The Man With the Golden Gun

 (7 customer reviews)

Back in 1974 many fans wanted John Barry back after his one film hiatus from the Bond series. Barry returned with a score to THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, Roger Moore's second outing as 007. Track-1: "Main Title: The Man With the Golden Gun" is very good. Lulu has an incredibly strong voice and the song has a certain rock element that was in contradiction to Binder's titles, yet it is very upbeat and sets the tone of the entire film. On this CD it sounds great and has improved with time. A beautiful girl on an isolated beach towels down Scaramanga as he emerges from the water in a surrealistically exotic locale. This sets up Track-2: "Scaramanga's Fun House" where Scaramanga lures gangster Rodney Hood into the funhouse in a duel to the death. This is a great track brimming with Barry's unique sound where the music first reflects the opulence of Scaramanga's domicile and then as they enter the fun house Barry creates a spiraling `stalking theme' mixed with source music from a Western...Read more

This is an interesting album for several reasons. John Barry's music in general seemed to be going through a state of transition around 1974 and this album is a good example of that. Also, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN was the first James Bond score that Barry composed for Roger Moore as Bond. Moore at this point was trying to define his own interpretation of the character. Moore actually tried to reverse his performance from LIVE AND LET DIE, this time delivering his version of James Bond as a more stoic 007 within a script full of comedic trappings. Added to this director Guy Hamilton wanted an even lighter score than he had previously pressed John Barry into delivering in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. Considering all these factors, what we get is probably the most unique score from the James Bond series. Some people were pleased, some were not and some were indifferent. I happen to enjoy this CD quite a bit. It sounds great, having the same technical qualities the DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER album...Read more

The Man With The Golden Gun is not one of the better films in the series. One however, cannot say the same about the music. While it is not considered to be the best work of John Barry, it is still good. The new CD has been remastered, but due to money restrains, no new bonus tracks have been added. The inner booklet has also been spiced up to include a few nice photos. The Man With The Golden Gun was performed by Lulu. It was one of the very few title tracks that didn't chart at all in the US or Britain. True that her voice was a little off and the lyrics are odd, but it is still a fine song. John Barry brought a far east flavor to the music that works very well in the film and on the CD. Scaramanga's Funhouse has the tension slow brass in it as does Return To Scaramanga's Funhouse, which is slightly longer and haunting. These tracks also include the honky-tonk interludes in them. Hip's Trip is a wonderful track that has a dark moody fell to it and works ver well. The Jazz...Read more