You Only Live Twice (soundtrack)

Infobox Album
Name = You Only Live Twice
Type = soundtrack
Artist = John Barry


Released = July 1967
Recorded = April 1967
Genre =
Length = 34:12
Label = United Artists
Producer = Frank Collura (Reissue)
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:50o7gjurj6i9 link]
Last album = "The Wrong Box"
(1966)
This album = "You Only Live Twice"
(1967)
Next album = "Boom!"
(1968)Extra chronology 2
Artist = James Bond soundtrack
Type = Soundtrack
Last album = "Thunderball"
(1965)
This album = "You Only Live Twice"
(1967)
Next album = "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"
(1969)Extra album cover
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Background = gainsboro


Lower caption = Re-release cover

"You Only Live Twice" is the soundtrack for the 5th James Bond film of the same name.

It was composed by Bond veteran, John Barry. At the time, this was his fourth credited Bond film.

The theme song, "You Only Live Twice", was sung by Nancy Sinatra, with music by John Barry and lyrics by Leslie Briscusse. The song is widely recognised for its striking opening bars, featuring a simple 2-bar theme in the high octaves of the violins and lush harmonies from French horns.

In 1998, Robbie Williams sampled the title song "You Only Live Twice" for the chart-topper "Millennium"(in fact, the music was re-recorded rather than sampled, since this was less expensive than licensing the original recording). A rock version of "You Only Live Twice" was covered by Coldplay when they toured in 2001, and was covered by Natacha Atlas for her 2005 compilation album "The Best of Natacha Atlas". The Icelandic singer Björk also recorded a cover version.

Interestingly, an alternative example of a possible theme song (also called "You Only Live Twice" and sung by Lorraine Chandler) was discovered in the vaults of RCA records in the '90s. Probably intended as a demo for consideration by the film's producers, it became a very popular track with followers of the Northern soul scene (Chandler was well known for her high-quality soul output on RCA) and can be found on several RCA soul compilations. A completely different "You Only Live Twice" sung by an uncredited Julie Rogers but written by John Barry featured on a James Bond 30th Anniversary CD.

Shirley Bassey, who did the main titles for "Goldfinger", "Diamonds Are Forever", and "Moonraker" performed the song for her album "Get the Party Started".

The incidental score for the film is regarded as among the finest of John Barry's scores for the James Bond series. 'Capsule in Space', an impressionistic cue of layered piano and strings ostinatos, is probably the most famous piece of incidental music from the Bond series after '007'.

The soundtrack has previously been available in two versions on CD - the first, a straight re-issue of the LP soundtrack, and the second an expanded re-issue including several previously unreleased tracks.

Track listing

#"You Only Live Twice (Main Title)" – Nancy Sinatra
#"Capsule in Space"
#"Fight at Kobe Dock/Helga"
#"Tanaka's World"
#"A Drop in the Ocean"
#"The Death of Aki"
#"Mountains and Sunsets"
#"The Wedding"
#"James Bond – Astronaut?"
#"Countdown for Blofeld"
#"Bond Averts World War Three"
#"You Only Live Twice (End Title)" – Nancy Sinatra
#"James Bond in Japan"
#"Aki, Tiger and Osato"
#"Little Nellie"
#"Soviet Capsule"
#"Spectre and Village"
#"James Bond – Ninja"
#"Twice Is the Only Way to Live"

Tracks 13 to 19 were later added, as a bonus, to the complete version of the original soundtrack.

"Twice Is the Only Way to Live" was the final track on the original UK version of the soundtrack. It was also included on the United Artists' soundtrack compilation "Ten Golden Years" (1968). On certain albums of the soundtrack of "You Only Live Twice", the alternate 007 theme is included. It is the score played when Little Nellie is being constructed and continues to play until three or four SPECTRE helicopters encounter Bond at which point the song becomes the "James Bond Theme".