Tomorrow Never Dies marks the 18th appearance of Ian Fleming's spy James Bond and the second time actor Pierce Brosnan takes a crack at the role, happily, the producers of this Bond film decided not to go with Eric Serra for another Bond score after the mostly negative response to his score for Goldeneye. This time, they handed the composing responsibilities to the experienced hands of David Arnold (Stargate, Independence Day).

Because of John Barry's dominance throughout the music of the Bond series, many of the composers who have attempted to bring some of their own style to the music while trying to stay up to Barry's level, have realized that that has been easier said than done. But in the case of Arnold's score, he's come pretty close. While bringing a more 90's dance music feel to some segments, Arnold doesn't completely abandon a full orchestra for the intimacy of synthesizers. And like Barry, Arnold makes sufficient use of the Bond theme at key moments to link his score and the movie to the series.

On to the songs by Sheryl Crow and k.d. lang. Originally, Arnold had written the k.d. lang song, Surrender as the title song for the picture and as such the tune is recognizeable throughout the score. However, since A&M Records released the soundtrack, they decided to have Sheryl Crow sing a song that she wrote. As a result, Sheryl Crow's song doesn't have any coherence with the rest of the score. It seems to be a repeat of the incident years ago with Thunderball where Dionne Warwick's song Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was dropped in favor of Tom Jones' rendition of Thunderball. Although Sheryl Crow's song is good, k.d. lang's is more in the retro style that it seems Arnold had originally intended to go with the song. The last track on the soundtrack is the James Bond Theme remix by Moby which is inspiring enough for would-be spies to get up and dance.

Arnold keeps the action going throughout the score with use of both full orchestra and a bit of synths to give it a more modern feel. However, it is clear at many points in the soundtrack that he hoped to capture the sound of Barry's earlier Bond scores. Indeed it seems that many portions of the soundtrack wouldn't sound at all out of place in Connery's Bond films. The best tracks are White Knight, Company Car (which makes very good use of the James Bond Theme), and Backseat Driver. In addition, the softer love themes, Paris and Bond and The Last Goodbye are just as romantic in sound as Barry's renditions of his love themes. Overall, a very good addition to any Bond fan's collection and a glimmer of hope for Bond music if Barry decides not to come back for the next one.

Total time: 54:01

1: Tomorrow Never Dies (4:47) - Sheryl Crow
2: White Knight (8:30)
3: The Sinking of the Devonshire (7:07)
4: Company Car (3:08)
5: Station Break (3:30)
6: Paris and Bond (1:55)
7: The Last Goodbye (1:34)
8: Hamburg Break In (2:52)
9: Hamburg Break Out (1:26)
10: Doctor Kaufman (2:26)
11: *-3-Send (1:17)
12: Underwater Discovery (3:37)
13: Backseat Driver (4:37)
14: Surrender (3:56) - k.d. lang
14: James Bond Theme (3:12) - Moby