The Sound of 007: Live from the Royal Albert Hall

Out of a three hour concert, there had to have been better cuts than some of these. A few are fantastic, half are passable covers, and the rest are nigh painful.

Dame Shirley Bassey is game, but clearly had issues with her upper range as well as breath support. Still, at 85, she was the class of the evening in more ways than one. Opening the concert with Diamonds Are Forever and moving right into Goldfinger? That's brass.

David Arnold's cover of You Know My Name also deserves a mention. Not wanting anyone else to sing the late Chris Cornell's theme to Casino Royale, Arnold does the tribute himself. Surprisingly good.

Lulu earns a thumbs up for a playful rendition of The Man With The Golden Gun, clearly having more fun than Shirley Manson of Garbage. Manson's vocal started shaky and breathy on The World Is Not Enough, but accompanied by her band mates, she seemed to gain traction as the song progressed. And Hans Zimmer once again filled his requirement of appearing onstage any time his work is performed in concert.

The covers range from powerful and energetic (Skyfall, Live and Let Die), to stolid and business-like (From Russia With Love, License to Kill), with a bizarre Tina Turner impersonation by Paloma Faith (Goldeneye) thrown in for good measure.

That leaves us with two extremely painful performances: Celeste (You Only Live Twice) and John Grant (We Have All The Time In The World). Both seem to have issues finding the key in which the orchestra is playing. Celeste attempts to riff artfully through the deceptively simple melody. Unfortunately, she never ends the phrase in the proper key, seeming under rehearsed or unfamiliar with the chord progression. Grant, on the other hand, seems to fight to stay on pitch despite the earpiece, and the fact he's standing in front of the bloody orchestra. Also, the arrangement is set much lower than the original Louis Armstrong track, yet Grant struggles in his low register. Again the feeling is one of under-preperation.

So, like the Bond franchise itself, there are perfomances we love because of the icons involved, those we respect on reputation, those we appreciate for good effort, and those that clearly could have been better with more effort.