Tomorrow Never Dies

The soundtrack to Tomorrow Never Dies, the second James Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan, is strengthened by David Arnold's remarkable score. Arnold keeps the swinging, brass- and string-saturated John Barry foundation intact, but he updates the sound with aggressive arrangements, innovative compositions and the occasional techno flourish, all of which makes the music more effective. He also collaborates with k.d. lang on the delirious "Surrender," which is dripping with affectionate kitsch and genuine style. Which, of course, is much more than could be said for Sheryl Crow's plodding, clueless title song, which is one of the worst in Bond history. (The producers were simply not thinking when they rejected Pulp's proposed theme song -- released on the Help the Aged single as "Tomorrow Never Lies" -- which fits Arnold's score and the Bond mystique much, much better than Crow's attempt.) Still, the weak theme song does little to distract from one of the best Bond scores in recent memory. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine