After the bombast of Thunderball, Barry went for a quieter approach with You Only Live Twice, yielding pleasant, if not exactly exciting results. I always assumed the original album - in common with many of the brief Bond discs - simply missed out all the best material and while this expanded release contains some good extra tracks, it is not significantly more dynamic. Although all the re-released and expanded Bond scores have benefitted from better sound, the mixture of broad orchestral textures and quite intimate scoring in You Only Live Twice gain even more from being that much clearer. The potent grandeur of Mountains and Sunsets, which features a gorgeous orchestral arrangement of the famous song tune is a case in point. The song itself similarly benefits, notably during the memorable opening. It further enhances my regret that the backing to the vocal sections are guitar and synth led, when a rich orchestral arrangement would surely have been more memorable.

While Bond scores are rarely a model of complexity, You Only Live Twice seems to be made up of fewer components than usual and the previously unreleased cues generally reprise that contained on the original album, albeit in different arrangements. Aside from the song, the most memorable invention here is the stately Space March, but its appearance in Soviet Capsule is largely the same as Capsule in Space and James Bond - Astronaut, although the richer orchestration during Spectre and Village is memorable and the best use of the theme outside of Moonraker. About the most exciting track is Little Nellie, which is largely based on variations on the 007 motif, but Barry prefers to treat most of the action with broader strokes so even Fight at Kobe Dock and James Bond - Ninja are quite restrained, although a few brass outbursts towards the close of the latter are a good payoff after another reprise of the Space March.

It maybe seems a touch hypocritical of me to chastise David Arnold for making his Bond scores too action orientated, but You Only Live Twice takes the opposite extreme and it is undoubtedly the most sedate and romantic Bond score to date. The bonus tracks aren't perhaps as interesting as the extra material on Diamonds Are Forever or Thunderball, but does improve on the original album which almost grinds to a halt on a few occasions. As mentioned above, the sound quality improvement is marked and makes the moments calling for a small ensemble - occasionally a solo instrument - more palatable as they are less obscured by hiss and tinny sound. You Only Live Twice undoubtedly has plenty of fine moments, but even leaving aside its status as a Bond score, is a touch repetitive and slow going at times. That does sound a touch more negative than anticipated, but it's Barry doing Bond, so the benchmarks and expectations are just rather high.

Unlike most of the other expanded releases which can be played in the correct order simply by programming the CD player, You Only Live Twice has longer suites in the bonus section and so many of the original album cues come within the longer, previously unreleased tracks. However, with thanks to Neil at John Barry - A Life in Music, the nearly correct track order as below, but check out the link for information about a more detailed edit, should you feel so inclined:

13, 2, 1, 14, 5, 3, 15, 16, 17, 6, 8, 7, 18, 9, 10, 11, 12. Extra tracks: 4 & 19.

Rating ~

  1. You Only Live Twice (2:47)
    Performed by Nancy Sinatra
  2. Capsule in Space (2:45)
  3. Fight at Kobe Dock - Helga (4:03)
  4. Tanaka's World (2:08)
  5. Drop in the Ocean (2:23)
  6. Death of Aki (4:21)
  7. Mountains and Sunsets (3:14)
  8. Wedding (2:49)
  9. James Bond - Astronaut (3:31)
  10. Countdown for Blofeld (2:38)
  11. Bond Averts World War Three (2:18)
  12. You Only Live Twice (End Title) (3:29)
    Performed by Nancy Sinatra
    Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks
  13. James Bond in Japan (10:41)
  14. Aki, Tiger and Osato (5:43)
  15. Little Nellie (3:45)
  16. Soviet Capsule (2:05)
  17. Spectre and Village (3:46)
  18. James Bond - Ninja (7:06)
  19. Twice is the Only Way to Live (2:49)

Total Time ~ 72:44