Originally intended as a trilogy, there’s a fourth flick in the works at present. Damon reprises his role, while Paul Greengrass (who helmed the last two outings), returns as the director. The as yet untitled film is set for a 2010 release.
Personally, even though I’m more of a Bond fan (especially since Craig’s taken over), I also like the Bourne series a lot, and so, really look forward to seeing a whole series of Bourne flicks. That is, only if they can maintain the current (very high) standards….

David Arnold really hit his melodic best with Casino Royale. He had really waltzed into John Barry territory with tracks like City of Lovers and Vesper. But, in Quantum of Solace, we see (actually, hear) Arnold doing what he does best-heavily percussive, off-kilter-at-first action cues. In fact, some of the cues appear to be really random and unmelodious on first listen. But then, after repeated listening, themes start emerging amongst all the mayhem. What first seems like one rambling mess, turns into something divine. Especially, after watching the movie, and seeing how well the soundtrack fits it. The way the music’s been performed, it complements Daniel Craig’s ruthlessness really well. The orchestra pulls hard on the strings, blows hard into the brass, beats the drums black and blue, thus giving the soundtrack a rather edgy, gritty and driven feel.
The album starts off with Time to Get Out, one of the better tracks. Snippets from the Bond theme are mixed with driving percussion to deliver a nice, foot tapping action cue to accompany the amazingly good car chase seen right at the start of the film. This is continued right into The Palio, which gives us more of the same, albeit, in a more frentic manner. The tension of the Palio foot-chase can actually be revisited while listening to this track. Bond in Haiti is a rather dense, but lilting track. On screen, it works well in providing the necessary ambience, but on disc, its 37 second runtime is 37 seconds too long. Sadly, the album contains more of such incidental, crappy tracks in Talamone and Bolivian Taxi Ride. Such ‘title card’ tracks (in that they are effecive in just conveying what country Bond is at the moment) were better done on the Casino Royale soundtrack.
Pursuit at Port Au Prince is a nice little action piece, but I suspect that 10 years down the line, it’ll seem very jaded. The extensive use of electric guitars and repetitve drums firmly cement this track as belonging to this year, as opposed to the timeliness of traditional orchestral music. But, the track is rounded up in a very flamboyant and Bond-like manner, with a rendition of the ‘pre-Bond’ Bond theme from Casino Royale, which merges into the traditional Bond theme really well. Field Trip also features these two renditions, and is one of the Bond-est tracks on the album.
Night at the Opera features the Dominic Greene theme, which we first heard in Greene & Camille in full glory, performed on an orchestral harp, with army marching band like percussion driving it nicely along.
The better moments of the album come when the Vesper theme from Casino Royale is reprised, like in What’s Keeping You Awake, Forgive Yourself and I Never Left. They instill some humanity into Bond’s character and help us in understanding what exactly is driving him along. And, let’s just face it, the Vesper theme WAS really amazing!
Target Terminated is a generic action cue played out during the aerial dogfight. It effectively combines heavy percussion with fragments reprised from the action cues from Casino Royale, specially the ending, which is a faithful copy of the ending of African Rundown.
By far the coolest reprise of the Bond theme comes in Oil Fields. The track starts off extremely dark and tense, and then about midway through it, we get to hear a rather determined and driven reprise of the theme. In its 2:30 runtime, the track conveys just how much of a bulldog Bond really has become. Gone are the days of the sleek yet hammy Bond, Craig’s Bond is going to get his way by hook or by crook.
Sadly, after this, none of the track quite match up, with nothing of note in the next 5 tracks (including the theme song, Another Way to Die) except another reprise of the Bond theme at the end of Perla De Las Dunas. The reprise starts of very softly, gradually gaining volume and momentum, till its rather mute ending.
All in all, this album, though a good compilation of action cues (like the movie it accompanies), doesn’t quite match up to its predecessor (again, like the movie it accompanies). Buy it only if you’re an avid David Arnold fan…

#5 A View to a Kill (Duran Duran, 1985, from A View to a Kill)
The song’s peppy, even though it sounds really jaded now. The lyrics make decent enough sense. And, it’s the only Bond theme ever to make it to the #1 spot on the American pop charts.

#4 Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney & Wings, 1973, from Live and Let Die)
Macca’s voice is divine, his piano bridge inspirational, and the guitar work really foot tapping. It’s downright melodious with lots of great percussion work. It’s the only Bond theme to have been covered by the great Guns N’ Roses. Enough, to make this one Bond theme I adore.

#3 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (John Barry Orchestra, 1969, from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)
This is John Barry’s melodious masterpiece. This is only the third instrumental piece in Bond history to be used as the main title theme. And, it is easily the best of the three. The foreboding love theme really goes well with the overall tone of the movie, which introduced us to a new Bond in the highly underrated George Lazenby. Brilliant. Really.

#2 The World is not Enough (Garbage, 1999, from The World is not Enough)
Shirley Manson’s seductive voice acts as the perfect foil for David Arnold’s sweeping symphonics. Manson’s band mates gel in well to make this song an almost perfect mix of strings, voice and lyrics. Add to that a hummable theme, and you have the number 2 song on the list.

#1 You Know My Name (Chris Cornell, 2006, from Casino Royale)
Widely considered as the second worst Bond theme (the first being the immensely forgettable Another Way to Die) by the Bond puritans, I consider this to be the best theme ever. The stuffy and prudish puritans underestimate the raw power of Cornell’s voice, which gelled in really well with the gritty tone of the movie. They fail to appreciate the cold lyrics, and the highly symphonic theme, which, in many ways, is a precursor to the Monty Norman/John Barry Bond theme.

Chorus
A door left open
A woman walking by
A drop in the water
A look in the eye
A phone on the table
A man on your side
Someone that you think that you can trust is just
Another way to die

Another tricky little gun giving solace to the one that’ll never see the sunshine
Another inch of your life sacrificed for your brother in the nick of time
Another dirty money, heaven sent honey turning on a dime

[Chorus]

Another girl with her finger on the world singing do you whatcha wanna hear?
Another gun thrown down and surrendered took away your fear
Hey! Another man that stands right behind you looking in the mirror

[Chorus]

Suit ‘em up, bang bang!

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