Various Artists, Bill Conti - For Your Eyes Only

One of the Best Bond Soundtracks

John Barry may be the most well known composer for the James Bond films, but there have been quite a few other composers to score the James Bond movies. For this fantastic Bond adventure Bill Conti was used to score the film. The reviews for many Bond fans are mixed. Some feel the music to be a bit too dated now, while a fair share really seem to enjoy it. I myself find it largely enjoyable and is a fantastic listen, especially if you listen to the whole album in full.

There is no mistaking that that the wall of sound created for this film is much different than that of any Bond film before and after. There is no other Bond soundtrack that sounds like this, thus giving it much more originality and freshness. The sound/genre is a bit hard to describe for this album. There is certainly a huge element of funk in there. Bass lines can be heard clearly through many songs. While on the other hand, there are certainly many songs with beautiful melodies and textures.

All and all, "For Your Eyes Only" is a wonderful soundtrack for any true music fan. There are so many great rhythms and riffs within these short songs. Bill Conti did an excellent job on the film. In my eyes this is by far the most underrated soundtrack in the series. The score is nearly as great as the film! Highly recommended. March 27, 2008

Good Film Music

I bought this Cd mainly because I like the Sheena Easton opening and closing title track. The surround sound effect on the Film Soundtrack version is the best I have heard of the song and as a Sheena Easton fan a must have for me.The rest of the tracks remind you of the film and always makes me want to watch it again.A must have in my music collection. August 24, 2007

Missing a couple instrumental cues. Otherwise, excellent.

As much as I appreciate Bill Conti's creation of the FYEO theme, the theme is not emphasized enough in the soundtrack (a couple FYEO instrumentals are not included). The James Bond theme can be heard in quite a few tracks. Half of the soundtrack is disco or music that, of course, sounds like the late 70's and early 80's. The music suits the movie very well. The other half is more instrumental, which also brings forth the more suspenseful and as well the romantic side of the story.

The cues missing are romantic/mellow instrumental versions of FYEO. One is heard on the sleigh ride with Roger and Melina, with Conti playing the piano and strings in the background. The second one is at the balcony (Balcony Terrace, Achillion Palace, Gastouri, Corfu, Greece) at dusk over the Corfu Bay, with the most romantic cue of them all. The two cues are only a minute long, but man, finding something that sounds like that is nearly impossible unless you buy the DVD and hear it in the movie. I think that is what bugs me about this soundtrack, is that they could not include those two important cues.

However, you have two romantic FYEO songs on this soundtrack that are also very enjoyable to listen to. The FYEO Instrumental features Derek Watkins as the flugelhorn soloist accompanied by strings, chimes, woodwinds, a harp, and an electronic keyboard playing a few momentary chords. This track is my favorite on the soundtrack. It is played in the DVD during James and Melina's underwater scene in the Bahamas.

Nevertheless, it is overall an energetic soundtrack, with mellow tracks like 'Take Me Home', 'Cortina', 'FYEO Instrumental', and 'FYEO P.M. Gets The Bird' at the end. Also, half the song of 'Unfinished Business' has Conti playing a mellow piano solo with strings in the background, not relative to FYEO.

If you are looking for the James Bond theme in any of the tracks, it is heard in 'Submarine', 'St. Cyril's Monastery', 'Melina's Revenge', 'A Drive In The Country', 'Goodbye, Countess', and of course the Gunbarrel--which is quite powerful. There are a couple more tracks it is heard in, but only a hint of it.

Basically, this soundtrack has two sides to it: a disco-like (synthesizers, keyboards, electric guitar, piano) version primarily with the action scenes, and instrumentation (strings, woodwinds, brass, chimes, piano) included with the more settled parts of the story.

Despite a couple missing cues, this soundtrack is great. It is certainly worth listening to. You will not be disappointed with Conti's work, especially because you will have trouble finding any instrumental song in any movie that is as good as listening to the ones in this sountrack.



August 23, 2007

Great album but still missing quite a few good cues

As great as this album is, it is still missing quite a few good cues. The missing music totals about 12:40. Here are the missing cues:

"Not Deep Enough"/Moscow (0:15)
Film version of Lotus Driving music (Gonzalez takes a dive) (0:54)
Unreleased Ice skating music (2:00)
Film version of Motorcycle Attack music (first part of Ski..Shoot...Jump) (1:02)
Sleigh Ride and Hotel Room Cue (1:28)
Death of Ferare and Intro to Greece (0:42)
Greek Shopping Music (Source Music) and Stone Balcony Music with Melina (1:42)
Casino and Restaurant Music (3:55)
Warehouse in Albania Music (0:55)
Followed (underwater cue)
Greek Celebratory Music (Source Music) (in the the wrong St. Cyril's) (0:49)
Scaling the Cliff (Bond theme) (0:21)

The album track "St. Cyril's Monastery" could be completed by incorporating the "Bond theme" music and the track "The Climb" within it.
Anyone who wants to see a release of the complete score to this film should write to:

MGM Music
10250 Constellation Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
90067
U.S.A.

EMI-Capitol Records
1750 N. Vine St.
Hollywood, CA
90028
U.S.A.

If enough people bring the absence of this music to the attention of EMI/MGM, we might one day have a complete release of this great score.


February 19, 2007

An Exciting James Bond Soundtrack

This is a good James Bond soundtrack album. Bill Conti's soundtrack of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is one of the finest James Bond albums issued especially with the extra tracks now included. You can appreciate the work that Bill Conti put into his score. Bill Conti in no way tries to imitate or emulate John Barry's definitive and distinctive sound. Instead Conti gives us a very lively and upbeat score with his own vibrant sound and interpolates the James Bond Theme into his compositions in a somewhat innovative style. This soundtrack is very representative of the exciting score heard in the film. In retrospect this score is one of the best composed for Roger Moore's tenure as James Bond. October 12, 2005

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