The Best of Bond…James Bond is a title used more than once for a compilation album of the soundtracks to the James Bond made at the time. It 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 updated in 1999 and later again in 2002 and then again in 2008.

Track Listing:

1. “James Bond Theme” – 1:45
2. “Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey – 2:46
3. “Nobody Does it Better” by Carly Simon – 3:29
4. “A View to a Kill” by Duran Duran – 3:33
5. “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” by Dionne Warwick (1992 release only)
6. “For Your Eyes Only” by Sheena Easton – 3:02
7. “We Have All the Time in the World” by Louis Armstrong – 3:11
8. “Live and Let Die” by Paul McCartney & Wings – 3:11
9. “All Time High” by Rita Coolidge – 3:01
10. “The Living Daylights” by a-ha – 4:14
11. “Licence to Kill” by Gladys Knight – 5:13
12. “From Russia with Love” by Matt Monro – 2:32
13. “Thunderball” by Tom Jones – 3:00
14. “You Only Live Twice” by Nancy Sinatra – 2:44
15. “Moonraker” by Shirley Bassey – 3:07
16. “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” by John Barry Orchestra – 2:31
17. “The Man with the Golden Gun” by Lulu – 2:33
18. “Diamonds Are Forever” by Shirley Bassey – 2:40
19. “007” by John Barry Orchestra (1992 release only)
20. “GoldenEye” by Tina Turner – 4:46 (1999 and 2002 releases only)
21. “Tomorrow Never Dies” by Sheryl Crow (1999 and 2002 releases only) – 4:47
22. “The World Is Not Enough” by Garbage – 3:56 (2002 release only)
23. “The James Bond Theme” by Moby (2002 release only)
24. “The James Bond Theme” by Parodi/Fair (2002 release only)

30th Anniversary Collection Limited Edition: The 30th Anniversary Collection of The Best of Bond…James Bond was released in 1992. It featured all 16 title songs for the 16 films that had thus far been released. Disc 2 includes four tracks that were originally missing from Goldfinger’s soundtrack, although these four were included in the remastered soundtrack for Goldfinger in 2003. “Thunderball Suite”, was likewise not released on the Thunderball soundtrack till its remastered release in 2003.

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:

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

1. “James Bond Theme” by John Barry Orchestra
2. “007” by John Barry Orchestra
3. “Goldfinger” by Anthony Newley (demo)
4. “Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus” John Barry (Goldfinger)
5. “Golden Girl” by John Barry (Goldfinger)
6. “Death Of Tilley” by John Barry (Goldfinger)
7. “The Laser Beam” by John Barry (Goldfinger)
8. “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” by Dionne Warwick
9. “Thunderball Suite” by John Barry (Thunderball)
10. “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” by Shirley Bassey (original recording)
11. “You Only Live Twice” by Julie Rogers (demo version)
12. “You Only Live Twice” by (radio spot)
13. “We Have All The Time In The World” by Louis Armstrong
14. “Thunderball” by (radio spot)
15. “Live and Let Die” by (radio spot)

2008 Release
Track listing:
The Best Of James Bond Themes

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 (Bonus Track, Previously Unreleased)

DVD tracks

1. “A View to A Kill” – Duran Duran
2. “For Your Eyes Only” – Sheena Easton
3. “GoldenEye” – Tina Turner
4. “The Living Daylights” – A-Ha
5. “All Time High” – Rita Coolidge
6. “Goldfinger” – Shirley Bassey (Live at Royal Albert Hall, 1974)
7. Documentary: “The Music of James Bond”

See also:

• Bond films: Soundtrack