Casino Royale re-release

[Harry]

The Casino Royale soundtrack is scheduled for re-release on CD on October 15th, apparently to coincide with the DVD release. Varese Sarabande is the soundtrack's label for the disc, which of course features the Burt Bacharach score with the title tune performed by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. The picture of the cover on Varese's page looks different from the prior release. See it at:

http://www.varesesarabande.com/upcoming.asp

Harry

 

[William]

Wow, that new cover art is really lousy. It uses the same reclining female silhouette as the original, but the new colors they added makes it look like a '00s attempt to be "shagadelic," rather than the '60s genuine article. Bah.

Is the TJB version of "Casino Royale" on this CD the same as the one on Sounds Like?


- William

 

[Rudy]

I don't have this newer CD, but I do have the earlier one. The TJB version is the same for the opening track. At the end of the CD, a portion of the TJB version is segued into from an instrumental track (which, IIRC, runs behind the credits or closing sequence of the film).

Just from experience, the CD is mediocre at best--a couple of good songs (the definitive version of "The Look Of Love", and TJB's "Casino Royale" theme), and a lot of incidental musical cues and filler. A couple of instrumentals are OK (a broken-up version of "Bond Street", and an instrumental of "Moneypenny Goes For Broke" which, I might add, Cal Tjader pulls off a helluva lot better on his Sounds OUt Burt Bacharach album).

For all the fuss made about it, I've found it terribly overrated...and the film's opening few minutes were chaotic enough that I still have never wanted to watch much more of it. Maybe on DVD, I"d be more inclined to sit through it. After all, I do like After The Fox, another Bacharach-scored film that starred Peter Sellers and, to me, is at least entertaining in an odd sort of way.

-= N =-

 

[William]

The original cover probably has something to do with the high prices for which the LP has traditionally sold.

For reference:

The cover alone is a classic slice of '60s pop culture. (It says "Bacharach," it says "James Bond," and it has a wacky, sexy psychedelic illustration... what more can you ask for?) And it was oh-so-hip to drop the name Bacharach a few years back, regardless of whether or not you actually liked his music.

The "Big Cowboys And Indians" thing is played over the farcical climax of the film, but it's followed by a vocal version of the song "Casino Royale." I don't remember who sang it, but as I recall, Herb only plays over the opening credits in the actual film.


- William

 

[Rudy]

The LP itself, in audiophile circles over a decade ago, was supposedly a high-fidelity treat. (I wouldn't consider ColGems to be an audiophile label. ) Even back then, copies in good condition sold for over $60. I didn't think anything special of the sound when I heard the CD version. Good and clean, but nothing overly spectacular either.

-= N =-