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Comments
Now there's a take I would not have come up with in my lifetime.
However, I recently purchased the soundtrack to Skyfall and his work seems to be growing on me. It's a happy medium - neither love it or hate it. I liked the Severine theme (similar to Vesper in Casino Royale). Were the themes for M and London supposed to be heritage-based?
Did anyone see The Specialist with Stallone and and Sharon Stone or Body Heat? I was able to identify John Barry's work immediately... that was so Bond-esque it almost sounded like a rip-off.
Agree. You can field the build-up of the heroics.
Ditto. It didn't make an impact on me when I first saw the film, but it was the premiere and to be honest the whole thing was just an insane blur. Since then I've seen it four times and downloaded the soundtrack. I like a great deal of it although I can see that there isn't necessarily a consistency to it.
Well, he is a "blunt instrument" after all.
:)>-
I'm looking forward to seeing it again having come to appreciate (although not love) the score. Definitely an improvement over QOS for me though. Not a patch on John Barry, but DA was getting a bit formulaic and I think its refreshing.
I would like to see Thomas Newman doing a bit more of a Thomas Newman score next time though - it could do with a bit more humour - and a bit less generic-action-score.
I've done it several times with WavePad. Worked fine.
Honestly? When I picture my favourite Bond moments the soundtrack is playing in the background. I find the idea that being foregetable is a virtue for a Bond soundtrack hard to swallow.
I honestly think that Arnold's CR and QoS soundtracks are leagues better than SF's soundtrack.
The music isn't so good as David Arnold with Tomorrow Never Dies where a big part of it remember me too, but i don't say this because it is Thomas Newman first Bond movie he scored like TMND be David Arnold his first score but because i think another Twine re-make music from David Arnold haven't work for me for this movie. Whyle i feeling missing a bit more drama in the score, then have been the danger to fall in Twine or DAD tricks from David Arnold in some scene's be on the corner. With Shangai or Macau opening and mabey some other parts i missing David Arnold cues from TMND, but i don't missing him with the search light scene or the scene's in court. David Arnold judgement mabey is also mist for the maintile whyle this is of course more a problem of Daniel Kleinman, some other people like the directer, producers, the writers of the movie and the writers of Adele song.
I remember when getting the soundtrack for a Bond film was almost as monumental as seeing the film. Each soundtrack was different, but at the same time familiar. Barry always managed to do an instrumental version of the title track and weave themes from that track into the entire soundtrack.
Newman gives us a smattering of classic Bond so we won't actually forget it is a Bond soundtrack, but otherwise this is a bland and repetitive work. The drum/chase pieces
are mind numbing, not to mention the periodic explosions of volume.
The trend now seems to be that theme songs are to be sold as separate discs as if they are not actually a part of the film. Track 13 gives us a little instrumental Adele, but not as much as the soundtrack could or should.
Yes, Barry is gone and it's time to move on. But "The Barry Effect" is part of the history.
It used to be that you'd put on a record or disc to listen to a specific cut, but not much to listen to on Skyfall.
The Title Song.................
Craig himself—too withered for the role, a limitation accentuated by a sickly pallor—has obviously passed his sell-by-date as a man of action. At best, his Bond should be presented in the winter of secret agentry when MI6 operatives are writing their tell-all memoirs in retirement homes, not running after a lithe Naomi Harris on the rooftops of London. Not even Adele’s title song will give him a young, cool appeal. Redundant with minor chords, and overusing the familiar chord progression of the 007 theme, the song lacks distinction and is more apt as a dirge than a title song for a Bond movie. Indeed, the best in the series, such as McCartney’s Live and Let Die, evokes the Bond world but resounds with its own uniqueness. The SkyFall title song does sparkle with Adele’s fine vocals; but after the first verse, we’re left with the feeling that it’s all too familiar. Everything about the song is redundant in its self-consciousness to be a Bond song.
It's like a literate @DRESSED_TO_KILL, isn't it everyone?
In all seriousness, "Skyfall" is very unique to me. I rank it farther on content that most other Bonds songs even if it isn't a big favorite of mine. This is because many songs written for Bond themes have absolutely no connection to the film's plot. This is true for some of the greatest hits, like LALD. But Skyfall actually has substance, and gives us a little taste of what is to come. I view it as a song for Bond and M, and the fact that it has a connect to the fight they have at Skyfall puts it higher than some others that have no meaning at all to the film they are attached to.
• .
Buy it... if you are a Thomas Newman enthusiast who is curious to hear the composer bring the Bond franchise into his own comfort zone while exploring some new avenues of action with which to expand his career.
Avoid it... on the atrocious soundtrack album release if you expect to hear the fabulous title song by Adele or a score from Newman that competes favorably in the areas of panache, romance, or action when compared to his predecessors in the franchise.
Editorial Review: Written 11/13/12 - Filmtracks Rank: #1,233
Newman
Skyfall: (Thomas Newman) After a long production delay due to the financial troubles of studio MGM, the James Bond franchise continued into 2012 with the third entry of the Daniel Craig era, Skyfall. While the previous two films had been part of an explicit "Quantum trilogy" with a carefully connected narrative, Skyfall disappointingly abandons that storyline and instead functions as a standalone Bond entry with elements similar to 1995's Goldeneye. A former MI6 agent turns on the agency and uses frightening new technologies to wreak havoc on Britain's intelligence community, guiding the film franchise into a new age of social media and server hacking. Bond and MI6 fall into this agent's trap and allow him access to his ultimate target: agency leader "M." The script of Skyfall clearly shakes off the romantic espionage elements of the concept's past, favoring technological terror, British politics, and intense personal drama, forcing Bond to come to grips with his childhood while also pushing the agency towards a future of network-based villains. While this new focus pleased critics and audiences, the latter making Skyfall extraordinarily successful at the box office, it also opened the door for an extremely irritating number of logical fallacies in the story, the most baffling of which coming in the conclusive battle sequence taking place in Scotland. These fallacies suggest a grim outlook for the prospects of success for Britain's police and intelligence agencies, including even a complete failure by a younger version of technology wizard "Q" in this film, and one has to wonder if large bands of terrorist thugs with easy access to secret networks, heavy guns, and assault helicopters could really exist within Britain's borders. These issues are compounded by a change in the franchise's use of music as well, director Sam Mendes insisting upon bringing his own collaborating partner, composer Thomas Newman, into the production with him rather than trust the successful David Arnold with a continuation of the concept's existing sound. The scores for Bond films have historically been defined by the work of John Barry and then Arnold, the latter taking Barry's traditional methodology and continuously updating it for a sleeker technological age. Arnold's approach to Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace was widely praised in this regard, mindful of Bond's romantic heritage and melodic needs while continuing to develop his own ballsy action style for the character.
Certainly no slouch in the industry is Tom Newman, who entered the Bond franchise with a handful of Academy Award nominations and tremendous respect from his peers. His prior work with Mendes is impressive and he certainly knows how to touch upon the dramatic core of on-screen relationships. After his announcement as the next Bond composer (which initially was attributed to Arnold's attachment to the London Olympic Games but was later revealed to be solely by the choice of Mendes), concern was raised about the fact that Newman had never really had the opportunity to write technologically diverse action or espionage material with the pizzazz typically heard in the franchise. His reputation as a master of music for art house topics didn't help, though his intelligent writing and stated respect for the Bond concept somewhat calmed the nerves of Arnold enthusiasts who eventually gave him the benefit of the doubt. Newman stated repeatedly that he respected his position in the franchise and that, while his own style would obviously inform the picture, he would adhere to the classic Monty Norman theme and other structural aspects of prior Bond soundtracks. The production itself was in some ways careful to preserve the musical heritage of the concept, even going so far as to use John Barry's own home as the setting for the residence of "M" on screen. Likewise, the title song co-written and performed by British star Adele is clearly backwards looking, paying tribute to the famous and very stylish Barry and Shirley Bassey tone of the 1960's. Newman, conversely, seemed convinced that the appropriate way to address Skyfall was to utilize a balance of his own exotic, atmospheric inclinations and consult with the John Powell and James Newton Howard playbooks on how to score a modern technological chase thriller. The romantic elements of the prior scores, whether for character or location, are largely stripped from the equation by Newman. The feeling of panache is also almost entirely absent from Skyfall, the sense of coolness attributed to Bond's character a faint echo of his better days. Most importantly, Newman seems to have ignored standard procedural applications of Bond norms in his spotting of many scenes, infusing exotic atmosphere into London for no reason, toiling with suspenseful undertones when an emotional sense of lamentation was necessary, and inserting obnoxious, technologically-minded loops and other contemporary techniques into scenes with action that degenerates into primordial hand-to-hand combat in the plot's explicit defiance of technology.
One group of listeners who will be thrilled by Skyfall is the dedicated Tom Newman fanbase. Indeed, the composer has created in this score a true "Newmanesque" product. He doesn't go as wild with his exotic instrumentation as he is known for doing, but his structures, led by pulsating string notes and slurred, rising figures, and his plucky sense of rhythm occupy much time in this work (all are best evident in "New Digs"). His knack for understatement is also a factor, several of Skyfall's major character cues barely registering in volume. Newman additionally is not a songwriter himself, his usual themes not the kind to be remembered by mainstream moviegoers, and this trait is a definite disaster in his rendering of this score. Bond films have always strived for a strong melodic core, a key part of their romantic appeal, and Newman manages to maneuver through his entire contribution without concocting a single coherent and consistently developed major motif. Part of the blame for Skyfall's total thematic anonymity rests with the executives of the film, who did not arrange for the title song to be finished in time for Newman to incorporate its melody into the bulk of his score. Compounding this failure for Newman is the fact that Adele's song, co-written by her regular collaborator, Paul Epworth, is a stunning success. Accompanying a truly nightmarish opening title sequence that depicts Bond's journey through a living hell, this song is a throwback to the glory days of Bond like none other, eclipsing even the recent Bassey/Arnold collaboration for "No Good About Goodbye," a belated "Bond ghost song" of immensely attractive prowess that could very well have been intended for Quantum of Solace. Adele's "Skyfall" intentionally adheres to the chord progressions of Norman's classic theme and includes backing by a 77-piece orchestra arranged by Newman's orchestrator, J.A.C. Redford. The resulting song is a triumph of the modern age for the franchise and was declared as such by critics and fans. Its chart performance returned the Bond franchise to the Billboard ranks and is a ringing endorsement for an adherence to the days of classic Bond ballads with sultry voices and stylish brass. The orchestral backing in this song is impressively muscular, and fortunately for listeners, the abridged film version of the recording contains most of the best sequences from the full, nearly 5-minute song. Because it was completed late in the production process, Newman's score could only utilize the theme in "Komodo Dragon," which was reportedly recorded after the rest of the score to specifically make at least one token reference to the song in Newman's contribution.
Unfortunately, the overall disconnect between the song and score in Skyfall couldn't be greater. Everything that makes the Adele song great is absent from Newman's score, even the opening piano. In previous entries, when Arnold had been presented with the prospect of working without the song theme in his score, as in "Die Another Day" (Madonna's song didn't actually have a melody he could work with, much to his stated dismay), he had simply created his own set of themes for the assignment. Newman doesn't bother with this necessity, however, missing several opportunities to unleash themes for the love interests, the villain, and Bond's childhood. The most obvious place for a Bond score's themes to take flight is in the massive transitional location scenes, those in which overhead photography of scenery dominates during a transition in the story. Skyfall contains three such scenes, the first in Shanghai ("Brave New World"), a second for the lovely, aforementioned "Komodo Dragon" boat and fireworks sequence, and finally Severine's luxury yacht's sail to "The Chimera." These three sequences are still the obvious highlights of Newman's score, his music expressing large-scale melodic constructs in each case. But aside from the "Komodo Dragon" reference to the song (which is bracketed by the location's own theme that oddly fails to hit synchronization points with the photography in the final edit), Newman doesn't take advantage of these scenes to provide Skyfall with his own overarching theme. Nor does he use either one to express the romance typically afforded such occasions in Bond history; the sailing sequence in "The Chimera" would have been perfect for a massively bittersweet performance of the theme for Severine. That character's identity is confined to the cue "Severine" for a merely suggestive shower sequence, and the melody for this occasion (which only coincidentally has similarities to the Adele song's bridge phrase) is not only absent from the obviously necessary placement in "The Chimera," but is also only barely referenced in "Modigliani" (an arguable misstep) and is inexplicably absent from "Someone Usually Dies," which more than anything required a suspenseful and suggestive reference to her theme. The same might be able to be said about the equally low-key second half of "Komodo Dragon." For those complaining that the plot of Skyfall didn't allow for a romantic theme, that's not correct; Newman simply missed the boat (quite literally!) on where this theme needed to be placed. Likewise, the new Moneypenny character could have used some kind of motif or even some suggestion of their playful interactions in the music.
Another missed opportunity for Newman in Skyfall is the lack of a theme for Javier Bardem's deliciously sick, homo-erotic villain. The composer suggests several motifs for this character throughout the score, the best of which possibly a rising brass motif reminiscent of Trevor Jones' reality-altering theme in Dark City (as heard in "The Moors"), but Newman never defines him otherwise. Likewise, Newman fails to provide Bond's childhood or the Skyfall Lodge location a theme. This certainly would have been the place for eerie references to Adele's song to exist (in a perfect world), and absent access to that melody, Newman should have created at least some kind of pensive woodwind identity in John Barry style for that occasion. The mix of the score cue "Skyfall" in the film seems to emphasize a choral or quivering string atmosphere (it's difficult to tell which) rather than expanding upon the melodic core of the character as prior composers likely would have done. Too many similar cues by Newman are handled with extremely vague atmosphere rather than subtly developed thematic elements. At least Judi Dench's "M" is afforded a motif, a series of solemn, descending French horn phrases doubling for the concept of MI6 and Britain as a whole, a stark representation of loyalty to the country that is heard in "Voluntary Retirement" and "Mother." Without a dominant set of original ideas from Newman, he is left with Norman's classic Bond theme, and even that isn't applied in particularly interesting ways in the score. Its application at the end of the film is actually a re-recorded, abridged version of the arrangement of the theme made by Arnold for Casino Royale, an almost sad recognition that Arnold's absence on this project was indeed felt by the production. Prior to that insertion, Newman did apply the theme into one token, fuller performance in the appropriate "Breadcrumbs" cue, a smart choice given the car in the scene. Even here, however, the performance is rushed, and you get a sense from Newman's nods to Norman in the action sequences that there wasn't significant comfort with the interpolations. In "Grand Bazaar, Istanbul" and "She's Mine," the references are sufficient but lack the actual fanfare of the theme. The more subtle inclusions by Newman into conversational scenes are actually more engaging, though don't expect to ever hear the theme flourish with the panache that Arnold had applied to it. In fact, the only moment of stylish wailing on trumpets at all in this score comes at 3:48 into "Grand Bazaar, Istanbul," and it's just one note. The jazz and pop elements of the franchise's tradition are diminished to occasional cymbal tapping.
The action cues in Skyfall are particularly intriguing, for they were the source of much concern upon Newman's announcement as the replacement for Arnold. The composer had never tackled this kind of ferocious, sustained action before, and the inexperience shows. His pacing in these cues struggles to keep up with the movement on screen, and he misses synchronization points in the chase sequences as well (though this may have been the result of editing after the fact). In terms of style, Newman unfortunately turned to contemporary norms of string ostinatos and slapping percussion loops to address the Bond franchise, reducing it to the level of the Jason Bourne franchise. You could use the words "generic" and "pedestrian" to describe most of these cues ("The Bloody Shot" an arguable exception), though in most places, the adaptation of the stock 2010's thriller sound is abysmally out of place in the context of Bond. In "The Moors," for instance, when the film had basically dissolved into an intimate fight that will end with a knife, Newman pushes the technological element to the fullest. During the chase sequence through the hills towards the chapel in this scene, the music at 1:37 into "The Moors" is horrendously out of place in tone and its lack of emotional weight. The flow of the outright action cues is an issue when compared to Arnold's scores; Newman just does not seem capable of the ball-busting force that had existed in the previous scores, his action lacking the number of orchestral lines and satisfying bass to sustain these scenes in Skyfall. He also seems unable to maintain a rhythm through an entire sequence and apply the appropriate level of activity on top of it, causing several stuttering issues within the major pieces. Generally, the mixture of symphonic, electronic, and exotic elements in these cues is very good, however, despite the fact that Newman's awkward rhythms and exotic instruments do foil a few lighter cues. Perhaps no moment in Skyfall is as nonsensical as "Adrenaline," which immediately follows the Arnold arrangement of Norman's Bond theme in the end credits and serves absolutely no purpose. Its low-key exotic rhythms almost sound like something Mychael Danna would write for a lesser drama and have nothing to do with the rest of the score. Perhaps this recording makes sense only when you stop to consider how many narrative-killing atmospheric cues there are in Skyfall, "Modigliani," "Enjoying Death," "Voluntary Retirement," "Close Shave," "Skyfall," and "Someone Usually Dies" all containing material that's barely audible and insufficient in plot enhancement.
In the context of the film, despite all of the structural and stylistic flaws of Newman's composition, the score will function well enough for many listeners. Newman may have blown his thematic attributions, run out of steam in some action cues, and completely missed some opportunities to maintain Bond traditions, but he's certainly talented enough not to shame himself like Eric Serra did with Goldeneye. At the same time, you get the feeling listening to Skyfall that Newman didn't really enjoy himself or isn't a fan of the franchise. Arnold's music certainly bleeds the spirit of Bond, and even Michael Kamen's lone Bond entry, Licence to Kill, was better matched to the concept than Newman's. On album, some of these flaws can be forgiven, because a cue like "New Digs" at least is so saturated with "Newmanisms" that it will entertain his collectors. In that way, parts of the listening experience are quite enjoyable. But it's interesting that Mendes once stated that he believed Daniel Craig to be an inappropriate choice for the role of James Bond. He was obviously wrong about that, and it's possible that he was also mistaken to force the production to replace Arnold with Newman. Fortunately, the incredibly memorable strength of Adele's song, which should have been reprised over the end credits, will excuse Newman for those who don't care about the minutia of film scoring theory. But that won't help those film music and die-hard Bond enthusiasts who can tell the difference. For them, Newman's score is procedural, handing each scene as a standalone entity rather than a part of an organic whole. Perhaps the composer was so worried about screwing up the assignment on the macro level that he got too caught up in the intellectual weeds of individual cues. One of the strangest things about Skyfall is the fact that Newman somehow neglected to express the turmoil and tragedy associated with the main character, an element that was present romantically in the prior two films and scores but was dissolved into mere ambient tones for the familial equivalents in this entry. This type of music, along with deeply rooted suspense, is where Newman usually excels, and to hear him waste away so many opportunities for great development, especially in the Scotland portions at the end, is baffling. Some of the blame for this muted presence has to fall on Mendes, who left a surprising amount of the film's running time unscored, another oddity for the Bond franchise. It is in this combination of silence and barely audible underscore for scenes that could have used some weightier musical presence that the perceptions about a lack of passion from Newman for the topic are generated.
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Finally, the album situation for Skyfall is simply a disgrace. Of course there are licensing issues to consider, but the average listener doesn't care. As with Casino Royale, the Skyfall soundtrack fails to include the title song with the score. Frustratingly, these two songs were among the best of the modern era for the franchise, leaving the scores to fend for themselves on their products. Likewise, the Skyfall soundtrack is lacking the adapted Arnold arrangement of the theme at the end of the film, too, another glaring omission. There also seems to be missing a few important snippets of score from the film as well, including the music heard as the British helicopters descend upon the villain's island to rescue Bond after the cue "The Chimera." At least the product is well mixed, the percussion clarity often outstanding (especially the cymbals). Some listeners may notice a diminished presence of violins (a dreaded Remote Control technique), and that was apparently intentional. Overall, however, the arrangement of the album is extremely disappointing. The labels for these soundtracks, in this case Sony (which also released the song on its own CD!), need to figure out how to properly obtain the rights to the Bond movies' music for future soundtracks, for the lack of the song and major Norman theme performance on any Bond album is simply unacceptable and only encourages people to illegally download the music (or listen to it on YouTube all day long). Aside from this failure, however, Sony did make a few mistakes on their own with the product that could have been avoided. First, the presentation rearranges the cues out of film order. The first half is especially jumbled for absolutely no good reason, separating the opening two action cues. Additionally, an iTunes-exclusive cue was made available only in lossy form through that retailer; fortunately, the short "Old Dog, New Tricks" isn't too impressive (repetition of the same lounge-like string phrase over and over again in a lazy club atmosphere) and wasn't used in the film anyway. Ultimately, the Skyfall score has to be considered a disappointment, both when it struggles in context and on its exceedingly long and often understated album. The title song easily out-classes the score on all levels. Don't be alarmed if you find yourself enjoying about 10-15 minutes of Newman's action material and being bored by most of the rest. While Newman shouldn't be excessively flogged for this entry, in fact barely earning three stars for sufficiently meeting the very basic needs of the film, it wouldn't be surprising to witness significant fan demand for Arnold to return to the franchise for the continuation of the Craig era and possibly the conclusion of the Quantum storyline. One has to imagine that Arnold is itching for the opportunity. Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download
Song as Written for the Film: *****
Score as Written for the Film: ***
Music as Heard on the Album: **
Overall: ***
Nice find. The Oscar voters get the entire score.
No fair!
...i had feared that we could of ended up with a 'out of touch' soundtrack, that has happened in the past to other Bond films, most notably the totally abysmal score written for NSNA by Michel Legrand.
Wow. I'd love to have my hands on that, just for the packaging alone.