The film
The first James Bond film starring Pierce Prosnan as the 007 agent was a big commercial
succes. Not only the lead actor was updated for the nineties, a lot of other style aspects
were reconciddered as well. Eric Serra was hired to follow up John Barry's traditional
orchestral scores with a more contemporary style.
The film is Bond, as always. Lots of action, fancy gadgets, mesmerizing ladys and a
nonsensical international espionage plot maskerading as a story thrown in as well.
The music
A lot of drums, both pop and orchestral, sweeping string sections, funky
organ and synth passages. The music was rather poorly mixed into the film
but on the album it makes for an interesting balance between sweet orchestral
passages and beat driven pop tracks.
The James Bond fans had problems with Serra's pop and synth oriented aproach,
used as they were to John Barry's lush orchestrations. Portions of the score
however were greadily picked up by producers of other movies for use in trailers
and teasers. Quality - as always - proved to depend purely on the eye of the
beholder.
Released in 1995
Virgin Records America . . . 7243 8 41048 2 5 CDVUS 100 [Normal version]
Virgin Records America . . . 7243 8 41305 2 7 CDVUSX 100 [Limited edition Gold Disc]
Virgin . . . 72435-41423-2-1 [Remastered rerelease]
1. Goldeneye 4:46 [Serra not involved]
2. The Goldeneye Overture 4:24
3. Ladies First 2:44
4. We Share The Same Passions 4:46
5. A Little Surprise For You 2:02
6. The Severnaya Suite 2:07
7. Our Lady Of Smolensk 1:01
8. Wispering Statues 3:26
9. Run Shoot And Jump 1:05
10. A Pleasant Drive In St. Petersburg 4:28
11. Fatal Weakness 4:43
12. That's What Keeps You Alone 3:17
13. Dish Out Of The Water 3:57
14. The Scale To Hell 3:43
15. For Ever, James 2:01
16. The Experience Of Love 5:57
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The UK saw the release of a "Limited Edition" issue, which was pressed on a Gold disc, a format that is supposed to extend the lifetime of a CD. It had a sticker and different color CD, but there was no other difference.
In 2003, a whole series of James Bond soundtracks was remastered and repackaged. Goldeneye was part of this series. Although most of the albums in this series had been expanded - sometimes even doubled - with extra unreleased tracks, the contents of the Goldeneye CD remained the same. However, the packaging was quite different featuring differen pictures and new linear notes in the booklet, understandable aimed at James Bond fans rather than Serra followers.
Issued in 2003
Virgin . . . 72435-41423-2-1
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Singles
There was a promo CD single of The Experience of Love, but it is very very rare. It was
printed in Holland but it's not clear where it was used. It contains a shorter edit
of the track (3:38) as well as the regular album version. The image shown here
shows the single in its slim case with a promo sticker on the ceil plastic. The CD single
has no artwork.
Virgin, BONDDJ96
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At least as rare as the CD single is a 12" maxi single of "Experience of Love" on good
old vinyl, probably intended for DJ use. It is indeed a promo (noted only very small
on the back) but it has a nice and unique picture sleeve. The best part is that there's
a unique track on it, so far only found on this 12" release: a true instrumental
version of the complete 5:57 track! All of the lead singing has been removed, but Noa's and Serra's
background vocals remain intact, especially noticeable near the end of the song. It's
on the B side together with the 3:38 edit that can also be found on the CD single.
Virgin, SA 8121
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There was even a commercial CD single for this track, packaged in a cardboard sleeve with exactly the same
as the 12" vinyl maxi single. Except the "Extrait de la Bande Originale" which has been enlarged a bit.
Sadly the instrumental version of the title track is not included. It only features the short version of
"The Experience with Love" (see other CD single) as well as the "Ladies First" track that's known from the album.
Virgin, 8933862, 7243 8 93386 1
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