John Barry Albums (48)
'John Barry Soundtracks'
Release Date 2/20/2009
Tracks 36
Label Metro Doubles
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'King Kong Featuring John Barry (1976)'
Release Date 10/25/2005
Tracks 13
Label Film Score Monthly
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What The Critics Say
John Barry's score for director Michael Apted's World War II drama Enigma is a lush, orchestral effort performed by members of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and conducted by the composer. The cues are mostly short, with only four of 19 lasting more than three minutes, but there is a consistency of tone for most of them, and it is a quiet, contemplative one. Things pick up a bit in terms of tension on such titles as "Police Chase" and "Puck Dies," but even then Barry maintains a deliberate feel that never becomes too stirring. More typical are pieces like "The Quarry" and "Tom Goes to the Cottage," in which a piano plays a single-note theme supported by stately strings. This is not the music for a battlefield war film, but rather one fought internally, with plenty of time for contemplation and uncertainty. Still, the result is both moving and elegiac. (The album concludes with a couple of period songs, DeSylva, Brown and Henderson's "The Black Bottom" as played by Bunny Berigan and His Orchestra in 1937; and Harry Warren and Mack Gordon's "You'll Never Know," recorded in 1943 by British bandleader Ambrose and His Orchestra with Ann Shelton on vocals, which are used as source music in the film; as well as a 1994 recording of Vaughan Williams' "Dives & Lazarus" played by the New Queen's Hall Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth.) ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'Robin and Marian'
Release Date 10/8/2001
Tracks 15
Label Silva Screen
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What The Critics Say
High Road to China is representative of the lushly dramatic work that defines John Barry's output from the early '80s -- one might even say it's typical to a fault. The sweeping emotional drama that galvanizes scores like Out of Africa and Frances returns here, but it seems as if Barry is simply going through the motions, creating a series of slow, densely textured themes that don't quite fit with the film's Raiders of the Lost Ark-inspired mish-mash of adventure, comedy, and romance. Soundtrack Collector's 1998 reissue expands the original release via ten unreleased source cues that offer the variety that the finished score does not -- period themes like the Middle Eastern-inspired "Waziri," the Dixieland-influenced "Swinging at the Riverside," and the lovely harpsichord piece "Allemande from the Bach French Suite #5 in G Major" flesh out the kind of rounded, multi-dimensional work one hopes to hear from a composer of such consummate skill. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
'James Bond: Back in Action, Vol. 2'
Release Date 11/14/2000
Tracks 16
Label Silva
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What The Critics Say
In his 1996 review of the indie film Caught, movie critic Rex Reed paid the ultimate compliment to trumpeter Chris Botti -- who wrote the score and whose horn graced the soundtrack -- by comparing the young upstart's smoky style to that of a young Chet Baker. Botti has since gone on to great success in smooth jazz by combining a laid-back demeanor with attitude-filled grooves and picture-perfect melodies. Legendary composer John Barry -- whose resumé runs from Born Free to Dances With Wolves and, more jazzily, Body Heat -- loved director Willard Carroll's idea of lacing the soundtrack to the thought-provoking, multi-generational relationship film Playing by Heart with a handful of 1956 Baker quartet originals. Botti was an obvious choice when Barry chose to extend that vibe into the orchestral score, and the haunting album cover -- featuring a pensive Barry between Botti and a young Baker, both holding their horns, over a black background -- perfectly epitomizes the passing of the generational torch. The opening tune "Remembering Chet" captures the essence of the whole album; Botti's balmy trumpet sound wafts over Lee Musiker's elegant piano meditation as the orchestra breezes in and out of the background. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of rhythmic variation as the tracks progress. The classic, smooth, delicately bittersweet tones of Baker (on "Tenderly," "You Go to My Head," and "These Foolish Things" are interspersed between the Botti tunes, which creates a unique flow and shows a delicate contrast between the Baker's low tone and Botti's slightly higher pitch. Arranged this way, it's almost like listening to a one-of-a-kind lesson between legendary mentor and a student primed to carry on his legacy. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
