Album

A sort of cross between Sex and the City and the Kronos Quartet as they might be remixed by Paul Oakenfold (actually Orion and the Beatmasters do most of the producing), Bond is a string quartet of toothsome beauties at least as concerned with their hair and makeup as their playing whose work on Shine is heavily augmented with dance beats. It's a formula that sits them atop the classical crossover charts, up there with Sarah Brightman and Josh Groban, and why not? As with their peers, the music is only ersatz classical, containing classical tunes here and there mixed in with classical-sounding new compositions. And the elaborate dance programming makes the music highly, well, programmable. Leadoff track "Allegretto" was quickly tapped for an upscale television commercial, a mark of success in this market previously achieved by the likes of Moby. Here and there among the oddly familiar melodies are actually identifiable ones. "Strange Paradise" is a much modified version of the same theme from Borodin's "Polovetsian Dances" in his opera Prince Igor that became the show tune and pop hit "Stranger in Paradise" from the musical Kismet; "Kashmir" is the Led Zeppelin song; "Libertango" comes from Astor Piazzolla; the bonus track, "Bond on Bond," is, inevitably, Monty Norman's James Bond movie theme; and "Space" sounds like the theme from every movie ever set in a Middle Eastern desert (although here it sounds like it comes from a Middle Eastern disco). The CD booklet, full of fashion-style photography, outdoes anything from Britney Spears, and, of course, there's nary a musical instrument in sight. The music may be the least of it, but as marketing, Bond is hard to fault.

© William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

CD 1
Karl Jenkins Composer Palladio, for string orchestra (or band) Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Gavyn Wright Conductor, London Session Orchestra Orchestra, Beatmasters Synthesizer, Wil Malone Conductor
1	Allegretto	3:53			$0.99
Magnus Fiennes Composer Shine, for voice, bass, and string quartet Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Shashi Pandit Voice, Wil Malone Conductor, Guy Pratt Bass
2	Shine, for voice, bass, and string quartet	3:57			$0.99
Tonci Huljic Composer Fuego Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, London Metropolitan Orchestra Orchestra, Paul Spong Trumpet, Beatmasters Synthesizer, Wil Malone Conductor
3	Fuego	2:59			$0.99
Magnus Fiennes Composer Strange Paradise (after Borodin), for voice, harp, and string quartet Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Eos Chater Voice, Skaila Kanga Harp, Wil Malone Conductor
4	Strange Paradise (after Borodin), for voice, harp, and string quartet	4:28			$0.99
Stuart / Michelle de / Marius de Crichton / Vries / Vries Composer Speed Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Stuart Crichton Keyboard, Wil Malone Conductor
5	Speed	3:40			$0.99
Magnus Fiennes Composer Big Love Adagio (after Albinoni), for voice and string quartet Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Eos Chater Voice, Wil Malone Conductor
6	Big Love Adagio (after Albinoni), for voice and string quartet	4:58			$0.99
Robert / Jimmy / John Plant / Page / Bonham Composer Kashmir Work Pavlos Doukanares Bouzouki, Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Gavyn Wright Conductor, London Session Orchestra Orchestra, Rony Barrack Rika, Beatmasters Synthesizer, Wil Malone Conductor
7	Kashmir	5:08			$0.99
Tonci Huljic Composer Gypsy Rhapsody Work Pavlos Doukanares Bouzouki, Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Gavyn Wright Conductor, London Session Orchestra Orchestra, Rony Barrack Rika, Beatmasters Synthesizer, Wil Malone Conductor
8	Gypsy Rhapsody	3:34			$0.99
Astor Piazzolla Composer Libertango, tango for chamber ensemble Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Luis Jardim Percussion, Eddie Hessian Accordion, Wil Malone Conductor
9	Libertango, tango for chamber ensemble	3:42			$0.99
Haylie Ecker Composer Sahara Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Hossam Ramzy Percussion, Wil Malone Conductor
10	Sahara	5:21			$0.99
Eos Chater Composer Ride Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Eos Chater Voice, Wil Malone Conductor
11	Ride	4:09			$0.99
Martin / Paul / Amanda / Alex Glover / Carter / Glanfield / Morris Composer Space Work Pavlos Doukanares Bouzouki, Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Gavyn Wright Conductor, London Session Orchestra Orchestra, Rony Barrack Rika, Beatmasters Synthesizer, Wil Malone Conductor
12	Space	4:46			$0.99
Bond Composer Bond on Bond (after Monty Norman) Work Bond String Quartet String Quartet, Wil Malone Conductor
13	Bond on Bond (after Monty Norman)	3:02			$0.99