Rank the Bond Themes

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  • Posts: 4,023
    1. Thunderball
    2. From Russia With Love
    3. Writing's On The Wall
    4. The World Is Not Enough
    5. Skyfall
    6. You Know My Name
    7. Goldeneye
    8. The Living Daylights
    9. OHMSS
    10. You Only Live Twice

    That's it, can't go any further. Too difficult.

    It's nice to see some love for FRWL recently. I can see that as this one comes before the "blueprint" for a Bond song that it may seem too laid back and maybe old-fashioned, plus it wasn't from John Barry.

    However for me Matt Monro is the best singer from this selection. Incredible breath control.

    Then there is the great instrumental version with that awesome attacking start.
  • Seems strange to leave Skyfall out. It's one of the better themes, in my opinion.
  • BondAficionadoBondAficionado Former IMDBer
    Posts: 1,884
    My "instinctual" title song list;

    1 A View To a Kill
    2 OHMSS
    3 You Know My Name
    4 Skyfall
    5 You Only Live Twice
    6 Nobody Does It Better
    7 The World Is Not Enough
    8 Live And Let Die
    9 Goldfinger
    10 Goldeneye
    11 Thunderball
    12 Tomorrow Never Dies
    13 From Russia With Love
    14 The Living Daylights
    15 Die Another Day
    16 TMWTGG
    17 Diamonds are Forever
    18 Another Way To Die
    19 Moonraker
    20 For Your Eyes Only
    21 Licence To Kill
    22 All Time High
    23 Writing's On The Wall

    N.B. The James Bond theme hasn't been included, for obvious reasons. (Dr. No)

    I think my ranking will get a lot of flak but that's okay.

  • w2bondw2bond is indeed a very rare breed
    Posts: 2,252
    First place and last 5 I'm quite sure of but the rest are hard to rank

    1. Goldfinger
    2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Surrender and Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang would go about here
    3. Skyfall
    4. You Know My Name
    5. Goldeneye
    6. Thunderball
    7. From Russia With Love
    8. The Living Daylights - I like this more than I should because I love the film
    9. The Man With The Golden Gun
    11. Live And Let Die
    12. A View To A Kill
    13. For Your Eyes Only
    14. The World Is Not Enough - quite Bondian but bland like the movie
    15. Nobody Does It Better - the most overrated Bond song of all time
    16. You Only Live Twice
    17. Moonraker
    18. Tomorrow Never Dies
    19. Licence To Kill
    20. Another Way To Die
    21. Die Another Day
    22. All Time High
    23. Writing's on the wall
  • edited May 2017 Posts: 623
    1. Goldfinger
    2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    3. From Russia With Love
    4. Nobody Does It Better
    5. You Only Live Twice
    6. Live And Let Die
    7. Skyfall
    8. Thunderball
    9. Moonraker
    11. For Your Eyes Only
    12. Writing's on the wall
    13. Goldeneye
    14. A View To A Kill
    15. You Know My Name
    16. All Time High
    17. The Living Daylights
    18. Tomorrow Never Dies
    19. Licence To Kill
    20. The World Is Not Enough
    21. The Man With The Golden Gun
    22. Die Another Day
    23. Another Way To Die

    I actually like From Russia With Love more than Goldfinger, but the GF title song gets to be number one in my list because it's so Bondonian. It just screams 'James Bond'.
    The Writing's On The Wall is actually a song better than most, but the whiney singing made it unsuitable as a Bond theme. They should have used the instrumental over the credits. He sounds like a kid's just took his play-station off him.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    edited January 2018 Posts: 1,984
    After watching TB, I'm thinking:

    1. Nobody Does It Better
    2. Live and Let Die
    3. You Know My Name
    4. You Only Live Twice
    5. Skyfall
    6. Diamonds Are Forever
    7. Thunderball
    8. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    9. From Russia With Love
    10. A View To A Kill
    11. The Living Daylights
    12. Goldfinger
    13. The World Is Not Enough
    14. GoldenEye
    15. Moonraker
    16. For Your Eyes Only
    17. Writing's On The Wall
    18. All Time High
    19. Licence to Kill
    20. Tomorrow Never Dies
    21. The Man With The Golden Gun
    22. Die Another Day
    23. Another Way To Die

    That said, I liked them all up to 18 so it was a bit difficult to choose.

    If it was instrumentals, my list would probably be significantly different.
  • mattjoes wrote: »
    I'm not one much for lists, but what I can tell you is the only theme I either dislike or almost dislike is Another Way to Die. The voices are irritating (especially Jack White's), the chorus is irritating. I like the intro, though. I enjoy all the other themes, including Writing's on the Wall and Die Another Day, in my opinion both unfairly maligned.

    Yeah pretty much. Writing's On The Wall's instrumental is beautiful. I wish Sam Smith didn't sing it. It would have been light years better if a female had sung it.

    I like DAD. It's bizarre, which isn't out of line with Fleming's vision of the Bond novels, and actually quite catchy. It's not my favourite theme, but I agree - it's unfairly maligned. Another Way to Die is worse.

    A female DID sing it...
  • Andi1996RueggAndi1996Ruegg Hello. It's me, Evelyn Tremble.
    edited January 2018 Posts: 2,005
    some are easy to rank, others not so:

    1. John Barry - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    2. Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
    3. Carly Simon - Nobody Does It Better
    4. Shirley Bassey - Diamonds Are Forever
    5. Gladys Knight - Licence To Kill


    Love a great lot of the songs, most would be in the middle of things and too hard to put in an order.

    Here are some that I could do without, but they are still a part of Bond and therefore I will kindly listen to these:

    Sheena Easton - For Your Eyes Only: it's just too damn cheesy, but ok in the titles.

    Rita Coolidge - All Time High: did I just call Sheena's song cheesy? Well this got to be the worst Bond song ever. Still, it fits OP.

    a-ha - The Living Daylights: Urgh....80s pop of the worst kind. But ok-ish in the titles.

    Madonna - Die Another Day: I rather die instantly than listening to it again (outside of the film).

    Alicia Keys and Mr. White - Another Way To Die: ...well there is only one sure way to die. Having this abomination of a so called song battle its way out of the soundbar.

    Sam Smith - Writing's On The Wall: it's like the film, a little bit of that, a little bit of this, but nothing done properly.
  • GBFGBF
    Posts: 3,195
    01. THE JAMES BOND THEME (DN)

    02. LIVE AND LET DIE
    03. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
    04. ONE HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
    05. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
    06. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
    07. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
    08. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
    09. THUNDERBALL
    10. A VIEW TO A KILL

    11. SKYFALL
    12. ALL TIME HIGH (OP)
    13. LICENCE TO KILL
    14. GOLDFINGER
    15. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
    16. YOU KNOW MY N AME (CR)
    17. GOLDENEYE
    18. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
    19. TOMORROW NEVER DIES
    20. WRITING'S ON THE WALL (SP)

    21. NOBODY DOES IT BETTER (TSWLM)
    22. ANOTHER WAY TO DIE (QOS)
    23. MOONRAKER
    24. DIE ANOTHER DAY

    25. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN




  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,548
    1. Live and Let Die
    2. A View to a Kill
    3. OHMSS
    4. You Only Live Twice
    5. Nobody Does It Better
    6. Skyfall
    7. Goldfinger
    8. You Know My Name
    9. Thunderball
    10. Goldeneye
    11. Writing's on the Wall
    12. From Russia with Love
    13. Another Way to Die
    14. Diamonds Are Forever
    15. The living Daylights
    16. The Man with the Golden Gun
    17. The World Is Not Enough
    18. Moonraker
    19. Licence to Kill
    20. Tomorrow Never Dies
    21. All Time High
    22. Die Another Day
    23. For Your Eyes Only
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 776
    Updating my ranking, both to include 'Writing's On the Wall' from Spectre and to move a couple things around:


    1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    2. Skyfall
    3. You Know My Name
    4. Live And Let Die
    5. Thunderball
    6. From Russia With Love
    7. Writing's On The Wall
    8. Goldfinger
    9. Diamonds Are Forever
    10. James Bond Theme/Kingston Calypso
    11. You Only Live Twice
    12. For Your Eyes Only
    13. The World Is Not Enough
    14. Goldeneye
    15. The Living Daylights
    16. Nobody Does It Better
    17. License To Kill
    18. Tomorrow Never Dies
    19. Another Way to Die
    20. Moonraker
    21. A View To A Kill
    22. The Man With The Golden Gun
    23. All Time High
    24. Die Another Day

    I forgot how obnoxious 'Another Way to Die' is and I forgot how nice 'For Your Eyes Only' is. 'Writing's On The Wall' is a bit better than I remembered, although Smith's singing, while good, is quite sloppy to me. If a truly great singer performed it, I'd like it even more.
  • edited March 2018 Posts: 230
    1. You Only Live Twice
    2. Nobody Does It Better
    3. Live and Let Die
    4. For Your Eyes Only
    5. OHMSS
    6. Diamonds Are Forever
    7. James Bond Theme
    8. Thunderball
    (If You Asked me To)
    9. All Time High (Don't judge)
    10. From Russia With Love
    (All The Time In the World)
    11. Moonraker
    12. Skyfall
    13. Goldfinger
    14. A View To A Kill
    15. Goldeneye
    16. License To Kill
    17. You Know My Name
    18. The Living Daylights
    19. Tomorrow Never Dies
    20. The Man With The Golden Gun
    21. The World Is Not Enough
    22. The Writing's On The Wall
    23. Die Another Day
    24. Another Way To Die
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,586
    1. Skyfall
    2. You Know My Name
    4. A View to A Kill
    3. Diamonds Are Forever
    4. You Only Live Twice
    5. The World is Not Enough
    6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    7. Live and Let Die
    8. GoldenEye
    9. Nobody Does it Better
    10. Moonraker
    11. Goldfinger
    12. Tomorrow Never Dies
    13. The Living Daylights
    14. Writing's on the Wall
    15. Another Way to Die
    16. All Time High
    17. From Russia With Love
    18. All Time High
    19. Die Another Day
    20. The Man with the Golden Gun
    21. License to Kill
    22. For Your Eyes Only
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,532
    Not counting DN or OHMSS.

    1. Skyfall
    2. Goldeneye
    3. The Living Daylights
    4. Live and Let Die
    5. You Know My Name
    6. Diamonds Are Forever
    7. A View to a Kill
    8. Thunderball
    9. You Only Live Twice
    10. Goldfinger
    11. Die Another Day (I know I know. It's catchy)
    12. Another Way to Die
    13. Tomorrow Never Dies
    14. The World Is Not Enough
    15. Nobody Does It Better (Great song but it's been overplayed to death)
    16. Licence to Kill
    17. For Your Eyes Only
    18. All Time High
    19. From Russia with Love
    20. Moonraker
    21. Writing's on the Wall
    22. The Man with the Golden Gun
  • 1.license to kill
    2.live and let die
    3.skyfall
    4.goldfinger
    5.writing on the wall
    6.Dr.no
    7.The living daylights
    8.on her majesty's secret service
    9.you know my name
    10.the man with the golden gun
    11.the spy who loved me
    12.another way to die
    13.Goldeneye
    14.Diamonds are forever
    15.A view to a kill
    16.moonraker
    17.you only live twice
    18.thunderball
    19.from Russia with love
    20.For your eyes only
    21.tomorrow never dies
    22.the world is not enough
    23.Die another day
    24.All time high(OCTOPUSSY)
  • EiragornEiragorn Hessia
    Posts: 108
    Diamonds Are Forever
    Nobody Does it Better
    On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    Live and Let Die
    James Bond Theme
    You Only Live Twice
    You Know My Name
    GoldenEye
    We Have All the Time in the World
    Writing’s on the Wall
    A View to a Kill
    SkyFall
    License to Kill
    Goldfinger
    Thunderball
    For Your Eyes Only
    The World Is Not Enough
    From Russia With Love
    The Living Daylights
    Another Way to Die
    Moonraker
    Tomorrow Never Dies
    All Time High
    The Man with the Golden Gun
    Die Another Day
  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    Posts: 2,598
    1. Goldfinger
    2. Live and Let Die
    3. Diamonds Are Forever
    4. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    5. You Only Live Twice
    6. Skyfall
    7. You Know My Name (CR’06)
    8. Nobody Does It Better
    9. Thunderball
    10. A View To A Kill

    Honorable Mentions: The World Is Not Enough, The Living Daylights, GoldenEye, Casino Royale (’67) – vocal end titles (I actually enjoy the soundtrack to this movie quite a lot!!)

    Dis-Honorable Mentions: Die Another Day, Another Way to Die, The Writing's on the Wall

  • edited September 2019 Posts: 4
    Regarding some of the unused theme songs (including those secondary, closing credits songs), I prefer k.d. lang over Sheryl Crow [Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)] and Scott Walker over Garbage [The World is not Enough (1999)]. This may sound ridiculous for some, but..

    And here is an exception. The song No Good About Goodbye was not written for Bond film purposes, as far as I'm concerned, but it has all that Bond theme song should be. It sounds just like it was made for Quantum of Solace. I can't resist it.
  • edited February 2020 Posts: 12,242
    Latest update (really tough list because I like almost all of them):

    1. James Bond Theme (Dr. No)
    2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    3. Live and Let Die
    4. Goldfinger
    5. You Know My Name
    6. A View to a Kill
    7. Skyfall
    8. You Only Live Twice
    9. Nobody Does It Better (The Spy Who Loved Me)
    10. Moonraker
    11. No Time to Die
    12. From Russia with Love
    13. Thunderball
    14. GoldenEye
    15. The World Is Not Enough
    16. For Your Eyes Only
    17. Licence to Kill
    18. The Living Daylights
    19. Diamonds Are Forever
    20. All Time High (Octopussy)
    21. Another Way to Die (Quantum of Solace)
    22. Tomorrow Never Dies
    23. The Man with the Golden Gun
    24. Writing’s On the Wall (Spectre)
    25. Die Another Day
  • R1s1ngs0nR1s1ngs0n France
    Posts: 2,002
    1. You Only Live Twice
    2. Live And Let Die
    3. Thunderball
    4. Goldfinger
    5. Nobody Does It Better
    6. Diamonds Are Forever
    7. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    8. Moonraker
    9. The World Is Not Enough
    10. You Know My Name
    11. From Russia With Love
    12. The Living Daylights
    13. A View To A Kill
    14. The Man With The Golden Gun
    15. Tomorrow Never Dies
    16. Goldeneye
    17. All Time High
    18. Skyfall
    19. For Your Eyes Only
    20. Writing On The Wall
    21. Licence To Kill
    22. Die Another Day
    23. Another Way To Die
  • edited May 2020 Posts: 928
    1. You Only Live Twice
    2. The James Bond Theme
    3. Live and Let Die
    4. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    5. A View to a Kill
    6. Goldfinger
    7. Diamonds are Forever
    8. GoldenEye
    9. You Know My Name
    10. The Living Daylights
    11. Nobody Does It Better
    12. Skyfall
    13. The World is Not Enough
    14. From Russia with Love
    15. Moonraker
    16. Licence to Kill
    17. Thunderball
    18. Tomorrow Never Dies
    19. No Time to Die
    20. For Your Eyes Only
    21. All Time High
    22. The Writing’s on the Wall
    23. The Man with the Golden Gun
    24. Die Another Day
    25. Another Way to Die
  • Posts: 6,727
    1. You know my name
    2. Live and Let Die
    3. Licence to Kill
    4. All Time High
    5. On Her Majestys Secret Service
    6. Moonraker
    7. A View to a Kill
    8. Diamonds Are Forever
    9. The Living Daylights
    10. For Your Eyes Only
    11. Goldfinger
    12. Thunderball
    13. Nobody Does it Better
    14. Another Way to Die
    15. The Man with the Golden Gun
    16. From Russia with Love
    17. The World is not Enough
    18. You Only Live Twice
    19 Skyfall
    20 The Writings on the Wall
    21. No Time to Die
    22 Tomorrow Never Dies
    23 Goldeneye
    24 Never Say Never Again
    25 Die Another Day
  • M16_CartM16_Cart Craig fanboy?
    edited October 2021 Posts: 538
    redacted
  • LFSLFS
    edited July 2020 Posts: 40
    I will only rank the title (or theme) songs, otherwise I would find it distorting.


    1. You Only Live Twice
    Nancy Sinatra singing brilliant lyrics to a brilliant John Barry composition. What could go wrong?

    2. Live and Let Die
    One of the few Bond songs which are truly about James Bond; the frantic passages blending with the slower ones works to great effect.

    3. You Know My Name
    Chris Cornell's contribution was the first great Bond song in almost 20 years.

    4. The Living Daylights
    Maybe it's John Barry's use of it in the soundtrack, but this songs always stays in my head for days when I've watched the film. Very energetic.

    5. For Your Eyes Only
    A wonderfully romantic song, beautifully sung by the beautiful Sheena Easton. Always loved it.

    6. Nobody Does It Better
    It fits the film it represents like not many title songs.

    7. Diamonds Are Forever
    Shirley Bassey is the First Lady of Bond songs, of course. This is my favourite of hers.

    8. From Russia with Love
    A very classic-sounding song that fits the old-fashioned style of the film.

    9. All Time High
    A song that works as an instrumental as well as when it's sung. And Rita Coolidge sings great.

    10. A View to A Kill
    Duran Duran truly wanted this gig. And they delivered! Together with Barry, of course.

    11. Goldfinger
    Not my number one favourite, but iconic.

    12. Thunderball
    This song is big and majestic, it prepares you for a big and majestic movie.

    13. Licence to Kill
    Solidly average. I wish the producers had stuck with Michael Kamen's new arrangement of the Bond Theme, though, played by Eric Clapton and Vic Flick.

    14. Moonraker
    Desperate to work in the title of the film, but a beautiful ballad.

    15. Skyfall
    A little too repetitive and same-sounding, still an okay song.

    16. GoldenEye
    Not Tina Turner's best song, but serviceable. I prefer the Ace of Base effort.

    17. Tomorrow Never Dies
    Quite generic, yet it does the job - like the film. Of course it should have been Surrender.

    18. The Man with the Golden Gun
    One of the few cringeworthy Bond songs. It sounds as if penned by a child.

    19. The World Is Not Enough
    This has got to be one of the shallowest songs ever written. Strange that Don Black did the lyrics.

    20. Another Way to Die
    Hate to give Alicia Keys a thumbs down, but this is horrible in every way.
    "Another ringer with the slick trigger finger for Her Majesty" - alright.

    21. Writing's on the Wall
    Good Lord! Can you image Connery starring in movie with this title song?

    22. Die Another Day
    I don't think I need to explain this.


    Not included are: Dr. No, since it uses the Bond Theme, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where the title sequence is a fantastic track, but not a song.
    Also not included is the new one, which I haven't had the nerve to sit through yet.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Very good point about WOTW.
  • Posts: 17,241
    Current ranking:

    1. Diamonds Are Forever
    2. A View to A Kill
    3. Nobody Does It Better
    4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    5. From Russia with Love
    6. Thunderball
    7. Live And Let Die
    9. The Living Daylights
    10. Goldfinger
    11. You Only Live Twice
    12. All Time High
    13. For Your Eyes Only
    14. The Man with the Golden Gun
    15. The World Is Not Enough
    16. You Know My Name
    17. Licence to Kill
    18. GoldenEye
    19. Moonraker
    20. Tomorrow Never Dies
    21. Skyfall
    22. Another Way to Die
    23. No Time to Die
    24. Writing's on the Wall
    25. Die Another Day

    It's difficult to rank the top 19. As for the rest…well, I don't really enjoy any of them (the Craig era has some really bad theme songs, IMO).
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 776
    Updating my ranking after talking about the music in the TSWLM thread and I mentioned the FYEO title theme, which had me rethinking things. Definitely going to change some things around. Also going to add ‘No Time To Die’.

    1. Live And Let Die
    2. Skyfall
    3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    4. Thunderball
    5. You Know My Name
    6. Diamonds Are Forever
    7. Goldfinger
    8. For Your Eyes Only
    9. You Only Live Twice
    10. Nobody Does It Better
    11. From Russia With Love
    12. James Bond Theme/Kingston Calypso/Three Blind Mice
    13. Moonraker
    14. Goldeneye
    15. The Living Daylights
    16. The Writing’s On The Wall
    17. No Time To Die
    18. Licence To Kill
    19. A View To A Kill
    20. The World Is Not Enough
    21. Tomorrow Never Dies
    22. The Man With The Golden Gun
    23. All Time High
    24. Another Way To Die
    25. Die Another Day

  • Posts: 12,242
    1. James Bond Theme (Dr. No)
    2. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
    3. Live and Let Die
    4. You Know My Name (Casino Royale)
    5. Goldfinger
    6. A View to a Kill
    7. Skyfall
    8. You Only Live Twice
    9. Nobody Does It Better (The Spy Who Loved Me)
    10. Moonraker
    11. From Russia with Love
    12. Thunderball
    13. No Time to Die
    14. GoldenEye
    15. For Your Eyes Only
    16. The World Is Not Enough
    17. Licence to Kill
    18. The Living Daylights
    19. All Time High (Octopussy)
    20. Diamonds Are Forever
    21. Another Way to Die (Quantum of Solace)
    22. Tomorrow Never Dies
    23. Writing’s on the Wall (Spectre)
    24. The Man with the Golden Gun
    25. Die Another Day
  • Posts: 2,400
    27: Another Way to Die
    26: Any fanmade Bond theme, perhaps even one sung by a preschool choir if such a thing exists
    25: Die Another Day
    24: The Man with the Golden Gun (title sequence version; also a massive combo break after what had to this point been a run of excellence)
    23: Moonraker
    22: Tomorrow Never Dies
    21: No Time to Die
    20: All Time High
    19: For Your Eyes Only
    18: Writing's On the Wall
    17: GoldenEye
    16: Goldfinger
    15: The World is Not Enough
    14: From Russia with Love (both versions)
    13: Licence to Kill
    12: The James Bond Theme (Dr. No)
    11: Thunderball
    10: Surrender (yeah, it counts)
    9: You Only Live Twice
    8: Live and Let Die
    7: Diamonds Are Forever
    6: The Living Daylights
    5: A View to a Kill
    4: Skyfall
    3: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (instrumental)
    2: You Know My Name
    1: Nobody Does it Better
  • marcmarc Universal Exports
    Posts: 2,608
    1. DN
    2. FRWL (instr.)
    3. OHMSS
    4. LALD
    5. YOLT
    6. TB
    7. TLD

    8. OP
    9. GF
    10. CR
    11. TWINE
    12. TND
    13. MR

    14. LTK
    15. FYEO
    16. SF
    17. DAF
    18. NTTD
    19. GE

    20. AVTAK
    21. DAD
    22. SP
    23. TSWLM
    24. TMWTGG
    25. QoS
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