The latter half of the album is
perhaps less successful, although Chaplin is very sad, but always
gorgeous. The slow and well performed version of We Have All the
Time in the World is the only track that really hints at his
involvement with the Bond scores, this one being from On Her
Majesty's Secret Service. Perhaps the crowning achievement is the
theme from Moviola which is truly remarkable. Typically Barry,
but just that bit more inspired than even his other best themes.
It's just a shame that it has had such a complex history,
supposedly written for Prince of Tides, which was rejected and
replaced by a score from James Newton Howard. All film music fans
will find something in this collection and should be acquired if
for no other reason than to own a copy of the theme from Moviola
which I don't think is available anywhere else and certainly a
full soundtrack hasn't been released for this score. Rating ~ Total Time ~ 60:10 This is the archetypal John Barry
CD, full of fairly slow moving, epic and romantic themes played
on strings backed by rich horn chords. This is certainly the
album which sums up best Barry's current style. There is none of
the jazzy edged Bond music, just the recent trend for more
sweeping music. Out Of Africa gets off on the right foot with a
suitable passionate performance. The inclusion of that as well as
other favourites such as Dances With Wolves and Born Free provides the core music for
the more casual listener. However, the other tracks are not
without merit. Indeed, this theme from The Midnight Cowboy played
on harmonica is truly heart rending and very beautiful. By
contrast, Body Heat is sultry and in a laid-back jazz style (in
fact the only track that really changes the mood of the album to
any great extent).
