Goldfinger Soundtrack CD

Original score composed by and conducted John Barry.
Recorded at CTS Studios, London, England in July 1964. Includes liner notes by Jeff Bond.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Personnel: Shirley Bassey (vocals); Vic Flick (guitar); Johnny Scott , John Scott (saxophone).
Audio Remasterer: Bob Fisher .
Liner Note Author: Jeff Bond.
Recording information: CTS Studios, Bayswater, London, England (07/1964); CTS Studios, Baywater, London, England (07/1964).
One of John Barry's best efforts, with a particularly striking title song belted out by Shirley Bassey between blasting brass fills, Goldfinger was also the first James Bond soundtrack to hit the number one spot on the U.S. charts (ironically, displacing another United Artists soundtrack, A Hard Day's Night), even as Bassey's performance hit number eight as a single. While Barry effectively expanded his collection of Bond themes with Thunderball (underwater themes) and You Only Live Twice (space themes), Goldfinger was a prime opportunity to lock in some of the action themes that would recur over the next 35 years. Of particular note is the track compiling Barry's cues for the robbery of Fort Knox ("Dawn Raid on Fort Knox"), which provides a slow build so wonderfully agonizing that the remainder of the album, including "The Arrival of the Bomb and Count Down," with its pounding drums and roaring brass, actually serves as stress relief. ~ Steven McDonald & Bruce Eder
Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" wasn't the biggest hit from the James Bond movies, but it remains the archetype. With Bassey's bold, blaring delivery of Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley's over-the-top lyrics, her voice as brassy as the unforgettable horn fills that punctuate the verses, "Goldfinger Into Miami (Main Title)" (as the song is more prosaically identified here) is a true swinging-'60s pop treasure. Though the rest of the album isn't John Barry's all-time best James Bond score--that would be 1965's thrilling THUNDERBALL--it's certainly top-drawer work. Tracks like "Oddjob's Pressing Engagement" and the subtle "Gassing the Gangsters" rework the main theme in imaginative ways, and the climactic "Dawn Raid On Fort Knox" is effectively tense even without the visuals. The brief "Teasing the Korean" is a similarly impressive exercise in atmospherics, proving anew that John Barry was one of the most gifted soundtrack composers of the '60s.
One of John Barry's best efforts, with a particularly striking title song belted out by Shirley Bassey between blasting brass fills, Goldfinger was also the first James Bond soundtrack to hit the number one spot on the U.S. charts (ironically, displacing another United Artists soundtrack, A Hard Day's Night), even as Bassey's performance hit number eight as a single. While Barry effectively expanded his collection of Bond themes with Thunderball (underwater themes) and You Only Live Twice (space themes), Goldfinger was a prime opportunity to lock in some of the action themes that would recur over the next 35 years. Of particular note is the track compiling Barry's cues for the robbery of Fort Knox ("Dawn Raid on Fort Knox"), which provides a slow build so wonderfully agonizing that the remainder of the album, including "The Arrival of the Bomb and Count Down," with its pounding drums and roaring brass, actually serves as stress relief. In February of 2003, Goldfinger was issued in a remastered edition that featured not only significantly improved sound but also added an extra nine minutes of music, contained in four sections of the soundtrack that originally appeared only on the British LP edition. Rather than mere filler, those cuts -- "Golden Girl," "Death of Tilley," "The Laser Beam," and "Pussy Galore's Flying Circus," the latter particularly entertaining -- add significant elements to the score, which otherwise always seemed somewhat sketchy on the album. The sound is also a significant improvement over any previous edition of the soundtrEntertainment Weekly (10/12/01, p.32) - Ranked #24 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...The ultimate Bond score, full of sex, suspense and jazzy, brassy pop-orchestra excitement..."