in the film, and you will get to enjoy Cornell's song or Monty Norman's original James Bond Theme in multiple tracks, including:- Blunt Instrument (my personal favorite on the album)- Trip Aces- Miami International- I'm the Money (the introduction of Vesper Lynd)- Aston Montenegro- Dinner Jackets (where you'll enjoy a classic 007 entrance theme mix)- Bond Wins It All (towards the end of the track)- The End of An Aston Martin- Fall of a House in VeniceAnd naturally the James Bond theme makes a full on appearance in "The Name's Bond ... James Bond".Overall, Arnold has composed one of the strongest soundtracks I've heard (as a John Williams fan I think this is something of a strong statement). The chase tracks (such as Miami International or Dirty Martini) are just as intense (and long) as the filmed scenes, while the romance tracks (such as Vesper) are equally as moving. In fact "Vesper" reminded me of some of the romance themes from some of the early Sean Connery films. Her theme continues in "City of Lovers".About the Composer:Grammy winning composer David Arnold had scored three previous Bond films prior to Casino Royale. He was very familiar with taking another artist's opening track and blending it with the classic Bond Theme in a manner appropriate with each major scene or act. (Note: He has since also scored the sequel film "Quantum of Solace".)He has also scored a number of other popular films from the mid-1990s to present. Notable films include Stargate (Ultimate Edition),Independence Day (Single Disc Widescreen Edition), and A Life Less Ordinary.

David Arnold is now second only to the great John Barry with his score for Martin Campbell's "Casino Royale," his fourth Bond foray which is easily the most interesting of his efforts in this musical area, especially since it helps introduce a new 007, Daniel Craig. And it all works wonderfully well. This is perhaps Arnold's best Bond score since his first effort, "Tomorrow Never Dies," which was easily comparable with some of Barry's best work, and this is no faint praise. This is a complex and clever score, not just simple action-adventure music, which has to do many things on several levels. The film and of course the music do not simply introduce a new actor, they must reintroduce a character, in this case James Bond as he actually becomes 007. And Arnold's music is a large part of this. Clearly, the most problematic, and intriguing, element of this score involves the traditional "James Bond Theme." When should it emerge? Decisions were made to save the full rendition for the big finish. We only hear hints (note "Blunt Instrument") of what ultimately becomes the full blown theme at the end. When it finally appears, it comes as something of an announcement..."no need to fear James Bond is here," finally. Arnold's music also reflects one of the two great loves of Bond's life, and the shattering end of that first love, and his themes for Vesper do this quite well. Here Arnold has opportunity to deal with both the romantic and tragic as Barry did in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Like his music for "Tomorrow Never Dies," there are also varied nods to Barry, but they are firmly couched in Arnold's now distinctive style which really comes through in numerous cues but are especially fun in "Blunt Instrument." We are missing the more traditional gun-barrel introduction musically, but it still works, and so does Arnold's music for the precredit sequence (Arnold has always done well with these). The title song is fair enough and it provides a musical anchor for the entire score, but inexplicably it is not on this recording. Everything else in this score works on the soundtrack disc and Arnold's music is a fundamental part of the film. When we finally hear Daniel Craig announce that he is "Bond, James Bond," the music adds the necessary exclamation point. 007 could not really exist without the two. And it also appears that James Bond, Daniel Craig, and David Arnold will return. Good news indeed. Solid production (fine sound, and over 70 minutes of music), but only modest packaging by Sony.

The music on this album fits in very micely with the James Bond films. The best thing about this soundtrack is the outstanding rendition of the James Bond Theme-perhaps the best since the original. The only negative is that for the first time, the theme song is missing from the album. This is surprising since every other Bond Soundtrack has this element included. I suspect this is just another ploy to get people to spend more money for this missing piece. David Arnold is by far the best composer to work on the Bond movies since John Barry.

Initially I didn't care much for the soundtrack as it is missing that distinctive, James Bond sound. I especially didn't the theme song. Over time it is not good. It is not up there with previous Bond classic soundtracks like Gold finger or even Live and Let Die.As soundtracks go, it's not a bad buy. As a James Bond soundtrack, it's mediocre at best.

Previous Bond-scores by David Arnold consist mostly of extremely dense soundclusters of orchestral noise which might work in the movies, but leave the cd-listener with a headache.His soundtrack for Casino Royale brings a change: suddenly there's a rich variety of subtle, romantic, tense and stirring tracks. Sure, cues like 'African Rundown' and 'Miami International' feature more than enough actionmusic, but this time it rarely goes over the top and remains listenable.There's also a nice link between the melody of the titletrack (which is sadly missing here for the first time ever on a Bond-soundtrack) and the famous James Bond Theme. Also, the titletrack is - in true John Barry style - nicely woven into parts of the score.In short, Casino Royale is - in my opinion - Arnold's first decent Bond-soundtrack.

just what I wanted.

With this soundtrack, David Arnold has delivered the music that introduced Daniel Craig as the new Bond & succeeded on every level. His trademark broad & expansive themes, exciting heart-pounding action compositions are contrasted with poignant emotionally-charged melodic motifs, that convey personal dramatic moments.Arnold's talent for new original music, yet tinged with that specific style that tells you that is a James Bond film, cannot be underestimated. This of course owes a debt to the great John Barry whom David Arnold naturally succeeds as the foremost film & tv composer in Britain today.This soundtrack is a must for all Bond fans & film music enthusiasts, most of whom will already have it in their collections.I would be failing if I did not mention the orchestra on this recording. Under the baton of conductor Nicholas Dodds, these hand-picked musicians give perfect accounts of every 'cue' in this score, from the shortest, quiet atmospheric encounter to the 12 minute rampaging excitement of the Miami Airport sequence! A remarkable achievement by everyone involved.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.(Delivery was very quick)

After the too-often bland mechanics of The World is Not Enough and the unimpressive techno stylings of Die Another Day, David Arnold's score for Casino Royale marked a return to the more John Barryesque approach of his Tomorrow Never Dies, with even a few touches of Stargate in there as well. Despite there being only a few references to the title song (curiously not included on the CD) in the score, there's less of the post-Barry problem of Bond scores with no thematic consistency here, with Arnold's most notable main theme being an insistent, physically aggressive but slightly less relentless than expected action theme. The Bond theme itself only appears in the final cue in a particularly robust retro rendition. There are more quiet moments and sensual this time round over the length of its 74 minutes (City of Lovers probably the best). It's not one of the great Bond scores by any means, but in a poor year for film music it's one of the better recent efforts. Be warned, the track listing contains one massive giveaway if you haven't seen the film yet!

David Arnold gives Casino Royale a proper Bond score. After Thomas Newman's feeble attempts at scoring both Skyfall & Spectre, One can only hope that Ms. Broccoli reinstates the true heir to John Barry's crown for the next installment.

Likes this a lot good bond album enjoyable music music so fast pace and for bonds first mission great really enjoyable

Sounds fantastic through my bowers setup.

GREAT MUSIC FROM A GREAT FILM

very good and exciting music of the film soundtrack

very good

Exactly as expected and the music is delicious!

Fair

Unbelievably, this soundtrack does not contain the opening title track. Admittedly, we are told this on the cover of the CD but only in very small type.Anyway, it seems to me there are those film composers who write themes and leave it to the film's music editor to match shot to music; and then there are those film composers who match music themselves directly to each shot. The former is a bit of a dying breed, it seems, but Vangelis is a good example; David Arnold falls in the latter camp. (John Barry did both.) The problem with the latter approach is that one is only rarely provided with a memorable theme, so from a purely musical point of view Arnold's soundtracks are not very interesting. With regard to `Casino Royale', take `Miami International' as an example. It's all very energetic and very exciting, but the lack of catchy recurring themes makes the music structurally unsatisfying.Having said that, the main theme itself - although absent in its original Chris Connell version - does explicitly appear in a re-arranged format in at least four tracks, and Vesper has her own theme that occurs in at least two. Her theme is very Barry-esque. I also enjoyed the `Dirty Martini'.This CD is very generous in providing seventy-five minutes of music from the movie. Tracks vary in length from a mere twenty-eight seconds to almost thirteen minutes. It is noted that the very good orchestration was done by Nicholas Dodd, who should at least be given equal billing with Arnold.

Usual sound track make a movie happy,sad or adventerous. This one was so good I can still picture the great scenes in the movie with my eyes close...ready to lock and load...say hello to my little friend as the band played on.

Good score. Only disappointed that the main theme by Adele was not included. They did the same thing with Skyfall and Spectre.

Eine Empfehlung für alle Bond-Fans, die gleichzeitig die instrumentale Filmmusik mögen.Sehr gut inszenierte Filmmusik, überwiegend ruhig, die "Bond-Stimmung" wird sehr gut wiedergegeben.

A superb, stirring, emotional "chorus" (in the Greek theatrical sense), meaning this soundtrack perfectly contemplates Martin Campbell's utterly brilliant "Casino Royale", when Bond finally became Bond.