For the most part, I feel that the Bond film scores all sound very similar. This is one that REALLY stands out to me.

1. -Nobody Does It Better- This is by far one of the best Bond songs ever recorded, and we are given the full cut of the song, not the partial cut that I have heard elsewhere.

2. -Bond 77- This is a 4:22 compilation of all the Disco-Bond themes throughout the film. It has great solos, and the Disco beat, though I'm not a big fan of Disco, this is an exciting track that defines Roger Moore's Bond in the film.

3. -Ride To Atlantis- This is a very tranquill and relaxing piece with lots of strings, guitars, and synthesizers. It is beautiful and gives the impression of being underwater.

4. -Mojave Club- This is a very interesting track. It has lots of drums and has an extremely African sound. It can get obnoxious after repeat listenings, but all in all, it is not too long and is worth a listen.

5. -Nobody Does It Beter (Instrumental)- This is, by far, the most beautiful track on the CD. It has beautiful solos by Marvin Hamlisch on piano, Laurence Juber on lead guitar, and Derick Plater.

6. -Anya- Although the track never actually appeared in the film, it is a beautiful serenade that stays appealing even after repeated listening.

7-10. -The Pyramids, Eastern Lights, Conclusion- These tracks are all connected and represent a compilation of the finale music from the film. 7 builds suspense with lots of brass and leads into 8. 8 consists of a disco/funk/African sound that is very neat sounding. 9 is mostly done by strings and a chorus. Over all, these tracks only add up to a total of 7:58.

11. -End Titles- This track consists of parts of tracks 1 and 5.

All in all, this is an incredible soundtrack, though I wish more could have been included. But as this was first released on a vinyl LP, the 36 minute total running time makes sense. This is an incredible album and the price is perfect. A GREAT BUY!!!

I can understand why Dr. No and From Russia With Love might not have any new music because the original soundtracks are jammed with tracks already.

So what is up with The Spy Who Loved Me?
Basically, it is the same old thing. Only better sounding.

You might think the soundtrack would contain the actual music from the movie: The title song and the end titles as it was heard in the film (right now you can only transfer it from DVD), the music used for Bond and Anya on a boat to Cairo, Bond and Anya following Jaws into the Egyptian ruins, the underwater battle between the Espirit Lotus and Stromberg's frogmen, the battle on board the Liparus, Bond wetbiking to Atlantis, Atlantis' destruction, the chase between Bond, Anya, Jaws, and Naomi (and the cue used for the Lotus' entrance into the water).

Instead we get THIS.

Perhaps there is some kind of contractual agreement (or disagreement) here between Marvin Hamlisch and the powers that be; you can remaster The Spy Who Loved Me all you can....but nevertheless it is NOT the soundtrack that the movie, AND the fans deserved.

Composer Marvin Hamlisch stepped into to handle the score for the Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me. While the film itself is one of the better movies during the "Roger Moore" era of the franchise, the score could have been so much better, in my opinion. Most of the of the film scores in the seies had a timeless quality about them. The main trouble I have with the music for this film, is the fact that you can tell that it was composed for a 70's film Hamlisch uses a lot of disco like interludes to pepper the music-while the other film scores may seem dated at certain times-it's not quite as obvious as it is here. Since I am not a fan of the disco era it really was a distraction, and to be honest, I had forgotten just how much of it there was in the score. The fun of it wore very thin real fast

The soundtrack's saving graces are the wonderfull title song "Nobody Does It Better", sung by Carly Simon, and the "The Pyramid". However, I was also disappointed in the CD itself. Unlike many of the recently reissued Bond soundtrack, there wasn't any bonus tracks included here. I'm sure that I would given this a higher rating, had there been additional cues as part of the package-perhaps it could have balanced out the disco sound a bit

The only "bonuses" here are remastered sound and another set of well written liner notes from film music historian Jeff Bond for a little persrpective on things. The only reason I am going to keep this one is for the sake of completeness-even then-it's a stretch rest assured. The CD has 11 tracks with a running time of (just) 36:20.