The Sound of 007: Live from the Royal Albert Hall

"The Sound of 007 - Live From the Royal Albert Hall", available on Amazon Prime Video, is a live concert from the famous London venue featuring a selection of music from the Bond series.

It's a bit of a mixed bag: there are some standout performances and a few painful duds.... you can tell those from the more muted levels of applause from the Bond fans present! And at only 59 minutes long, there is a frustrating amount of concert footage that never made the final cut!

Positives: Some of the highlights of the concert are:

• Shirley Bassey, at 85 years old and still able to bash out almost perfect renditions of "Diamonds are Forever" (one of my favourite Bond songs) and "Goldfinger". (She was first on... clearly she had to dash off for her cocoa!)
• Lulu, again looking spectacularly good for 73 years old, belting out "The Man With The Golden Gun".

• Hans Zimmer and David Arnold with an orchestral piece from "No Time To Die". The arrangement is probably closest to the track "Cuba Chase", which is my absolute favourite on the soundtrack album.

• David Arnold gave an emotional tribute to his friend Chris Cornell before announcing that he was going to sing the track "You Know My Name" (from "Casino Royale"). "Uh-oh" I thought! But he actually did a knock-out job with it.

• It's not my favourite Bond song by a long chalk, but Paloma Faith was born to sing a Bond title track... and she brought "Goldeneye" to life for sure.

• David Arnold rounding off the evening with his lively arrangement of the Bond theme from the end titles of "Casino Royale", playing the famous guitar riff (as indeed he did on the original recording - see "The Sound of 007" documentary).

Neutrals - Performances that I thought were "so-so":

• Jamie Cullum did a reasonable job with "From Russia With Love", although he seemed to rush through some elements of the song... at times the orchestra seemed to be struggling to catch up. He also, sadly, demonstrated just what an immaculate talent the late Matt Monro had when singing the original.

• Emma Lindars... she wasn't Adele (who is, other than Adele), but she made a pretty good stab at "Skyfall".

• Similarly Ella Eyre had a good crack at "Licence to Kill".

• The Garbage performance of "The World is Not Enough" felt underpowered and had some tuning issues. It was great to get another original artist on the stage, but unlike Bassey and Lulu, it wasn't a great rendition of her original.

• Skin's rendition of "Live and Let Die" was more like B. J. Arnau's version from the "Fillet of Soul": it was "OK" without being spectacular.

Negatives - The low points for me:

• Celeste managed to completely murder (imho) "You Only Live Twice". She's clearly a great singer, but this song just didn't suit her at all. #Uncomfortable.

• John Grant had all sorts of tuning issues with "We Have All The Time In the World" (from OHMSS). Painful.

• I'll also add in here that given Amazon is a streaming platform, it's a huge disappointment that the whole concert couldn't have been aired. (I have a list of the missing performances in my full review on One Mann's Movies).

Summary Thoughts: I saw the tickets for this concert and baulked at the price. And I rather wish I had been there, just to catch Shirley Bassey and Lulu belting out their classic songs. But overall I think I would have been a bit disappointed that the high quality shown in some of the performances couldn't have been maintained throughout.

Out of a three hour concert, there had to have been better cuts than some of these. A few are fantastic, half are passable covers, and the rest are nigh painful.

Dame Shirley Bassey is game, but clearly had issues with her upper range as well as breath support. Still, at 85, she was the class of the evening in more ways than one. Opening the concert with Diamonds Are Forever and moving right into Goldfinger? That's brass.

David Arnold's cover of You Know My Name also deserves a mention. Not wanting anyone else to sing the late Chris Cornell's theme to Casino Royale, Arnold does the tribute himself. Surprisingly good.

Lulu earns a thumbs up for a playful rendition of The Man With The Golden Gun, clearly having more fun than Shirley Manson of Garbage. Manson's vocal started shaky and breathy on The World Is Not Enough, but accompanied by her band mates, she seemed to gain traction as the song progressed. And Hans Zimmer once again filled his requirement of appearing onstage any time his work is performed in concert.

The covers range from powerful and energetic (Skyfall, Live and Let Die), to stolid and business-like (From Russia With Love, License to Kill), with a bizarre Tina Turner impersonation by Paloma Faith (Goldeneye) thrown in for good measure.

That leaves us with two extremely painful performances: Celeste (You Only Live Twice) and John Grant (We Have All The Time In The World). Both seem to have issues finding the key in which the orchestra is playing. Celeste attempts to riff artfully through the deceptively simple melody. Unfortunately, she never ends the phrase in the proper key, seeming under rehearsed or unfamiliar with the chord progression. Grant, on the other hand, seems to fight to stay on pitch despite the earpiece, and the fact he's standing in front of the bloody orchestra. Also, the arrangement is set much lower than the original Louis Armstrong track, yet Grant struggles in his low register. Again the feeling is one of under-preperation.

So, like the Bond franchise itself, there are perfomances we love because of the icons involved, those we respect on reputation, those we appreciate for good effort, and those that clearly could have been better with more effort.

This is cut down version of the live concert held at Royal Albert Hall to celebrate 60 years of the James Bond films. I have no idea why Amazon, a streaming service could not broadcast the full concert.

Music has always been an important component of the Bond films ranging from the iconic Bond theme to the title tracks.

David Arnold who composed five Bond movies curated the music for the concert. He even took over vocal duties from the late Chris Cornell as he belted out You Know My Name. I was mildly surprised how good Arnold's vocals were and he was clearly nervous.

The biggest applauses were for the original singers who appeared. Dame Shirley Bassey got a standing ovation along with Lulu and Garbage.

Others such as Celeste and Skin sang cover versions of Bond songs. It ended with Arnold's interpretation of the Bond theme which has been used in films where he has not been the composer.

It is certainly worth watching but I would like to have seen the extended concert that included collaborators talking about the music.

Kudos to the band! Apart from the great Bassey, what a shambles!! Singers were out of tune, time and couldn't be bothered!! We had to rely on the old vanguard of Bassey and Lulu to add a little class to the evening.

Singers don't seem to realise in the modern era that it takes thousands of hours of practice to reach a level that's required to perform professionally. They rely on producers to auto tune them and give them as many takes as they want to get it right. In the past, you had to get it right the first take like the rest of the musicians!!

If it wasn't for the orchestra, the rating would be lower.

What a disappointment!

The idea of celebrating Bond music in a grand concert setting sounds fantastic, but The Sound of 007: Live from the Royal Albert Hall fails to deliver. While some performances capture the essence of Bond's legendary themes, others fall flat, with a few singers struggling to hit the mark. Unfortunately, these lackluster moments overshadow the good ones, making the experience uneven and, at times, cringeworthy.

The production value and venue are impressive, but they can't make up for the inconsistent quality of the performances. For an event meant to honor the rich musical history of Bond, it feels underwhelming. Hardcore Bond fans may find a few highlights, but overall, this concert fails to live up to its potential.