The Music of David Arnold.

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  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    What a great interview. Thanks for sharing that. @haserot. That makes me want Arnold back even more. He clearly loves the Bond sound and understands it perfectly. Sad to see people not give Arnold enough credit around here.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,205
    HASEROT wrote: »
    i found this article... it's Arnold giving an interview about his score for CR back in 2006...

    http://www.soundtrack.net/content/article/?id=212

    after reading it, it just makes me want him to come back (eventually - whenever that will be) even more... he gets it.

    Great interview.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    edited December 2015 Posts: 4,399
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  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    HASEROT wrote: »
    Murdock wrote: »
    What a great interview. Thanks for sharing that. @haserot. That makes me want Arnold back even more. He clearly loves the Bond sound and understands it perfectly. Sad to see people not give Arnold enough credit around here.

    i think what a lot of it stemmed from (for most people), was that they felt he was ripping off Barry, or trying to be Barry, or doing his best impersonation of Barry.... but to me, Barry IS the Bond sound - he defined what sounds like Bond music... David Arnold, for what it's worth, tried to continue that tradition.. he did bring in a lot of his personal spin to it at times (which didn't always suit people well).. but when it came time to pull out the Barry brass, he did - and wasn't afraid to do it...

    it's interesting that for years, people wanted Arnold gone - even after his superb scores for CR and QOS - they wanted him out - they wanted something new.... when Thomas Newman was announced, it seemed to be praised by the majority - finally, some new blood will redefine a new sound for Bond.... 2 scores later, it seems the majority want him gone, and want more of a traditional Bond sound back....

    sometimes the grass isn't always greener.. ;)

    I admit I wasn't always a David Arnold fan. It wasn't until I started collecting the soundtracks that I could get a good chance to listen to all the music out of film. I honestly don't get why people think he's a Barry ripoff. He really isn't. Sure he uses the heavy Brassy elements that Barry incorporated in the 60's. Barry had long since moved on from that style in the 70's for a string heavy orchestra sound that kept with him until he retired. Maybe people get that ripoff opinion from his Shaken and Stirred cover album. Or hate his use of electronic elements. Which is understandable.

    As for Newman, I was happy when he was announced. I loved his score for Wall-E and hoped that Skyfall would have that style. Well it did but in a bad way. "Health and Safety" sounds like a bad leftover from Wall-E. On this site I'm probably Newman's biggest critic, but I don't hate his work. There are a handful of tracks from both his efforts that I enjoy. Newman really didn't score it with the "Bond Sound" in mind. It was basically a Thomas Newman score for a Bond movie. And while that is fine, just leaves so much to be desired.

    I wonder what Arnold would have done with both Skyfall and Spectre.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
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  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    HASEROT wrote: »
    i agree about Newman... his scores (IMO) aren't terrible, there just isn't enough there.. it's very spotty - especially SP - there is probably only 4 songs that i like, the rest is just film filler IMO..

    but i highlighted that part in what you wrote - because i forgot to mention that as well, as to why people hated Arnold - they hated the "techno sound" that he brought in sometimes.... well, Newman has done it just as much as Arnold has - listen to 'Backfire' off of the SP score, you hear it.. but at the same time, Barry's last score for (and arguably one of his best) TLD - he incorporated a lot of synthesizer - did/does that equally piss off people?

    Which leads to another thing. OHMSS was one of the first films to use the Moog Synthesizer. This Never Happened to the Other Fella, The OHMSS main theme, Gumbold's Safe, Over and Out. All incorporated the Moog with the orchestra. Which is exactly what Arnold does.

    I think what some don't like is the Drum and Bass Arnold uses. That's not the same thing as "Techno"
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited November 2015 Posts: 23,883
    Murdock wrote: »
    I think what some don't like is the Drum and Bass Arnold uses. That's not the same thing as "Techno"
    It may be that. I'm not sure. I love the synthesizer in just about anything actually. Loved when Goldsmith used to use it in the 80's as well. With Arnold I didn't here synthesizer, but there was something there that was annoying as hell to my ears.

    May be drum and bass. Whatever it was, he really dialed it back in CR/QoS and that's why I liked those scores best (although It was there in CR too in places I think)
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    I remember in Music of Bond documentary from the AVTAK DVD Arnold mentioned that the Hamburg scenes from TND were techno driven to emphasize the modern world then when it came to the Asia portions he used a more traditional style.

    Arnold typically uses techno elements and electronic elements sparingly but doesn't overdo it.

    Shame he didn't use more Sax in his scores. Then again the saxophone has phased out of movie scores these days sadly.
  • Aziz_FekkeshAziz_Fekkesh Royale-les-Eaux
    Posts: 403
    Arnold had markedly improved by CR and QoS. Certainly more variety than Newman. Bring him back for B25 please. Bond needs him… "So does England!"
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