John Barry’s Las Vegas-infused Bond score has been restored and expanded for a new generation.
When Diamonds Are Forever reached cinemas in 1971 it carried with it a sense of familiarity and change in equal measure. Sean Connery returned as James Bond for the final time in an official Eon production, yet the tone of the film hinted at a lighter direction for the series. Now, 55 years on, John Barry’s score for that film has been revisited in a newly remastered and expanded edition.
Announced by La-La Land Records, the limited 2-CD release presents the score in a form closer to Barry’s original intent. Newly remastered from available sources, the set offers improved sound quality along with a more complete presentation of the music than earlier releases allowed. For Bond fans, it provides an opportunity to hear the full range of a score that has often been overshadowed by others in the series.
Barry had already defined the musical language of Bond by the time he composed Diamonds Are Forever. Here, however, he adjusted his approach. The score reflects the film’s setting and tone, drawing on lounge and jazz influences that echo the casinos and neon lights of Las Vegas. It is less urgent than From Russia with Love and less forceful than Goldfinger, but no less precise in its construction.
At its centre is Shirley Bassey’s title song, her second contribution to the series. Where Goldfinger had been bold and declarative, Diamonds Are Forever is more measured. The performance matches the film’s polished surface, suggesting a world of wealth and control rather than raw power. It remains one of the defining musical moments of the Bond series.
The expanded edition includes previously unreleased cues and alternate versions, shedding light on Barry’s working methods. These additions reveal how he balanced shifts in mood, moving between tension and sophistication often within the same sequence. It is a quality that mirrors Ian Fleming’s writing, where detail and pace combine to carry the reader forward without pause.
There is also a broader significance to the release. Diamonds Are Forever stands at a point of transition for Bond on screen. Connery’s return closed one chapter, while the film’s tone pointed towards the style that would become more pronounced in the 1970s. Barry’s score, maintaining continuity while adapting to that shift, plays a central role in that evolution.
Limited in number, the La-La Land Records edition is aimed at collectors, but its value lies in its completeness. It presents a clearer picture of how one of Bond’s most important composers shaped the series at a moment of change, and how music helped define 007’s world as surely as Fleming’s prose or Connery’s performance.
Source: La-La Land Records
Explore the full La-La Land Bond soundtrack releases
This expanded edition is part of a wider series of definitive James Bond scores released by La-La Land Records. For collectors, these are the most complete versions available.
