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COLLECTING 007 – Limited Edition CDs
WRITTEN &
COMPILED BY KEVIN HARPER |
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The James Bond film
soundtracks were originally released on Compact Disc in the early days
of the new digital format which quickly overtook
vinyl as the primary medium for commercially released music. The
CD releases were direct digital transfers of the album master
with minimal liner notes, if any. The
soundtracks originally released on
vinyl by United Artists Records were
now issued by EMI, who had acquired the company in 1978.
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To celebrate the
30th
Anniversary of James Bond in the cinema in 1992, EMI released a
compilation album (available on CD, cassette and vinyl internationally) featuring 19
original themes. ‘The Best of James Bond 30th Anniversary Collection’
did not present the tracks in original film order, although the
accompanying 2-disc Limited Edition CD and vinyl release returned the
titles to their correct sequence on Disc One, with rare and unreleased
music featured on the second disc. Although issued as a Limited
Edition it is not known how many copies were pressed of EMI's 2-disc compilation, and the CD is still easily available on the
collectors market today. The Limited Edition CD was a landmark release in 1992 and
marked the first time that many tracks had been made commercially
available. In 1997 US label
Rykodisc (who claimed to be the first CD-only independent record
label) reissued Octopussy (1983) which unusually included three
short tracks of dialogue from the film. Rykodisc added John Barry's
The Living Daylights (1987) to their catalogue in 1998, followed by
Bill Conti's For Your Eyes Only (1981) in 2000. ‘The Deluxe MGM
Soundtrack Series’ reissued previously unavailable or long-out-of print
soundtracks from the library of United Artists Pictures, a
subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. In addition to the remastered
recordings, each CD was enhanced with extras including
extensive liner notes, photographs, and CD-ROM capabilities
featuring film clips and original theatrical trailers. The last two
Rykodisc James Bond CDs featured additional unreleased bonus tracks at the end of
the original album sequence - expanding both soundtracks far beyond
their original running time. |
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Octopussy (1983)
Rykodisc RCD 10705 (USA 1997) |
The Living Daylights
(1987)
Rykodisc RCD 10725 (USA 1998) |
For Your Eyes Only
(1981)
Rykodisc RCD 10751 (USA 2000) |
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The James Bond
soundtracks then went out-of-print for a few years due to a dispute
between EMI and MGM over the distribution rights to the United Artists
Records catalogue. Once the dispute was resolved, EMI and MGM decided to
work together to reissue all of the soundtracks and capitalize on the 40th
anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. The 12 albums EMI controlled
[Dr. No (1962) to Moonraker (1979), plus A View To
A Kill (1985)]; and the three 1980s titles released by Rykodisc
and controlled by MGM could be reissued. GoldenEye (1995)
originally released by Virgin, now a part of EMI was also included and
meant that 16 albums were eventually re-released as part of the package.
Licence To Kill (1989) was still controlled by MCA and explains why is
was not part of the 40th Anniversary reissue programme. To oversee the
project EMI secured the services of American film music producer Lukas
Kendall (publisher of the magazine Film Score Monthly, and CD
label from 1996-2014). Kendall proposed to remix and expand the best of the
1960s and early 1970s James Bond films which EMI agreed to fund. The
original recordings existed in multi-track form at EMI’s Abbey Road vaults
in London, although sessions for the first three films of the series only
existed as an album master. Kendall suggested if time and money allowed,
he would also remaster and expand Live And Let Die and The Man
With The Golden Gun - both of which existed as 16-track tapes and at
Abbey Road. In the event, time and money ran out, and The Man With The
Golden Gun was not remastered and expanded until 2024, when it was
finally released as a two-disc Limited Edition CD by US independent label
La-La Land Records. |
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ABOVE: 6 of the 16
Original Motion Picture Soundtracks for the James Bond films were
expanded for the 40th Anniversary reissue series released
by EMI in 2003. Goldfinger [ROLLOVER] was a hybrid of the UK and
US albums, with the addition of four bonus tracks missing from the
US release. John Barry's Thunderball, You Only Live
Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds
Are Forever plus George Martin's Live And Let Die were
also significantly expanded from their original soundtrack release
with additional bonus tracks added at the end of the album
sequence. The CD editions of For Your Eyes Only,
Octopussy and The Living Daylights originally issued by
Rykodisc were reissued by EMI with new sleeve art which now
replicated the US album cover. |
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The first three films of
the series were re-released in 2003 by EMI as remastered editions of the
original soundtrack albums with no additional material, although
Goldfinger (1964) was a hybrid of the UK and US editions which both
had tracks missing. The remastered release of Octopussy (1983)
dropped the dialogue tracks from the Rykodisc edition, but For
Your Eyes Only (1981) and The Living Daylights (1987) were
straight reissues of the Rykodisc CDs - even down to the same liner notes
[and foldout poster for The Living Daylights]. For legal reasons
the six expanded EMI editions all had the new material placed
after the album sequence which retained the track listing of the original
release; although a few cues do have additional passages of music edited
out of the earlier releases - such as the inclusion of the gun barrel
music at the start of ‘This Never Happened to the Other Feller’
on the soundtrack for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Later
titles in the series were also remastered and all had booklet liner notes
by writer & editor Jeff Bond - although these unfortunately contain
several errors - such as his assertion that the
Dr. No soundtrack
was originally released in 1962, when in reality the album was hastily
assembled by United Artists executives following the success of the film
in the USA in June 1963. The Dr. No soundtrack was not issued in
the UK until July 1965. This aside, the EMI remastered and expanded CDs
were a very important part of the history of the James Bond film
franchise, becoming highly collectible and originally available at a very
affordable price. Although still widely available on the collectors
market, prices have begun to rise as the titles have been out-of-print for
many years. Until very recently the EMI albums were the definitive
release of each title, presenting the music (and available extra material
where possible) in the best quality then available. |
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US La-La Land
Records Limited Edition CDs |
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In 2017 James Bond
composer David Arnold worked with American independent label La-La Land
Records and served as producer on expanded Limited Edition editions of
his scores for Die Another Day (2002), The World Is Not Enough
(1999) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Tomorrow Never Dies
had already been issued on CD twice before. The original 1997 A&M
CD soundtrack album only featured tracks from the first two-thirds of the
film, but a 2000 release from Chapter III Records expanded the
track selection to include music from the entire film, omitting the
vocal performances of Sheryl Crow and k.d. lang, but including an
eleven-minute interview with the composer by John Burlingame. The vocal tracks were
included on the La-La Land Limited Edition CDs, although Madonna's
title song for Die Another Day was omitted from that release
presumably due to licensing restrictions. With over an hour of
never-before-released music, the 2017 2-CD deluxe presentation of Die
Another Day presented the score in film order, with alternate versions
and source music on the second disc. A year later La-La Land
released The World Is Not Enough (1999) in a 2-CD Limited Edition,
this time featuring the title song by Garbage and including an alternate
version of ‘Surrender’ sung by k.d. lang. Die Another Day and
The World Is Not Enough have now sold out at La-La Land, but
copies are still available from other boutique film music retailers,
although often at vastly inflated prices given their out-of-print
status. Produced by David Arnold & Neil S. Bulk, and mastered by Doug
Schwartz from original stereo digital tapes provided by MGM, the special
release of Tomorrow Never Dies is also limited to 5,000 copies
worldwide, and at the time of writing (December 2024) is still available
from La-La Land. |
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Die Another Day
(2002)
La-La Land Records LLLCD1447 (November
2017) |
Two-Disc Expanded
Limited Edition
[5,000 units] SOLD OUT |
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The World Is Not
Enough (1999)
La-La Land Records LLLCD1477 (November
2018) |
Two-Disc Expanded
Limited Edition
[5,000 units] SOLD OUT |
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Tomorrow Never
Dies (1997)
La-La Land Records LLLCD1607 (November
2022) |
Two-Disc Expanded
and Remastered Limited Edition
[5,000 units] |
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At the end of 2023
came the surprise announcement that La-La Land Records would be
releasing two-Disc CD editions of Live And Let Die (1973) and
Octopussy (1983) - both expanded and remastered to celebrate the
respective anniversaries of each film. Disc One of each release housed
the Score Presentation with a remaster of the original album on Disc
Two along with alternate cues. The film score and original
soundtrack album of Live And Let Die was remixed from
the original 16-track masters by Chris Malone and mastered by Doug
Schwartz with superb results. Once again limited to 5,000 units, both
titles feature exclusive in-depth liner notes by ‘The Music of James
Bond’ author Jon Burlingame. Octopussy was also greatly
expanded from the original album release and the film Score
Presentation on Disc One was sourced from ¼-inch stereo tapes of the
film mixes, while Disc Two included original 1983 soundtrack CD and premiere of the ‘Extended Instrumental Version’
of ‘All Time High’ also from ¼-inch stereo album masters. Earlier
restrictions on the re-sequencing of both soundtracks appear to have
been circumvented by also releasing the original unaltered album
(which also featured different takes of some tracks and edits in
others) alongside the new presentation for the most comprehensive version yet. |
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Live And Let Die
(1973)
La-La Land Records LLLCD1625 (December
2023) |
Two-Disc 50th
Anniversary Expanded and Remastered
Limited Edition [5,000 units] |
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Octopussy
(1983)
La-La Land Records LLLCD1637 (December
2023) |
Two-Disc 40th
Anniversary Expanded and Remastered
Limited Edition [5,000 units] |
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In August 2024
La-La Land Records then teased another title on their social media
channels. While not naming the film, the image simply contained the
date ‘October 1, 2024’, and was in an identical golden typeface to the logo seen on
Goldfinger posters in 1964. This led fans to
speculate that the original master tapes has been discovered and an
expanded release was imminent. In the event, although the title of the
next James Bond CD was correct, it remained unexpanded, although the 60th Anniversary Limited Edition of Goldfinger
had the album tracks remastered and re-sequenced into film order. As
with the earlier EMI CD release, the new edition was a hybrid
of the UK and US album masters to present the longest version
possible; with John Barry's instrumental title track (missing from the
original 1964 UK album), plus Anthony Newley's demo of the title song (not
released since the EMI 1992 30th Anniversary Limited Edition CD, and
the single version of ‘Goldfinger’ featuring a different vocal
performance by Shirley Bassey presented as bonus tracks. The resulting
single CD may have come as a disappointment to many who believed it was no
more than a reissue of what they already had. However, Chris Malone's
restoration of the tracks has greatly improved the audio quality of
the album master, which is the only available source for John Barry's
iconic music, and presents the classic score with a clarity not heard
before. |
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Goldfinger
(1964)
La-La Land Records LLLCD1660 (October
2024) |
60th Anniversary
Remastered Limited Edition
[5,000 units] |
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Another surprise
announcement followed on November 29, 2024 when La-La Land
revealed that new two-disc remastered and expanded Limited Editions of
John Barry's The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) and
Moonraker (1979) would be their next releases. Although the
master tapes for The Man With The Golden Gun were known to
exist, it was mistakenly long-believed that Moonraker did not survive as the
recording took place in Paris. In reality American recording engineer
Dan Wallin (1927-2024) brought the tapes back to England where they
were mixed for the film at Anvil Studios. La-La Land have
revealed that the new Moonraker CD has been remixed by Mike Matessino from
high-resolution digital transfers of the 2-inch tapes provided by MGM, and
mastered by Doug Schwartz.
Like their
predecessor, La-La Land and EON Productions have imposed a
90-day embargo on both titles which are initially only available from
the official websites of both companies. As Deluxe Limited Editions
are specifically aimed at collectors rather than the mass market they naturally come at a premium price,
especially for those required to import the CDs. This of course does
not stop other online retailers from purchasing copies themselves and
selling them on at a significant mark-up on their own websites to
exploit uninformed potential purchasers. It is a testament to independent companies
like La-La Land Records, who are willing to put the effort into
restoring and remastering these important titles so they can still be
enjoyed by fans in the best possible quality in a world now dominated
by streaming services and digital downloads. The Limited Edition CD
format has always been a very niche market, appealing to a much smaller number of fans willing to
spend a little more to acquire a superior physical product. Undoubtedly these titles will retain or increase in value in coming
years, especially if they do sell out. Copies of La-La Land's
earlier releases regularly sell for more the double their original
retail price on the collectors market, regardless of their in-print
status. |
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The Man With The
Golden Gun (1974)
La-La Land Records LLLCD1655 (November 2024) |
Two-Disc 50th
Anniversary Expanded and Remastered
Limited Edition [5,000 units] |
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Moonraker
(1979)
La-La Land Records LLLCD1656 (November 2024) |
Two-Disc 45th
Anniversary Expanded and Remastered
Limited Edition [5,000 units] |
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