This has the the problem of
sounding more exciting that it is. Action and adventure are not
things you associate with many of Barry's modern scores, more
along the lines of his James Bond efforts. Suitably, these kick
off the CD, but all seem rather slowly, if technically well
performed. I suppose they all suffer from being songs, but not
having the lyrics in this case. Goldfinger seems to drag on quite
a lot as it is far too slow and misses Shirly Bassey's energetic
voice to enliven it. The James Bond theme (credited to Monty
Norman, so just who did write it?!) is a fraction on the
unethusiastic side and missed the electric guitar that drives it
along. The same is true of On Her Majesty's Secrect Service, but
this is otherwise a pretty good rendition. The highlight of the
James Bond selection is undoubtedly All Time High from Octopussy,
which suits been taken at a cerebral pace and is a singularly
beautiful song and this rentdition suits it perfectly. Until
September is quite nice, if rather non-despcript, but has a nice
saxophone solo that would improve the track no end if used a
little more often. King Kong is just dull and I can't remember
much about it even after I've just heard it. Zulu is a classic
John Barry theme and the rendition here is good, although I'm not
that fond of it I have to say. The
Dances With Wolves suite rather surprisingly misses out the
concert version of the John Dunbar theme, but it doesn't matter
all that much as all the major themes are reprised in the good
selection that is contained. It has the unfortunate problem of
starting with Pawnee Attack, a track that I am not overtly keen
on, the almost random drum outburst get tiring after a while. The
rest of the suite is very well performed and there is probably
enough music here to satisfy most people that the soundtrack is
not essential. The tracks from the Specialist aren't anything
special really and I found them to be dull. I think that calling
it "Action and Adventure" was somewhat of a mistake and
most tracks rather stretch the credibility of that name. Although
it seems dumb to criticise a composer's own rendition of his
music, in this case, I don't think Barry did himself any favours
with the tempos he uses.
Rating ~ 
- James Bond Suite
- Goldfinger (2:41)
- The James Bond Theme
(2:01) (Composed by Monty Norman)
- From Russia with Love
(2:54)
- Thunderball (2:33)
- 007 (1:48)
- You Only Live Twice
(2:22)
- On Her Majesty's Secret
Service (2:03)
- Diamonds are Forever
(2:26)
- All Time High from
Octopussy (3:56)
- Until September
(4:25)
- King Kong (2:37)
- Zulu (2:45)
Dances With Wolves Suite
- Pawnee Attack Parts 1
& 2 (4:05)
- Kicking Bird's Gift
(2:06)
- Journey to Fort Sedgewick
(2:40)
- Two Socks - The Wolf
Theme (1:32)
- Farewell and Finale Parts
1 & 2 (9:52)
- The Specialist - Did You
Call Me (5:24)
- The Specialist
Total Time - 63:39
