It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
Totally agree
PASSING THE BOND BATON – Composer Dan Romer joins 007’s Thunderball of Fame
"Taking that millennial melancholy of Thomas Newman and imbibing it with a modern, often restful sensibility, one of the traits of Romer is he does not overproduce his work. Simple, clear and often clean sounds are one of his tropes. Romer is more Thomas Newman and Michael Nyman than John Barry or David Arnold. "
The little on location in Jamaica appetiser video suggested a different vibe. I don't particularly want millennial anxst.
I’ve been trying his work out on YouTube, and to my tin ear he seems to go for holding long notes and chords to build up a soundscape. Going for feeling and not melody. It may be even more ambient than Newman.
The suspense in that track (The Switch??) is definitely there. Particularly just prior to him entering the house or when Vesper looks behind her back. But I do agree that Arnold's biggest fault is sometimes being too enthusiastic with the score and perhaps taking you out of the film like you mentioned. Although in Arnold's defense, it's not up to the composer to dictate how loud the music should be playing during a scene. That might've made it less obtrusive in the final cut.
"Dan Romer is perhaps the first composer of a new era that is less about the gargantuan orchestral sounds of Barry, Arnold and Newman"
Okay, he is not an orchestra guy. So Cary "I respect the Bond tradition" Fukunaga first choice of composer is a guy who will most likely deliver a very untraditional score?
Tradition can be in many, many other aspects of the film. It can't be totally traditional as Bond viewer is changing and franchise must adapt to new environment in order to be successful.
If the producers were really that much into "adapting to new environment", the Bond score in the late 60's would have been a rock template, the score in the 70's would have been disco, and the score in the 90's would have been grungemusic.
They did go contemporary when Barry took a break and wasn't around. And today the score from TSWLM and FYEO stand out as some of the weakest because they now largely sound dated.
The Bond franchise is successful because the producers and main crew respect and usually honor the legacy. Not all things in the world should change in order for it to stay a success. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't want any fancy contemporary synth and weird sounding experiments from Romer. I just want a Bond score.
That one was ever so jazzy, and Barry has a jazzy background, but for some reason Legrand’s effort was too strident at times and often seemed at odds with the movie.
Romer seems to do quiet stuff that won’t spoil a scene, we just might not whistle it on the way home.
Yes, when he used orchestral pieces and not electronics he was amazing.
We need the brass back.
Yes! It's a stellar score. And probably the best predictor of what he'll bring to Bond action sequences, which—as indicated by his FarCry work—Dan is more than capable of handling.
Sorry, @Univex ... I am triggered. My ex-wife left me for a trombone player. True story. LOL
Except Barry himself changed his sound throughout the years, likely so not to have it feel stale. First thing he did to reflect the change in a new Bond in 1969? Throw in some new synth and bass sounds for the OHMSS score. And Barry would continue to change it up all the way to 1987, never sticking to what his music sounded like in the early 60s.
It's all very pleasant noodling. Just hope he can also write at least one memorable theme and give us something that gets the pulse racing when required.
I don't personally understand composers like Newman who just write soporiphic background stuff regardless of the context. Hoping Romer doesn't fall into this category.
This kind of music has its place and I'm not saying it's bad but I don't really feel anyone has risen to the challenge of trying to match or outdo what Barry achieved with Bond.
I actually don't want Barry lite. I'd love something new and fresh, but it has to have some drive and life to it.
Part of what drew me into Bond was the memorable melodies being woven through a film. Particularly with Barry (but not exclusively), a lot of the themes had a certain gravitas and urgent-ness to them (ie. OHMSS's Gumbold's Safe, DAF's 007 and Counting, MR's Corrine Put Down and Flight into Space, TSWLM The Tanker, and the list goes on). The thing is, they are all melodic and as such, instantly recognizable and memorable.
Don't get me wrong, thematic soundscaping can be really effective and has its place. But I see it as more of a tool in the toolbox than a sole methodology for creating a score. Sometimes it's better to zoom out and create music that isn't for the specific moment, but rather for the entire scene. That's what this era of soundtracks is missing.
I feel Bond needs someone talented enough that they can write a great thematic melody and also subvert it all at the same time. That true talent is very rare. So pleasant noodlings are what we're likely to get I suspect.
The good thing about Romer is that he's also a music producer, has worked on hit pop songs and seems happy to collaborate. So if Fukunaga brings in some talented artists for the title song and (I am really hoping) some of the music woven into the actual scenes (e.g. the night club sequence) then I am hopeful Romer will rise to the occasion and bring it all together.
This is what Monty Norman did on Dr No with Byron Lee.
It could, albeit it feels more in line with his sound of that era. Not as jazzy as the 60s. I’m really referring to pieces like this that mixed orchestration with synth and drum machines that could not be mistaken as a piece from the 60s. And best, it holds up rather than dating.
Who’s criticizing Barry?