If Goldfinger proved that the James Bond franchise was box office dynamite, 1965's Thunderball cemented the British super-spy's international appeal--and further forged a set of pop culture cliches that both inspired and endured even Mike Meyer's modern, multi-chaptered Austin Powers spoofing. While Goldfinger also marked composer John Barry stamping his enduring influence on the series' music, this fourth installment finds his big band and jazz-inspired arrangements pulsing with confidence, stripped down rhythmic tension and exotic elegance. Tom Jones follows up Shirley Bassey's previous larger-than-life title track performance with a worthy rival of his own, its dramatic, Barry-composed melody interpolated throughout the composer's masterful score. Songwriter Leslie Bricusse (who co-wrote "Goldfinger" with Barry) also returns, teaming with the composer on the emblematic "Café Martinique" and delightfully kitschy "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (originally intended as the film's Bassey-sung theme song, but abandoned and replaced by the film's producers). This new, digitally remastered and expanded edition notably doubles the running time of the original album with selections that bristle with Barry's haunting string and wind arrangements, including two suites comprising 20-plus minutes of the film's concluding underwater intrigue. It's one of Bond's--and Barry's--best. --Jerry McCulley