The Age Old Question: A Podcast for Music Fans · Rich Price and Clint Bierman

What Is The Greatest Bond Theme of All-Time?

March 19, 2024·54 min·3 clips

Adele's Skyfall is chosen as the best Bond theme because it keeps the original Bond motif and stays catchy.

Rich Price and Clint Beerman open with a childhood memory of James Bond as a family event. From there, they ask the question at the center of the episode: which Bond theme is the greatest of all time. The conversation moves fast, but it never feels rushed. They note there have been 25 official James Bond movies and, by extension, 25 official themes. They also bring up the 1967 Casino Royale film and its song The Look of Love. From there, the hosts start comparing songs and the people who wrote them. Nobody Does It Better comes up as a Bond theme that was not written by its performer. They contrast that with songs co-written by the artists who sang them. Live and Let Die is one of the first big reference points, credited to Paul and Linda. Madonna's Die Another Day gets a mention too. Adele's Skyfall is discussed as a deliberate return to a sultry, soulful Bond feel. Sam Smith's Writings on the Wall is presented as sounding like the epitome of Bond music from the opening bars. Chris Cornell's You Know My Name gets pulled in as another strong example from Daniel Craig's era. Jack White's Another Way to Die also enters the mix. The hosts linger on Garbage's The World Is Not Enough. They think it has the right mix of 90s detail, huge orchestration, and a sultry vocal over a big chorus. The conversation stays playful. Listener comments and a closing plea for a website, social follows, and Patreon support round out the back half. The episode ends the way the show likes to end: with an open invitation to keep arguing about the answer.

As heard by us

A lively Bond-theme debate that turns pop history into a real-time argument.

The episode treats Bond themes as a pop-music debate worth having, and it keeps the focus on why the question matters. Rich Price and Clint Beerman move through the official songs with memories, song history, and plain preference, circling back to Live and Let Die, Nobody Does…

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Why you'd press play

Pick a Bond theme and see whether your favorite survives the hosts' friendly, very opinionated crossfire.

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