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I know it's said that music is subjective but when someone says this I just think they have no taste at all or they are on a big wind up to see how far it will go, risible pretty much says it all though.
The main things I look for in a Bond song are lyrics that connect to themes of the film, and something that stays in my head and has great power. I thought the very Barryesque arrangement for the instrumentals of the song more than aided this, and the lyrics have great significance to the movie, which is great. I'm a fan of Sam outside of this, so it's no wonder I enjoyed it. It feels like a modern tune mixed with the Bond of old, again with a very Barryesque sound. It's what I imagine Michael Bublé could do if he was given the chance to sing a Bond song; it'd be modern, mixed with a Matt Munro crooner influence that harkens back to the early Bonds.
One thing I was hoping to get out of the Skyfall song was here in spades. While listening to Skyfall I waited forever for it to reach some great crescendo, where Adele would belt out the chorus. In WOTW, we get two great crescendos, so the song actually leads to big moments, whereas we only get a slight hint of that in Skyfall, only at the direct end. It's a great tune, but I already listened to WOTW more times the night after I saw SP in the theater then I will ever listen to Skyfall, and that says a lot.
Totally agree. I'm also sick to death of people harping on about how terrible it is. Between this and the general SP bashing I half wonder why some people bother spending their time on here. If I disliked the song and film as much as some appear to, I'd spend my time elsewhere.
It's just SF all over again, it appears. Negativity is "in" again, and it's cool to stick around places you shouldn't be (appreciation threads for example) stirring up those who are trying to enjoy it.
Once it's out on video, that will happen. =))
I wouldn't invite you anyway. Closeminded ones are not welcome.
We have a new meme.
I'm not a huge fan of WOTW but the criticisms have been overdone.
It works well with the film but sadly lacks much in the way of a memorable melody, which is an essential for a Bond tune IMO. Oddly, inthink SF suffered from a similar issue - not very hummable.
That's a fair comment. I tend to disagree that it lacks a memorable melody, it's stuck in my head, but I can see why it might not. Like you say, though, it's overdone. Some people have been hysterical in their criticism, which I just don't think it warrants. Some people wanted to be negative before they'd even heard it and I think when you emotionally invest, positively or negatively, it's much harder to be completely objective or open minded no matter what you say. It's the same with the film. I get the impression a lot of people had read a vast amount of information pre-release and had discussed aspects so rigorously that they were starting to form solid opinions about a film they'd yet to see. I refuse to believe you can just put that to one side when you eventually sit down and watch it.
This is what I did. Yet, ironically, I was 100% sure I would watch the best Bond movie ever but SPECTRE ranks among my least favourite Bond movies.
Yes, the falsetto really ruins it for me. Otherwise I quite like it.
But what bothers me most, is that on 'The Graham Norton Show', Sam said that he really wanted this gig and was prepared to do many, many versions of the song. Why on earth did they just stick with his demo? Surely, as film makers you would want to explore multiple avenues, especially when the song was done well before the film was even finished. Hell they were still re-writing the script while shooting was going on. How could they be so sure, so early on!?
Most of the criticisms of this song on here and this film are valid & reasonable imho. Regarding the song, people tend to have emotional responses to music (witness the soundtrack discussions) and so I can 100% understand visceral dislike for something like this which can be categorized as follows (I agree, but I have no problem with others feeling the opposite):
Regarding the film itself, I also think most of the criticisms put forward (including those of reviewers Stateside) are spot on. One can choose to not be bothered by what one notices on screen, or one can choose to be affected in the opposite way. Some things grate some more than others. I can appreciate that too.
I love GE for example, but I totally get where people who criticize it are coming from, and they are correct. I just don't care as much about the faults. The same goes for SF.
I have noticed many here having a very positive first experience of SP in the theatre, and then starting to dislike the film more after subsequent rewatches. Others have gone the other way, preferring it more on 2nd watch. So it is a polarizing piece. I've been somewhat meh about it all along throughout my 3 watches, but the first viewing took me by surprise because I didn't quite connect with the film.
The blu ray will be the decider for me, once I can see it on the small screen with the other DC films in succession. I'll either have a more positive impression then, or a more negative one.
I don't doubt everyone on here wanted to like the film/song, what I was getting at was the notion that some people seemed to let the criticism/discussions inform their expectations on a deeper level. I believe some people on here pieced together leaks, official information conjecture/discussion, reviews and subsequently altered their expectations accordingly. Some were easily influenced you might say, both positively and negatively.
Re. The song, the criticisms are absolutely valid. What I found odd was the hysteria.
I think it steps it up a whole new level and it could have been a bit of a classic.
I honestly hear no noticeable difference at all. The deliveries are all the same, nothing new beyond the use of a female vocal. And it just doesn't feel like her heart is in it; when Sam sings I can feel the emotion quite profoundly. Saying this version or something like it would have the chance of making the song into "a bit of a class" is just ludicrous. If someone doesn't like it I don't see anything being changed by simply altering the gender of the person singing it, at least definitely not in this case as the original is still the superior version that I've heard thus far.
Well there are a lot of examples of a cover by a different artist turning a previously mediocre or good song into a great one.
That doesn't apply to me, because I just don't like it, but it's possible that a different delivery could alter how some react to it, at least some of those who haven't quite taken to Sam's version.
Well obviously, but most covers I hear-and I don't go looking for them either-of this song have singers that don't do anything original with it like you'd hear in a regular cover. Those like the girl above are just following Sam's notes, so to speak, instead of making it their own in any great way. Because of this, I just don't see how someone could go from hating his version to loving hers when as I said, I don't feel much has fundamentally changed. Anyway...
Good heavens, you mustn't be telling the truth! To quote the far more unbearable Madonna of DAD's death knoll opening tune, "Freud, analyze this!"
Of course Madonna's DAD is a musical disaster and I guarantee you that if it came out today I would loathe it.
Back in autumn 2002, however, it was my first run-up to a Bond film, so I suppose I don't genuinely dislike it out of pure nostalgia.
I hope that puts things a bit in perspective.
To the contrary, the James Bond series has always opened with a tuneful wallop, whether it’s Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney or Adele belting out the film’s signature tune over the opening titles.
“They told me the title of the film, and I immediately said I can’t write a song called ‘Spectre,’” says singer-songwriter Sam Smith of the latest Bond saga and his song “Writing’s on the Wall.”
“They (producer Barbara Broccoli and director Sam Mendes) agreed with me,” he adds. “The main thing they were looking for was an epic love song. They really wanted to concentrate on that underlying theme of love that’s in every Bond film.
“Me and Jimmy (Napes, his co-writer) wanted to make it like a diary entry of Bond’s, because I don’t think that’s been done before.”
Who knows =)