Search - David Arnold :: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997 Film)

A Welcome Addition to Bondage

G M. Stathis | cedar city, utah USA | 01/11/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The expanded or "composer's cut" cd for David Arnold's soudtrack to "Tommorow Never Dies" follows a recent, and very welcome, development, that is soundtrack recordings that include the major part of the recorded score rather than "representative selections." The original soundtrack album was missing a good deal of a very good Arnold score. In place of the missing cuts were both vocals, as it should be, but also a Moby rendidtion of the James Bond theme which, at best, could be labled "interesting." There is only one negative about this recording...it should include Arnold's vocal "Tommorow Never Dies-Surrender" (the only reason this cd is reduced to four stars rather than a full five). Otherwise, this is a most important step for soundtrack recordings, and a very nice buy. The interview with Arnold seemed a waste at first glance, but it is worth a look."

The excitement is back ... in full!

Eric Scott | Loma Linda, California, USA | 01/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the James Bond film series moves into the next millenium, it's exciting that the producers have retained the services of a composer of David Arnold's caliber to set the pace for Pierce Brosnan's onscreen adventures as 007. As originally released in 1997, "Tomorrow Never Dies" was the best Bond film score in the last decade (at least!); the only problem with that original CD was the absence of any music from the 2nd half of the film. The current CD more than makes up for this lack, with seven previously-unheard tracks that capture all the energy and excitement of the complete "Tomorrow Never Dies." "White Knight" recalls the very best of the early John Barry 007 scores, and is easily the most powerful track on the CD ... appropriately enough, since this cue accompanied the movie's explosive opening. "Backseat Driver," "Bike Chase" and "All in a Day's Work" are each strong, driving, techno-powered cues liberally sprinkled with the dashing "James Bond Theme;" as composer Arnold observes in the interview that comprises the final track on the CD, when one sees James Bond doing Bond-esque things onscreen, one wants to hear the James Bond theme. His sensibilities are dead-on here! Quieter moments include "Paris and Bond," "The Last Goodbye," and "Kowloon Bay," and these tracks help to pace the CD. Fortunately Arnold has sufficiently strong thematic material that even the interludes capture your attention and carry you along. The finale, "All in a Day's Work," is David Arnold -- and James Bond! -- triumphant, with a powerful crescendo of sound building to the sort of thunderous climax that only Arnold seems to be able to deliver these days, then lapsing into the lovely romantic closing themes as Bond and Wai Lin embrace and the scene fades to black ... beautiful! I'm excited that the full score to "Tomorrow Never Dies" was finally released -- too often of late movie "soundtracks" consist of hit songs "inspired by" the movie in question. David Arnold himself suffered this indignity with the movie "Godzilla," where only snippets of his wonderful score made it onto the CD. (Maybe Chapter III Records, the label for the new "Tomorrow Never Dies" CD, will see the light and release Arnold's complete score to "Godzilla" as well. We can only hope!)The weakest point of the new "Tomorrow Never Dies" CD is the interview with Arnold himself. While easily of interest to afficianados, it nevertheless contains little information that might not have been better supplied in written form, as liner notes. And given that this track is more than eleven minutes long, it's too much ... especially since Sheryl Crow's lovely opening number, k.d. lang's powerful "Surrender," and even one of Arnold's tracks from the original soundtrack CD ("Station Break") are absent from the new CD. If you're looking for a complete musical experience, you'll be required to purchase both CDs ... and that's unfortunate. Despite this, the new "Tomorrow Never Dies" score is easily worth the purchase price; listen to this and Arnold's more recent "The World is Not Enough" and you're going to want to go out and stylishly stop evildoers in your neighborhood. I highly recommend this CD!"

Good Expanded Release!

Eric Scott | 02/20/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The expanded release of Tomorrow Never Dies completely makes the first release obsolete! In this composers cut, it adds the remaining 20-so minutes of score that was missing from the first release and places it in the correct order. And the interview at the end is interesting on how Arnold composed the score. Arnold really hits home with this score. Almost in the style of John Barrys earlier scores. But Arnold adds modern styles of the James Bond theme into a nicely bleneded of music worthy of the 4 stars Im giving it. But two things are missing: the tracks "Station Break" and Mobys version of the James Bond theme from the first album. With the inclusion of these tracks, this album would be worth 5 stars.A must have for any James Bond music lover!"