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True, 'Shanghai Drive' is one of Newman's better Bond tracks....was good to get a Variation of it in 'Adrenaline'.
That song would be my second choice. Love it!
Thank to all stars of film firmament for that.
Runner up would be ‘If There Was A Man’, but it works better as love theme and ends up as a little bit of a damp squib as a song.
Surrender is fun but just a Bond song pastiche, like it’s Austin Powers or the opening of Life of Brian or something; Experience of Love I’m quite fond of but it’s easily forgotten; Only Myself To Blame is pretty poor I think and very dreary, and the film is best off without it.
None of them are particularly stunning bits of work though.
Ooh good point. Love that Disco Bassey :)
It’s the little cymbal hits!
And Lulu still holds the distinction of being the only artist to sing James Bond’s name in an Eon movie! :)
If there was a man
Yes, it most certainly does. I understand Arnold wanted a love ballad for Bond and Elektra's relationship, but the lyrics and Walker's performance of them are very underwhelming.
True, I can't help but think it was Arnold's attempt at creating his own style of FRWL by Lionel Bart and Matt Monro....and the result obviously didn't turn out well, as Walker isn't Monro. That type of music doesn't quite suit Arnold, no wonder Apted rejected it as the End Credits song, So Arnold did a Techno-Style remix of The James Bond theme.
Both are top-notch imo. I think if I had to make a top 10 of favourite Bond songs, three end title songs would feature in it.
Frankly, I think EON was correct to reject “Surrender” (not that the Sheryl Crow song was any good either). It’s just overproduced pastiche BS. But I get it, it has “the Bond sound” which I think fans put way too much value in. Just because it’s “Bondian” doesn’t make it good.
"If You Asked Me To" is obviously a very effective composition, judging from the success of its covers, but has too much of that soft 80s "Adult Contemporary" vibe for my ears.
Scott Walker was brilliant, the song just isn’t up to him really. I was always a bit surprised he did it as his style had diverged from the mainstream by then.
A lot of his older songs had that big Bond feel, from his Jacques Brel stuff to something like ‘The Old Man’s Back Again’.
As a complete aside, this cover by Susanne Sundfør of one of his from the BBC Scott Walker celebration concert a few years ago is amazing:
I remember one of the old members from KTBEU The White Tuxedo used to describe “If You Asked Me To” as the kind of song you’d hear at a radio in Wal-Mart while waiting in line behind an impatient obese woman yelling at the cashier about not accepting expired coupons while her bratty kids scream and run everywhere.
You wouldn’t hear any of the others on a radio station at all though! :)
I have heard You Know my Name on the radio quite a lot
Yeah, You're so right....'The Old Man's Back Again' is really Bondian, as well as this Susanne's Cover.
I'm relatively sure I had that exact experience in a Wal-Mart. Or K-mart. Or if not those, Big Lots or the Dollar Store. The song isn't elevator music--it's what they play when you step out of the elevator. Sonic wallpaper.
All of the songs on this list are to some extent though: they’re background accompaniment playing as you make your way out of the cinema. It’s just a case of pick which wallpaper you prefer (and that’s something we all do at some point! :) ).
If You Asked Me To is cheesy and a bit dull, imo. I usually skip it.
Surrender is such a pastiche.