John Barry: The Collection

great cd and it makes a great gift for those who can appreciate his james bond themed music

I got this album for my wife as a Yule present. I got the idea from one particular tune, Walt Disney's The Black Hole Theme. She has played the tunes and liked it a lot, especially since many of these are themes of films that were not familiar to her and so represented something different from what she had been used to.

Granted, they only need it for one composition (the last one, "The James Bond Theme") but still, without the guitar it's just not the same. Barry didn't compose this one so I suppose it was a bonus and I shouldn't complain, really. The rest of the music on all the CDs is fantastic. Some of the stuff I had heard before without realizing who had composed it. Very enjoyable, to say the least.

Buy it for the Persuaders theme, probably the best TV theme song ever written.

John Barry has been composing film scores for over forty years and this is only scratching the surface of his productions. Never mind that the entire set is recorded by the Prague Philharmonic; it's pure to Barry's themes. While John Williams compositions ("Star Wars", etc.) are wild and flamboyant and Jerry Goldsmith's (Hoosier's, etc.) are mood pieces, John Barry crosses over all barriers and is amazingly diverse. Barry has recorded most of the exciting James Bond themes, melodramatic classics like "The Lion In Winter' and moody theme hits like "Midnight Cowboy". He also tugs at the heartstrings with compositions from, "Somewhere In Time", "Frances" and "Out Of Africa". He varies his themes for all types of films and few composers capture it so well.

There is over four hours of music in this set with a colorful and informative booklet.