> The Man with the Golden Gun is not generally considered to be one
> of the better Bond films - or have one of the better Bond scores or songs.
> Even John Barry would later admit he couldn’t quite figure that one out,
> though only having a few weeks probably didn’t help at all. Rambling
> honky-tonk material, an overreliance on its song theme, and various other
> issues aren’t enough to put it at the bottom of the Bond score rankings,
> but it’s easily remained the weakest of the Barry Bond scores for many
> thanks to its original album program. La-La Land’s recent expansion does
> add in some worthy material though. The song theme appears in mysterious
> and sweeping guises, though my favorite of the incremental appearances is
> the one supported by elegant lounge piano in Moments. The Bond
> theme undergoes several welcome new variations. There’s even a clever
> blink-and-you-miss-it nod to the song theme from Live and Let Die.
> It’s all enough to salvage a third star…barely.

> ***

Over the past six months or so, I did my own Bond Odyssey and watched of all of the Bond films from Dr. No up through The Living Daylights. Along with that, I did a listen to the soundtracks of each film. The Man With The Golden Gun was one of three Bond scores I just listened to on YouTube and felt no need to actually purchase it. It wasn't so much bad as it was just totally forgettable. I'm not a fan of funhouse/carnival music, and the soundtrack was lacking in action and adventure music with it mostly being suspense music.

I've listened to the newly expanded album, and, as with Moonraker, I agree that it's an improvement, but still one of the lesser Bond scores.

I'm waiting on the promised expanded License To Kill to release to rewatch the film and give the soundtrack a fresh listen. I do recall enjoying the original soundtrack release, though I haven't listened to it in a very long time, probably close to two decades ago.