David Arnold
David Arnold - Music from The World Is Not Enough (Radioactive/MCA) Just like most other soundtracks, this package looks like a bumper bargain: 19 tracks and - for those with a CD-Rom drive - even a trailer for the movie at the end. And also just like other film soundtracks, it is full of snippets that mean much less when stripped of the visual discourse.
Being the soundtrack to a James Bond movie surely helps matters, given how traditions require the composer to draw up pompous, brassy numbers to back the car chases, explosions and all that.
David Arnold, in his second stint as musical accomplice to a 007 flick, does not disappoint - his music is provides atmosphere and power to the film.
What gives this soundtrack a unique identity are probably the tracks with vocals. Two out of 19 these gems might be, but what precious diamonds they are. The theme track, performed by Garbage, is a stunning piece in orchestral excellence - it is so camp, bombastic and overtly pretentious that it has got to be good.
The other trophy track is more a surprise than anything: Scott Walker, the obscure musical hermit who crooned about the Prague Spring and Camus novels in his heyday, delivers a melancholy Only Myself To Blame. It might not be the best thing he has done, but his gloomy, introspective sermon provides a nice finale to the record.
