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Well that's something at least. I do like that opening track.
Any missing cues on the soundtrack album?
Yes - two main omissions are the gunbarrel cue and Newman's instrumental arrangement of WOTW
Also quite a few Bond riffs are missing. Especially the one at the end.
Scorewise, the rest is pretty "meh".
I was never a great fan of Arnold but at least I can at least hum/whistle (I'm an old guy who still whistles) several of his tracks - Come in 007 Your Time Is Up, Night at the Opera,Peaceful Fountains Of Desire. They are at least recognisable and aided the action/drama This score didn't.
It was ironic that after listening to horrible generic action cues for the 2nd and 3rd act, when the movie finished we got a rousing rendition of the James Bond theme.
In my opinion (and only an opinion), one of the worst James Bond scores ever.
Need fresh blood
Joe Kraemer. (MI: Rogue Nation.)
Sean Callery. (007 Everything or Nothing game.)
Michael Giacchino. (The Incredibles.)
The Austrian aircraft/car chase in Spectre cried out for something special.
I'd be happy with that. Sunshine is superbly scored and elevates the drama brilliantly.
Indeed. It makes me realise how truly great John Barry was when he could knock off music in his sleep that beats anything Newman has come up with. Newman has been nominated for an Oscar a staggering 12 times but tellingly has never won. But is this really the best he could come up with? Was he ill or something and couldnt meet the deadline so they just rearranged the SF soundtrack. Really, really lacklustre.
Not sure its the worst of all time (still GE or LTK fighting that out for me) but certainly for effort and inspiration its bottom by a mile.
Tough but justified.
I have said it before - Newman just doesn't try hard enough. It almost reeks of contempt for the series...
And what's that classical theme at Sciarra's villa in Rome (it's not on the OST)?
What bond theme plays at the end and what scene?
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Los Muertos Vivos Estan (featuring Tambuco): Really like the guitar at 40 seconds, but frustrated that it doesn't go into the full Bond theme. Makes up for it with a very slick rendition of the Bond theme at 1m20s. Could go without the excessive percussion (as with most of Newman's Bond stuff), but I dig this track. (EDIT: After completing the soundtrack, this is the best track on the album by at least 500 miles.)
Vauxhall Bridge: Mysterious - I like the deep, heavy bass line. Too many violin notes towards the end, but it gets the job done I suppose.
The Eternal City: The beginning of this track will hopefully fit better when I see it in the film. The chorus at 1m sounds too much like Harry Potter, but I'll reserve judgement. The reused Skyfall ambient noise at 2m30s is as dull as it was in Skyfall's soundtrack. Overall, unmemorable.
Donna Lucia: Sounds very similar to Severine, which was a decent track on the Skyfall OST. Towards the end, however, too many lingering notes that almost end up sounding discordant.
A Place Without Mercy: Excessive techno stuff at the beginning to make up for lack of good strings or brass. Entirely forgettable.
Backfire: Similar feeling to my first listen. Generic and dull, more excessively fast notes, too much bass and percussion underneath. Inoffensive, I suppose, but flat. I thought the Grand Bazzar cue was better used in Skyfall.
Crows Klinik: I thought it was going to be an alright track during the first 40 seconds, but it became filler.
The Pale King: All my attention was lost until 1m39s when the horror movie sounding riff shocked me back into listening....and then I lost interest again within a few seconds. Ambience with nothing else.
Madeline: Sounds a bit like Donna Lucia and Severine again. Hard to form any opinion on this track. It's alright, I guess. (Right about now I'm really yearning for Barry's romantic cues like OP and AVTAK).
Kite in a Hurricane: More atmosphere. Not even sure if most of this track can even be classified as music. I do like piano at 1m39s, but even the build up and eventual crescendo is colorless.
Snow Plane: Unlistenable. An unbearable barrage of violins and noise. One of the worst action cues I have ever heard on a Bond soundtrack.
L'Americain: Like the harp at the start (using a bit of "Someone Usually Dies" which I kind of liked from Skyfall). Uses too much percussion, again, but I like the sense of wonder at 45s. The Bond theme at the end is Newman-ized, but it's alright I guess.
Secret Room: The piano solo sounds confused. Almost seems to aimlessly wander up and down notes. Boring atmosphere for the first two and half minutes. The little theme that follows sounds a lot like more generic Newman drone, but I do like the jiving cymbal in the background. FINALLY, grand sounding strings at 4m45s. Not a memorable theme with them, mind you, but finally.
Hinx: Newman had a chance to create a recurring motif with this character and he fails with this utterly generic, throwaway track. Totally baffling that he chose to reuse cues from "Jellyfish" for this.
Writing's on the Wall [Instrumental]: I never minded the song too much, so I'm honestly feeling this is the second best track of the album.
Silver Wraith: First 1m10s is snooze-ville. From then on, it only picks up because the notes are louder. Another boring track.
A Reunion: I waited the entire duration of this track for something to happen and alas, nothing did. I like the loud, sweeping note of the first violin cue at around 1m and that's about it.
Day of the Dead (featuring Tambuco): This should work well with setting the scene in Mexico City. Sounds very organic compared to the soulless, electronic drone of the rest of the album. Not something I would listen to on my free time, but should be good atmosphere for the Mexico City scenes.
Tempus Fugit: Here we go again with the overuse of percussion/electronics based on lack of interesting strings/brass. Takes one of the least interesting cues found in "Grand Bazaar" and makes it...just as dull.
Safe House: I liked the sweeping violins over the (ONCE AGAIN) abundance of electronic percussion during the first 30 seconds. It then becomes uneventful ambiance with that confused sounding piano again. More percussion at 3m, how lovely. More quick violin notes. Sigh. Bond theme kicks in at 3m50s...oh yeah, we're listening to a James Bond score...nearly forgot.
Blindfold: Opening had a little bit of bravado, but sounded like something out of a video game. And what a surprise, more rushed violin notes and overused electronic percussion.
Carless: The title of this track says it all. Sorry, but the "Deep Water" cues used sounded better in "Deep Water." More excessive percussion and too many notes being played. (I'm going to start punishing myself every time I write that again.) Falls into more generic ambience around 3m30s. I keep on expecting something to come out of these tracks, and nothing does. I guess I should just stop trying.
Detonation: More video game style techno cues to start it off. Daft sounding orchestra at 48s sputters into more electronics. I actually do like the progression of notes from 1m20s to 1m28 though - I like that epic sound. The Bond theme is appreciated, but the track ONCE AGAIN overuses percussion and quick notes. (I just punished myself.)
Westminster Bridge: More Deep Water cues to start us off, this time even more techno nonsense backing it up. And OH MY GOD, is that a retro sounding brass rendition of the James Bond theme at 40 seconds in? Oh wait...let's go right into the percussion and anti-melodic material again.
Out of Bullets: Here comes the confused piano again (I'm starting to loathe it) with more unmemorable orchestral padding. That last note or two sounded like a wrap up to the film.
End Titles: First 45 seconds sound like Jason Bourne. Occasionally the strings come in to remind us this is Bond. (...and was that a train horn at 1m28s?) More techno and weird sounding noises with nearly no orchestra. Is this seriously what Newman thinks James Bond is supposed to sound like? I'm actually a little offended with the first two and a half minutes of this track, despite it only being end credits music. The strings that follow are emotional sounding, but don't do anything for me. Once again, falls miles short of Barry's romantic cues.
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Well here it is, ladies and gentlemen: quite possibly the most tedious James Bond soundtrack of all them all. What makes this sting even worse is that, in my opinion, Thomas Newman totally fails at creating a single unique memorable theme. The Bond theme is nice when it is used, but there is nothing...and I mean nothing....Newman brings to the table other than an overuse of electronic percussion and violins furiously swiping their notes.
I really want to apologize for the overwhelming negativity of this post. I am honestly shocked and saddened that I would even be writing up something like this. A NEW BOND MOVIE IS OUT FOR GOD'S SAKE and here I am complaining about the score like some busybody. But I can't help it. The score is almost entirely lifeless.
I'm really too broken up about this to continue, so with that, farewell MI6Community for now. Can't say I won't visit, but I'll return to posting once I've seen Spectre here in the States.
But seriously, dammit. I can't remember the last time I was this disappointed with something Bond.
Proud of yourself are you Newman? SJK91 sounds a broken man. If hes found dead in his room with a bottle of pills by the bed I hope you feel suitably guilty.
As long as he doesn't do anything drastic (which is by no means guaranteed given the moping nature of that post) we should be ok. I'll admit to feeling a comparable level of melancholy when I first heard Smith's song, but thankfully I've gotten over it.
MR would be nigh unwatchable without Barry's work. The cues from the stealing of the Moonraker, arrival at Chateau Drax and Corinne's demise really lift an otherwise terribly by-the-numbers film.
Very true. The same can be said of TMWTGG imho & even DAF.
Similarly I found the final chase along the Thames a bit underwhelming in SP but if, for example, that stunning OHMSS track from the trailer had kicked in at this point I feel it wouldve elevated it to feeling way more epic.
Eh, I hate to tell you: it's still unwatchable. ;)