The Best of Bond...James Bond


The Best of Bond...James Bond is the title of various compilation albums of music used in the James Bond films made by Eon Productions up to that time. The album was originally released in 1992 as The Best of James Bond, as a one-disc compilation and a two-disc 30th Anniversary Limited Edition compilation with songs that had, at that point, never been released to the public. The single disc compilation was later updated four times in 1999, 2002, 2008, and 2012. The 2008 version was augmented with the addition of a DVD featuring music videos and a documentary. Another two-disc edition, this time containing 50 tracks for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, was released in 2012.

30th Anniversary Collection

The 30th Anniversary Collection of The Best of James Bond was released in 1992. It featured 19 tracks including 16 title songs for the 16 films that had thus far been released.

Track listing

  1. "James Bond Theme" by Monty Norman Orchestra
  2. "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey
  3. "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon
  4. "A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran
  5. "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" by Dionne Warwick
  6. "For Your Eyes Only" by Sheena Easton
  7. "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong
  8. "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney & Wings
  9. "All Time High" by Rita Coolidge
  10. "The Living Daylights" by a-ha
  11. "Licence to Kill" by Gladys Knight
  12. "From Russia with Love" by Matt Monro
  13. "Thunderball" by Tom Jones
  14. "You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra
  15. "Moonraker" by Shirley Bassey
  16. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" by John Barry Orchestra
  17. "The Man with the Golden Gun" by Lulu
  18. "Diamonds Are Forever" by Shirley Bassey
  19. "007" by John Barry Orchestra
A limited 2-disc edition, released in the US only, reshuffles the tracks, sorting chronologically the 16 title songs on disc 1, the three remaining tracks appearing on disc 2. It also includes four tracks that were originally missing from Goldfingers soundtrack, although these four were included in the remastered soundtrack for Goldfinger in 2003 and appeared on the British LP in the 1960s. The "Thunderball Suite", was likewise not released on the Thunderball soundtrack until it was split up and used on the remastered release in 2003, along with extra unreleased music.
Two rare additions were also made to the second disc. The first is the original version of "Goldfinger" sung by Anthony Newley who also wrote the song in collaboration with the film's composer, John Barry. Newley's jazz version was, however, replaced by Shirley Bassey's version in 1964 for the film and for release on the album. Newley's version was first released with the 30th Anniversary Collection. The second rare addition is Shirley Bassey's version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" for Thunderball. Bassey had originally recorded the vocals for the track which initially was to be used as the main title theme; however, the song was replaced by Tom Jones' "Thunderball" after a decision by the producers that the title theme should feature the name of the film. Dionne Warwick was subsequently chosen to rerecord "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", but even her version wasn't released on the Thunderball soundtrack till the 1990s.

Track listing (limited edition)

Disc one

  1. "James Bond Theme" by Monty Norman Orchestra
  2. "From Russia with Love" by Matt Monro
  3. "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey
  4. "Thunderball" by Tom Jones
  5. "You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra
  6. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" by John Barry Orchestra
  7. "Diamonds Are Forever" by Shirley Bassey
  8. "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney & Wings
  9. "The Man with the Golden Gun" by Lulu
  10. "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon
  11. "Moonraker" by Shirley Bassey
  12. "For Your Eyes Only" by Sheena Easton
  13. "All Time High" by Rita Coolidge
  14. "A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran
  15. "The Living Daylights" by a-ha
  16. "Licence to Kill" by Gladys Knight

    Disc two

  17. "James Bond Theme" by John Barry Orchestra
  18. "007" by John Barry Orchestra
  19. "Goldfinger" by Anthony Newley
  20. "Pussy Galore's Flying Circus" John Barry
  21. "Golden Girl" by John Barry
  22. "Death of Tilley" by John Barry
  23. "The Laser Beam" by John Barry
  24. "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" by Dionne Warwick
  25. "Thunderball Suite" by John Barry
  26. "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" by Shirley Bassey
  27. "You Only Live Twice" by Julie Rogers
  28. "You Only Live Twice" by
  29. "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong
  30. "Thunderball" by
  31. "Live and Let Die" by

    1999 release

Track listing

  1. "James Bond Theme" – John Barry & Orchestra
  2. "Goldfinger" – Shirley Bassey
  3. "Nobody Does It Better" – Carly Simon
  4. "A View to a Kill" – Duran Duran
  5. "For Your Eyes Only" – Sheena Easton
  6. "We Have All the Time in the World" – Louis Armstrong
  7. "Live and Let Die" – Paul McCartney & Wings
  8. "All Time High" – Rita Coolidge
  9. "The Living Daylights" – a-ha
  10. "Licence to Kill" – Gladys Knight
  11. "From Russia with Love" – Matt Monro
  12. "Thunderball" – Tom Jones
  13. "You Only Live Twice" – Nancy Sinatra
  14. "Moonraker" – Shirley Bassey
  15. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" – John Barry & Orchestra
  16. "The Man with the Golden Gun" – Lulu
  17. "Diamonds Are Forever" – Shirley Bassey
  18. "GoldenEye" – Tina Turner
  19. "Tomorrow Never Dies" – Sheryl Crow

    2002 release

Track listing

  1. "James Bond Theme" – John Barry & Orchestra
  2. "Goldfinger" – Shirley Bassey
  3. "Nobody Does It Better" – Carly Simon
  4. "A View to a Kill" – Duran Duran
  5. "For Your Eyes Only" – Sheena Easton
  6. "We Have All the Time in the World" – Louis Armstrong
  7. "Live and Let Die" – Paul McCartney & Wings
  8. "All Time High" – Rita Coolidge
  9. "The Living Daylights" – a-ha
  10. "Licence to Kill" – Gladys Knight
  11. "From Russia with Love" – Matt Monro
  12. "Thunderball" – Tom Jones
  13. "You Only Live Twice" – Nancy Sinatra
  14. "Moonraker" – Shirley Bassey
  15. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" – The John Barry Orchestra
  16. "The Man with the Golden Gun" – Lulu
  17. "Diamonds Are Forever" – Shirley Bassey
  18. "GoldenEye" – Tina Turner
  19. "Tomorrow Never Dies" – Sheryl Crow
  20. "The World Is Not Enough" – Garbage
  21. "James Bond Theme " – Moby
  22. "James Bond Theme – Starr Parodi & Jeff Eden Fair

    2008 release

Track listing

Disc one (CD)

  1. "James Bond Theme" – John Barry & Orchestra
  2. "From Russia with Love" – Matt Monro
  3. "Goldfinger" – Shirley Bassey
  4. "Thunderball" – Tom Jones
  5. "You Only Live Twice" – Nancy Sinatra
  6. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" – The John Barry Orchestra
  7. "We Have All the Time in the World" – Louis Armstrong
  8. "Diamonds Are Forever" – Shirley Bassey
  9. "Live and Let Die" – Paul McCartney & Wings
  10. "The Man with the Golden Gun" – Lulu
  11. "Nobody Does It Better" – Carly Simon
  12. "Moonraker" – Shirley Bassey
  13. "For Your Eyes Only" – Sheena Easton
  14. "All Time High" – Rita Coolidge
  15. "A View to a Kill" – Duran Duran
  16. "The Living Daylights" – a-ha
  17. "Licence to Kill" – Gladys Knight
  18. "GoldenEye" – Tina Turner
  19. "Tomorrow Never Dies" – Sheryl Crow
  20. "Surrender" – k.d. lang
  21. "The World Is Not Enough" – Garbage
  22. "Die Another Day" – Madonna
  23. "You Know My Name" – Chris Cornell
  24. "James Bond Theme" – John Arnold

    Disc two (DVD)

  25. "A View to A Kill" – Duran Duran
  26. "For Your Eyes Only" – Sheena Easton
  27. "GoldenEye" – Tina Turner
  28. "The Living Daylights" – A-Ha
  29. "All Time High" – Rita Coolidge
  30. "Goldfinger" – Shirley Bassey
  31. Documentary: The Music of James Bond

    2012 release

Released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series, the 2012 release eschews the gun barrel sequence that served as the cover motif so far to instead feature the "golden girl" from Goldfinger. It was released in two versions, a two-disc edition with 50 tracks, and a single-disc edition with only the first CD, comprising 23 tracks.

Track listing

Disc one

  1. "James Bond Theme" – John Barry Orchestra
  2. "From Russia with Love" – Matt Monro
  3. "Goldfinger" – Shirley Bassey
  4. "Thunderball" – Tom Jones
  5. "You Only Live Twice" – Nancy Sinatra
  6. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" – John Barry Orchestra
  7. "We Have All the Time in the World" – Louis Armstrong
  8. "Diamonds Are Forever" – Shirley Bassey
  9. "Live and Let Die" – Paul McCartney & Wings
  10. "The Man with the Golden Gun" – Lulu
  11. "Nobody Does It Better" – Carly Simon
  12. "Moonraker" – Shirley Bassey
  13. "For Your Eyes Only" – Sheena Easton
  14. "All Time High" – Rita Coolidge
  15. "A View to a Kill" – Duran Duran
  16. "The Living Daylights" – a-ha
  17. "Licence to Kill" – Gladys Knight
  18. "GoldenEye" – Tina Turner
  19. "Tomorrow Never Dies" – Sheryl Crow
  20. "The World Is Not Enough" – Garbage
  21. "Die Another Day" – Madonna
  22. "You Know My Name" – Chris Cornell
  23. "Another Way to Die" – Jack White & Alicia Keys

    Disc two

  24. "Dr. No's Fantasy" – Monty Norman Orchestra
  25. "Under the Mango Tree" – Diana Coupland
  26. "007" – John Barry Orchestra
  27. "Opening Titles: James Bond Is Back/From Russia with Love/James Bond Theme" – John Barry Orchestra
  28. "Into Miami" – John Barry Orchestra
  29. "The Laser Beam" – John Barry Orchestra
  30. "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" – Shirley Bassey
  31. "Switching the Body" – John Barry Orchestra
  32. "Capsule in Space" – John Barry Orchestra
  33. "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?" – Nina
  34. "Bond Smells a Rat" – John Barry Orchestra
  35. "Fillet of Soul – New Orleans/Live and Let Die/Fillet of Soul – Harlem" – George Martin Orchestra featuring B. J. Arnau
  36. "Underground Lair" – George Martin Orchestra
  37. "Hip's Trip" – John Barry Orchestra
  38. "The Pyramids" – Marvin Hamlisch
  39. "Cable Car and Snake Fight" – John Barry Orchestra
  40. "Make It Last All Night" – Bill Conti featuring Rage
  41. "The Chase Bomb Theme" – John Barry Orchestra
  42. "Snow Job" – John Barry Orchestra
  43. "Where Has Everybody Gone?" – The Pretenders
  44. "If There Was a Man" – The Pretenders
  45. "The Experience of Love" – Éric Serra
  46. "James Bond Theme " – Moby
  47. "Surrender" – k.d. lang
  48. "Only Myself to Blame" – Scott Walker
  49. "Vesper" – David Arnold
  50. "Time to Get Out" – David Arnold

    Compilation catalog numbers

  51. 1992 cassette tape: EMI Records USA 0777 7 98413 4 9
  52. 1992 single CD: EMI Records USA 0777 7 98413 2 5
  53. 1992 double CD: EMI Records USA 07777 98560 2 2
  54. 2008 CD: Capitol Records/MGM Music 50999 243352 25
  55. 2012 single CD: Capitol Records/MGM Music 50999 232817 21
  56. 2012 double CD: Capitol Records/MGM Music 50999 232818 20