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John Barry
True, he could have mastered the task of bringing the scores and themes to the 90's and further, that can be seen in his (imo) masterpiece The Living Daylights where he perfectly combines his classic score with modern music styles.
John Barry is like Sean Connery. They made the movies work and they cannot be thanked enough for that.
Completely agree: Every Bond movie untill Tomorrow Never Dies had his own unique and recognizable musical identity. Yes, even Michael Kamen on Licence To Kill.
With David Arnold it became more bland, less recognizable. Allthough You Know My Name and Surrender are his best efforts. You Know My Name has an instant recognizable melody which returns during the movie. But his actionmusic lacks any melody.
John Barry wrote his music like popsongs, which is why his music is so damn huge and brings an entirely other dimension to a movie ! They are not just different (computerized) sounds to pump up the action. They are complete songs.
You nailed it above. That's my issue with most of Arnold's work. It's the action scoring that upsets me more than anything (so generic and noisy to my ears generally...... with exceptions of course).
Agree on Barry. His music is a blend of pop, jazz and classical and everything has a distinct, melodic rhythm to it. They stand along beautifully without the film and yet they indeed lift the corresponding scene. One cannot imagine some scenes without the corresponding music.
I personally rank the Craig Bond songs a follows:
1. Skyfall
2. WOTW
3. AWTD
4. You know my name (simply terrible. I hate the vocal)
If I rank them as Bond songs:
1. Skyfall (clearly the most "bondesque" Bond song)
2. WOTW (a close second when it comes to bondesqueness)
3. YKMN (non-Bond, just rock, but its greatness overplays that)
4. AWTD (truly horrible for a Bond theme, what were they thinking??)
If I rank them outside the Bond universe:
1. YKMN (clearly the best song of them all, heard it zillions of times)
2. WOTW (I simply love it)
3. AWTD (outside the Bondverse this actually is quite edgy and good)
4. SF (dull, Adele belts it out at the end, I never can listen to it except in the title sequence)
1. YKMN... good (if not a little generic rock song) made better by the lyrics and most definitely the titles which work in exhilarating fashion by the close
2. SF... fairly dull, but decent. It's really all Adele. If anyone else sang it would be seen as mediocre, but people are in withdrawal and in anticipation for Adele's follow up and that's what made this a radio song. And it's been decades since JB had a radio song. Hence corporate decision to go Sam Smith.
3. AWTD... crap IMO. I think Jack White is totally overrated and derivative. When they announced he was doing, I thought this will suck, but there will be a rock sector that defends it. Coupled with the crappy titles, it was a totally underwhelming way to start QoS.
4. WOTW... the "My heart will go on" of the JB songs. At best tolerable, at worst, earnest theatrical dreck.
2. Skyfall
3. Another Way To Die
4. Writing's On The Wall
2. SF
3. SP
4. AWTD
Generic and noisy are the exact words I was looking for! And yes, there are still some pieces by Arnold which are reminiscent to Barry, but they are rare.
1. You Know My Name - the very sign of new Bond. The title is pretty simple, i never thought about it - no matter what he will do, no matter what face he will have - if we only hear "007", we know his name.
2. Writing's On The Wall - i wrote about it, here's the quick version - love it, more emotional Bond which we will see in Spectre.
3. Skyfall - esoteric and haunting, i like the word play with "Skyfall".
4. Another Way To Die - with all due respect to Alicia Keys and her obvious talent, she was not necessary. Jack White would work better alone. It's not THAT bad, but too original for a Bond movie.
Séverine is a really great character by the way (criminally underutilized, but I would fear more would only dilute her character). She has very little freedom as it is and enters into a verbal contract with Bond to be used. Here is the key distinction my friend: She represents women in the parts of the world that don't share the same liberties as cultured civilization and her involvement with Bond is seen to be one of the only decisions she got to make on her own accord. Bond takes advantage of this, yes, but she breaks the bonds of her cage in doing so. Ultimately, she pays for it with her life, a fate I think the film suggests will befall her at their very first interaction.
1. YKMN - I loved from the start. While I knew Soundgarden, I wasn't really that a fan, but liked a couple of their songs. This was like one of their better songs, but with Bond harmonies and Arnold's touch.
2. Skyfall - Starts a bit too slow, but builds up into something majestic, with great backing vocals, and while I usually don't care for what Adele sings, her voice is brilliant, and really gave life to the song.
3. AWTD - Okay, my first impression was that it was crap. And my second also, but it's fun, and a bit crazy, and has the Bond harmonies, and the piano part is quite good. So like DAD, it's not on my daily song list, but when I listen to the themes from start to finish, I don't skip either.
4. WOTW - Well, my first impression was that it was crap. And my second also, but... Sorry, no buts. The orchestral intro is fantastic, and then it continues into something mediocre, which is ruined by the vocals. Having heard the violin cover, and that girl's cover it raised it a bit above AWTD and DAD, because mediocre is better than crap, but since I just can't get used to the vocals, I'll skip this forever.
Re "just objects of desire" Bond doesn't operate this way. He is not a cad. Fleming's Bond was not a cad. Bond, as Fleming himself did, loves women. But because of his job, Bond can't afford entanglements. Bond does not fall in love. He can't afford to. Fleming made one exception for him and that didn't turn out well.
WOTW is all wrong for Bond thematically, as many others have taken pains to point out. As others have scribbled here, even OHMSS incorporated the love theme, within the film itself, only as an interlude.
SP will be a great film, but if the Bond Swann relationship is overplayed, than that will be one of film's enduring deficiencies, to be thrashed about on these boards for decades to come.
Agreed about Séverine, she was an amazing character and the actress was breathtaking in the role. She instantly made you feel for her. Ironically, I just realized this speaking of the love/lust/lyrical debate, every chick DC's 007 sleeps with dies. lol Doesn't bode well for Miss Swann if they end up under the sheets together.
As for the DC song rankings, I'll give it a go;
1. You Know My Name - despite being a rocker (and having three different versions), the film version gives us the best of both worlds. Hard-driving guitars and a sweeping orchestra, perfectly matching the known Bond style and the heavy-hitting, gritty world Daniel Craig's 007 would be set in (as if the pre-titles didn't accomplish that perfectly already).
2. Skyfall - Brassy and soulful, it's Adele's vocal prowess that elevates this theme tune for me. The orchestra is enough of a hit that I often find myself listening to just the instrumental almost as much as the actual song itself. The only thing that keeps this from the No. 1 spot is the melody and progression of the song which seems a little lackluster as compared to the rest of the tracks elements.
3. Writing's on the Wall - Orchestra is the big saving grace here. The lyrics are sometimes hit and miss and a little too sappy for DC's general portrayal of 007, coming off as a little clingy and needy. The song's abrupt ending is also a failure in my eyes. The biggest failure is that it overall feels a little rushed which is backed by Sam Smith's "written in 20 minutes" comment, missing some key Bond components like classy percussion and guitar (which could've been easily and tactfully integrated into the melody along with the orchestra). However, despite my lackluster view of the track, I have found myself humming the melody from time to time.
4. Another Way to Die - Cheesy lyrics, two vocalists who are amazing apart but together sound like two cats screeching in heat over a single bowl of food and an overly complicated, often times awkward composition that feels like its trying to cover too much ground and loses itself almost immediately. The only saving grace for this song is the opening notes which are the only section of the song that are memorable to my ears.
The Craig films are a (loosely) truncated arc that has Bond with Vesper and now Tracy (Swann). These films, for me, have no direct connection to the previous 20, so essentially Bond falling in love in SP would be the first time (proper) for the character. Plus, this is an ever evolving piece of cinema, each film is viewed through a different directorial prism. The Fleming literary canon is untouchable, it exists forever, but the cinematic incarnation cannot slavishly adhere to every detail, nor should it. They pick and choose and morph details that are relevant to the actor in the role, or the in line with the directors vision.
2.- YKMN
3.- WOTW
4.- AWTD
I still wonder about Mendes' and EON's judgement in choosing Smith for the song. They must have known exactly what they were going to get. The song has done well in GB, but that is the last place on earth that the film needs any help to do well. I just don't think WOTW will hype BO in other countries. Not all, but most of Smith's fans are very young and not part of the Bond audience demographic. And if the song does start to do better on the charts outside GB, it will likely be because the film is pushing it, and not the other way around, unlike Adele's song which did hype SF.
Given the whiny lyrics, it was really eye ball rolling to read articles that noted how Mendes had to rewrite the lyrics to make Bond sound less weak, and more macho. One can only groan at how bad the original lyrics were. Also, given EON's obvious control over the song's final form, they could have easily told Smith to lose the falsetto. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
FWIW though, I don't like much about the Craig films anyway, any of the three. Way too much drama. I prefer my Bond on mission and being Bond -free of female entanglements. Female affairs of course -yes. That's what Bond does. He loves women and they love him, but duty does comes first.
I thought the Bond relationship with Vesper in CR was terribly overwraught. It was not faithful to the tone of the book. Book Vesper was not salvageable as the relationship was built on lies. Movie Vesper was salvageable. She wasn't in as deep as book Vesper.
Movie Vesper was a tragic character. Book Vesper was also tragic, but she was also doomed. Her best outcome was being tried and convicted for treason. Bond would have disowned her in heartbeat, once he realized the true scope of her treachery.
My point being is that Eon got Bond romantically entangled in CR, whereas Fleming just had him faux-entangled by a woman that knew how to push his buttons.
The "bitch is dead" line rings true in Fleming. It rings hollow in the Eon film.
Now I am not saying book Vesper was evil. She was a victim, but until Bond came along she had been just cruising along, resigned to her fate as a tool of Smersh.
Bond via his sheer, irresistible Bondness cured her, so to speak, but she was still doomed and she knew it.
If Eon is planning on entangling him again with Swann, I just find that boring in the extreme and not consistent with the Bond persona.
Tracy was his true love. No-one else. Anyone want Bond in love again, re-do OHMSS.
That's the one and only Bond love story. Anything else is contrived nonsense IMHO of course.
But actually, my dislike of WOTW is not at all based on its egregious thematic stylings, but moreso because my ear tells me its just a wretched Bond song.
I don't care to critique Sam Smith's music anymore than I would Justin Timberlake's, as long as they aren't churning out awful Bond offerings. One of the two is guilty on that count. Timberlake I have no issues with, other than what was Mick Jagger thinking!? - including him on the Stones 2003 Downsview Park show.
Of course the loyal Stones and AC/DC fans in attendance were going to hurl junk at the stage when he came on.
But, Justin just happened to be in the T-Dot that day, and Mick was trying to get some daddy cred with his daughter. He fessed up later. But I digress..
I do have the advantage of having read the leaks and thoroughly reviewed the screenplay, so I won't comment on SP's storyline. All I will say is that it looks like a real good Bond romp. Craig has got the Roger Moore film that he wanted here, I do believe.
I don't actually think the Bond-Swann thing needs to be a problem. We can all discuss further after movie is released. But even reading the script, you still need to see it brought to life to get a sense of the relationship and what its all about, so I won't worry until we get the finished product.
I can say though, that in the leaks thread, there is very little complaining about what we know about this film, which is considerable.
2. AWTD No it's not Jack White's finest song by a long shot and Keyes should have not been utilised. Listening to the new Dead Weather album White would have been much better sparring with the female vocalist of that band Alison Mosshart. The closing track of the latest album has a Bondian feel with a touch of Abba and ELO. I much prefer something in this era that opens the film with a bang and for me AWTD does that despite it's flaws.
3. Skyfall It's great on the opening titles and White's effort is most likely higher because I'm a fan but this song just sounds dreary and uneventful without Kleinman's terrific efforts behind it. Adele had done much better before and SF was just very underwhelming.
4. WOTW No I've not seen it with the credits but it's already near the bottom of the rankings alongside the likes of TND & TWINE for me. I don't despise it like I did but I did hope for something better for what is likely to be one of the best films of the series.
I'm not saying it's wrong because I've not seen the film yet but if you don't like the artist and their approach just because it's a Bond theme doesn't mean I'm going to forgive it and say it's great.
And remember if the song is too much to bear in theatre, you can bring your specially equipped earmuffs with Barry's OHMSS embedded.
I am rigging my pair now. If I can get a manufacturing deal, I might get them on ebay for all too enjoy :)
Nope, no softening here. In fact further appalled. :D
To confirm, not my sausage. I'd prefer to watch.
By the way, I get your take on the literary vs. Cinematic Vesper and agree with most, but not all of it.
That I'm sure is relief to good @mansfield, but someone do give the man a sausage.
Sorry @mansfield. @rc7 started the sausage banter.
At first, I thought that it was just decent. However, it quickly grew on me. Now, I think that it's fantastic and beautiful! I enjoy its musical video, as well!
I feel as you do. I like Sam Smith, too. :)