The score also isn’t completely without it, as it does get hinted at here and there – the opening few seconds of Nothing Sinister for example feature a couple of notes from it before the music then gets rather melancholic with slow brass notes and gentle strings. Not to mention that if nothing else, African Rundown is absolute musical proof that Bond action score can get along just fine without the theme. It’s an intriguing approach to the music for a Bond movie, and despite my undying love for the theme I actually really like the idea. Surprisingly, the iconic theme (composed by Monty Norman) actually appears very rarely in the score, for the simple reason that the creators of the film felt that given Bond’s youthfulness and inexperience in the movie, the theme had to be earnt rather than simply appearing throughout.

In just under seven minutes, Arnold brings his absolute action a-game back to Bond, and that’s without even using the usually ever-present James Bond theme. During the final minute loud brass then completely takes over the cue, building both in speed and intensity until the tension reaches boiling point right as the track ends. The main theme also appears infrequently, and interwoven into the action for several epic intervals. The motif is performed twice in powerful yet worrisome form before the dramatic action instrumentation then returns once again, building tension with some reluctantly heroic sections appearing here and there. At about a minute or so in the music then introduces us to what is essentially the main theme of the score the rather epic melody from You Know My Name, the fantastic song written for the film by David Arnold together with the legendary though sadly late singer Chris Cornell. Let’s get stuck in.Īfrican Rundown breaks the album into a sprint right off the bat, with frantic bursts of brass setting a rapid action tone with loud percussion tearing along dramatically in the background. Where better to start of course than not only with a David Arnold endeavour, but the one for arguably one of the (if not the) best Bond movie Casino Royale. There was a new James Bond movie on the release horizon when I wrote this review (oh, well), so I felt it was high time I tackled a few more albums from the rather legendary Bond score discography on this site. David Arnold’s excellently-crafted Casino Royale score sports an epic main theme, several incredible action setpieces and a final Bond theme rendition that’s simply out of this world.

Casino movie review