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This is one for the controversial thread: I don't have a problem with the theme song or title sequence. Love it all.
Good man. Me too.
@QBranch, I love the title sequence and enjoy AWTD without issue as well.
Ouch! I love QoS, and have ever since the start, allthough I too needed to 'digest'it first. But I love every bit of it.... except that horrid 'titlesong'. I can hardly listen to that screaming.
I don't think anyone will call AWTD the best Bond title song at any point in history, but I do love the instrumental by Arnold that really gives it so much impact; I could listen to just his arrangement all day. I do think that the song would've been better received if just Alicia was singing the vocals, or if there was a different singer entirely on it. At slight points in the song you can hear Alicia and Jack sort of battling with their voices and they don't have a great sound chemistry with one another, so the result is a sometimes messy and incongruous mixing of vocals.
The song doesn't bother me when watching the film. I like anything Jack White does and have liked some of Alicia Keys earlier stuff, but- it's not one of the Bond themes I would play by choice outside of the films. Having said that, I did buy the CD single when I spotted it in stores.
Me, too.
But I also saw evidence a Bond fan had a can in his collection. Turns out, his own creation. I want one.
https://ajb007.co.uk/topic/34602/quantum-beer-cozi/
Not to be mistaken for legitimate motor oil.
Absolutely, @QBranch. My favorite is on the plane when Bond pretends to forget the name of his martini when speaking to Mathis, to avoid saying Vesper's name. Lovely little touches like that are all throughout that movie.
You're talking about the stuff on the left there I presume?
It just occured to me that the info M has on Sciara probably came from Yusef, the only member of Quantum/SPECTRE they caught and didn't die.
What instrumental, please?
@mattjoes, I'm simply talking about the composition of music Arnold created for the song with Keys and White:
I enjoy the sound of it.
Hmm. Yeah always wondered how she got that information.. It was also pre recorded so it seems she was secretly monitoring the situation but when she found she was being somewhat fired she should tell Bond since he had a personal connection.
Ah, I see. Arnold didn't have anything to do with that, though. The song was produced by Jack White, according to Wikipedia. I think I got a little confused about what you were talking about because @CommanderRoss mentioned liking "the instrumental, especially when used later in the film." But as far as I can tell, the song is not featured in the film score in instrumental form.
Arnold did compose a potential title theme (No Good About Goodbye), but apparently he didn't finish it in time to be recorded as a song. He did weave it prominently into the score, though.
Now that you mention it, the Another Way to Die instrumental is pretty cool. It packs a punch. In fact, the melody isn't bad either. You're absolutely right; a different direction in terms of voices would've made a substantial difference in the final product.
If anyone has any information on the making of AWTD from behind the scenes that shines more of a light on this, I'm happy to hear it.
Songs he collaborated on: Surrender, The World Is Not Enough, You Know My Name
Songs he did not: Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day, Another Way to Die
Thanks for the clarification, @Some_Kind_Of_Hero. Weird that Arnold worked on the rejected TND song and not the one that would end up in the film. I wonder how close "Surrender" was to actually being the main song.
In the areas of Bond trivia, I think I'm weakest when it comes to the music. Love listening to the scores, but haven't been able to study much of the ins and out of their creation.
At least in the case of Tomorrow Never Dies, Arnold and lang were allowed the end credits to showcase their work. I like both songs. I'm actually happy the way things worked out in the finished film. Crow's slinky number sets up the Paris stuff in the first half, and Surrender is a helluva way to send out the film.
Surrender is a great theme. I'm glad Arnold made good use of it in the score, most notably in "White Knight," "Backseat Driver," and "All In a Day's Work."
Could you indicate at least some of the tracks in which AWTD can be heard, and in which moments? I don't recall hearing the theme in the score, but I admit it's possible it was integrated in subtle, brief ways. The TWINE song received such a treatment.
I like the TND song, too. My only wish is that it had been integrated, even slightly, into the score.
I hear it! The phrase played by the flute is transposed one semitone up from the one in the song. "I've never noticed that before..." :D
Like with TWINE, I do wish Arnold hadn't used the song in such a fragmented way.
We really should have a list of title song quotations from all the films.
Only my passionate interest in film scores. Been enjoying them all my life. :D
But I've never studied music or learned an instrument. I've tied teaching myself songs on the piano a few times and composed some "film music" on the computer I thought turned out half decent. I wish I knew more about music. Maybe one day I'll have to invest in some classes.
That would actually be a great idea. Something like one of those "by the numbers" type threads.