The Man With The Golden Gun Soundtrack
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Music composed, arranged and conducted by John Barry
'The Man With The Golden Gun' performed by Lulu, written by John Barry and Don Black
Music originally recorded at CTS Studios, Bayswater, London, in October 1974
Total playing time: 43:08 (2003 release)
Review
The Man With The Golden Gun sees John Barry return to do the films score, and is his first with Roger Moore at the helm. The Man With The Golden Gun soundtrack » is perhaps in complete contrast to the previous Live And Let Die and indeed different to previous Barry soundtracks. This is apparent straight away from the start in 'Scaramanga's Fun House'. At first the music introduces Scaramanga's wealth and exotic locales, then changes into Scaramanga's 'stalking theme' that continues through many of the other tracks. This haunting theme really creates a sense of suspense and tension whether watching the film, or just listening to the album. The burst of Western saloon music on the piano adds that extra edge as well.
As you would expect, the soundtrack contains a lot of far-east and oriental cues. However mix this up with some renditions of the James Bond Theme, a bit of suspense, and some action and you have some great tracks. Great examples of this are in 'Chew Me in Grisly Land', 'Kung-fu Fight' and 'Goodnight Goodnight'. With shades of 'Gumbold's Safe' from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, John Barry uses 'Hip's Trip' to slowly build-up the tension and suspense.
The true masterpieces of the soundtrack however are left to last. 'In Search Of Scaramanga's Island' and 'Return To Scaramanga's Fun House' are very stirring tension fuelled pieces charged with emotion as Bond fights to the death. The album nicely rounds up with an instrumental version of the title theme climaxing with the lyrics in a slowed-down version.
The Man With The Golden Gun marks perhaps the most forgotten about soundtrack in the series as people stand divided on their thoughts. While at first glance this might be something that is brushed aside, it's worth taking another look where you will find some great tracks hidden within.
Play Listing
The following tracks are from the remastered 2003 release. While you may prefer to listen to the tracks as they are presented, below is a list of the tracks arranged in the order they appear in the film.
Track 4, the jazz instrumental version of The Man With The Golden Gun doesn't actually appear in the film, so you may wish to experiment with where to place it in the playlist. §
2. Scaramanga's Fun House (4:39)
1. Main title - The Man With The Golden Gun (2:37)
5. Getting the Bullet (2:45)
4. The Man With the Golden Gun (Jazz Instrumental) (2:32)
8. Hip's Trip (3:21)
3. Chew Me in Grisly Land (4:01)
9. Kung Fu Fight (1:57)
6. Goodnight Goodnight (5:22)
7. Let's Go Get 'Em (3:44)
10. In Search of Scaramanga's Island (6:28)
11. Return to Scaramanga's Fun House (6:28)
12. End title - The Man With The Golden Gun (3:05)
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