The David Arnold Appreciation Thread.

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  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,188
    Can’t access it in my region, sadly.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    edited March 2020 Posts: 8,217
    Arnold has written some good cues over the 5 Bond movies he scored but his action music is problematic. Endless crash bang wallop noise that is interchangeable from film to film.

    Never had that issue - bar a couple of weaker cues - personally.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,413
    Can’t access it in my region, sadly.

    Yes I think it might be UK only; pretty good though- he played music from the first five Bonds (no songs, thankfully!) and gave a bit of background to them, playing in clips from interviews here and there even. Good stuff, and he picked the best tracks to highlight from each. His reading on who is responsible for the majority of the James Bond theme seems fairly clear! :D
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    I absolutely love David Arnold's Bond Scores....and I think if Arnold is cheap, is coz he's a massive Bond fan, and might even score a Bond film for free. And I don't think Arnold ever wanted to move to Hollywood, to join other Big Composers....coz he keeps saying he wants to remain in London....whenever he's asked why he never thought of moving to Hollywood. I don't think he's really after fame & money. If Arnold chose to Move to Hollywood, he would surely outclass a lot of high profile Composers there. The man is just content and happy to do London-based works, coz he says he's happy there.

    Exactly. He was a big Bond fan before he got involved with the series. He even said when he was asked to compose the music for TND he was going to come at it from a fan's perspective. That being a fan of Barry.
    He seems to be a modest guy with his feet on the ground.

    Recently I really loved his music for the Dracula series.

    +1
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    I think 'Crawl, End Crawl' is in my Top 3 or Top 5 favorite tracks of the series. It's a very evocative and emotional track.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,807
    Love that track, 'Crawl, end crawl' is known to be by Four Tet (electronic musician Kieran Hebden), credited to David Arnold and him. And celebrates elements of the Arnold score of course.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,007
    Arnold has written some good cues over the 5 Bond movies he scored but his action music is problematic. Endless crash bang wallop noise that is interchangeable from film to film.

    No, it kinda isn't. All his action tracks are identifiable from each other.

    All your post demonstrates is that you haven't really listened to his scores properly. 👍
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    I can easily identify Arnold's action tracks in my sleep....he's that good. Am sure if Arnold scored SP, that movie might have been different today. That's what a good score can do to a film....even if the film is average.
  • OctopussyOctopussy Piz Gloria, Schilthorn, Switzerland.
    Posts: 1,081
    Arnold has written some good cues over the 5 Bond movies he scored but his action music is problematic. Endless crash bang wallop noise that is interchangeable from film to film.

    No, it kinda isn't. All his action tracks are identifiable from each other.

    All your post demonstrates is that you haven't really listened to his scores properly. 👍





    These are pretty much interchangeable in my mind. Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace are the only Arnold entries that have individual personalities, IMO.

  • Octopussy wrote: »
    Arnold has written some good cues over the 5 Bond movies he scored but his action music is problematic. Endless crash bang wallop noise that is interchangeable from film to film.

    No, it kinda isn't. All his action tracks are identifiable from each other.

    All your post demonstrates is that you haven't really listened to his scores properly. 👍





    These are pretty much interchangeable in my mind. Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace are the only Arnold entries that have individual personalities, IMO.

    I do find his scoring samey.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,217
    A positive outlook on the above is that he has a style that is identifiable throughout his scores, the same way 99% of composers do. Whether its to your taste or not is one thing, but that doesn't necessarily make it weak.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,413
    I do agree that the music at the end of his Bond scores, from the climaxes of the films, are usually the tracks I skipped when I listened to the CDs. They're a bit messy and Mickey Mousey. Maybe he had less time to do those tracks, I don't know.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,007
    Octopussy wrote: »
    Arnold has written some good cues over the 5 Bond movies he scored but his action music is problematic. Endless crash bang wallop noise that is interchangeable from film to film.

    No, it kinda isn't. All his action tracks are identifiable from each other.

    All your post demonstrates is that you haven't really listened to his scores properly. 👍





    These are pretty much interchangeable in my mind. Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace are the only Arnold entries that have individual personalities, IMO.

    I presume that's some kind of joke. They sound completely different to each other. Unless using the same 'sound' constitutes being 'interchangeable' 🤔
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    I think we might be confusing the whole thing with trademark. Every artist has an instantly recognizable style. If one listens to scores like 'The Specialist', 'Mercury Rising' before watching the films, one might think it's a Bond film...why?, coz it's John Barry's signature, not that he's necessarily sounding samey. Same with Directors, once one sees multiple explosions filmed intricately & frequently, it means it's a Michael Bay film. Once things or the Camera starts turning upside down frequently, it means it's a Christopher Nolan film. When a Gunslinger is filmed in extreme close-ups before shooting 4 other Gunslingers who were also filmed in extreme close-ups, it's usually a Sergio Leone western....the list is endless.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    edited March 2020 Posts: 8,217
    Octopussy wrote: »
    Arnold has written some good cues over the 5 Bond movies he scored but his action music is problematic. Endless crash bang wallop noise that is interchangeable from film to film.

    No, it kinda isn't. All his action tracks are identifiable from each other.

    All your post demonstrates is that you haven't really listened to his scores properly. 👍





    These are pretty much interchangeable in my mind. Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace are the only Arnold entries that have individual personalities, IMO.

    I presume that's some kind of joke. They sound completely different to each other. Unless using the same 'sound' constitutes being 'interchangeable' 🤔

    I would agree that they are two of his weaker tracks. Though it must be said that "Submarine" does a lot of heavy lifting during that TWINE climax to inject some excitement into a very flatly directed sequence, and the last sixty seconds of it are pretty great.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited March 2020 Posts: 16,413
    Yeah they all have a couple of flashes. There’s a little tune he uses when Jinx and Frost are fighting each other which is great ( and I’d really hoped he’d develop it more but it’s gone as soon as it starts), but otherwise the (very long) climax cue to DAD is likewise pretty uninspired stuff. The TND climax stuff was probably his most fun, but again: far from the best in that film.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,188
    I don’t listen to Arnold scores all that often, but when I do I’m usually listening to tracks like “Hamburg Break In” as opposed to the more action oriented “White Knight” or whatever track is playing during the climax of the film.

    One thing I love about Barry is that he doesn’t usually have his music sync to the action on screen, it’s done in a style where a cue could apply to any scene in the film depending on the scene. They’re also played at a slower tempo, which allows the music to cut through the action rather than play on top, the latter method being a thing John Williams is excellent at but Barry rarely indulges. Contrast to David Arnold, who’s scores are more reactionary than Barry’s were.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247

    Stylish David Arnold Video....The man can act as well.
  • Agent_OneAgent_One Ireland
    Posts: 280
    I honestly wish he did Spectre instead of Newman.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    edited April 2020 Posts: 4,247
    Agent_One wrote: »
    I honestly wish he did Spectre instead of Newman.

    Yeah, 85% of Bond fans wanted that....including me....it's just a painful wish that we have to live with for the rest of our Bondian lives. But thankfully, Zimmer will make Us feel like Bond fans again.....in November.
  • Agent_OneAgent_One Ireland
    Posts: 280
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    Agent_One wrote: »
    I honestly wish he did Spectre instead of Newman.

    Yeah, 85% of Bond fans wanted that....including me....it's just a painful wish that we have to live with for the rest of our Bondian lives.

    Every time I heard a repeated track from Skyfall, I thought to myself "I could be watching that movie instead."
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    Agent_One wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    Agent_One wrote: »
    I honestly wish he did Spectre instead of Newman.

    Yeah, 85% of Bond fans wanted that....including me....it's just a painful wish that we have to live with for the rest of our Bondian lives.

    Every time I heard a repeated track from Skyfall, I thought to myself "I could be watching that movie instead."

    Yeah....no topic has consumed more pages in this Community, than the Arnold Vs Newman Debate. We have really ripped into that topic here. It's almost past tense for now, until it somehow gets resurrected again.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    edited April 2020 Posts: 4,247

    Impeccable Video Editing for Arnold & Cornell's YKMN....more reason why it's one of the Top Bond themes.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,413
    There's an interview podcast with Arnold here if you fancy:

  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    mtm wrote: »
    There's an interview podcast with Arnold here if you fancy:


    Oh! My! This Interview felt nostalgic for me. And Arnold is very right.....his QoS score was really changing his Bond Sound, adding more heart & intensity, but still very much Bondian. I really wished he scored scored SF....maybe he would have added some good Celtic Bondian sounds when Bond was approaching Scotland.
  • Posts: 7,653
    I found his QoS & CR soundtracks really poor and while I have the soundtracks in my collection I can safely say they get rarely played anymore. This is with all the soundtracks for the Craig era they are really not that re-listenable compared with the earlier work, even Arnolds Brosnan work is easier to listen to.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    There's an interview podcast with Arnold here if you fancy:


    Oh! My! This Interview felt nostalgic for me. And Arnold is very right.....his QoS score was really changing his Bond Sound, adding more heart & intensity, but still very much Bondian. I really wished he scored scored SF....maybe he would have added some good Celtic Bondian sounds when Bond was approaching Scotland.

    Interesting comments. QOS is in a league of its own. The best non-Barry Bond score by far.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    There's an interview podcast with Arnold here if you fancy:


    Oh! My! This Interview felt nostalgic for me. And Arnold is very right.....his QoS score was really changing his Bond Sound, adding more heart & intensity, but still very much Bondian. I really wished he scored scored SF....maybe he would have added some good Celtic Bondian sounds when Bond was approaching Scotland.

    Interesting comments. QOS is in a league of its own. The best non-Barry Bond score by far.

    +1
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    I have to admit that my CR Soundtrack isn't played often. THe Soundtrack works fine in combination with the movie (and Casino Royale in concert was awesome) but the soundtrack as a stand alone isn't enough catchy. However, the QoS soundtrack is very strong.
  • Posts: 6,709
    Walecs wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    There's an interview podcast with Arnold here if you fancy:


    Oh! My! This Interview felt nostalgic for me. And Arnold is very right.....his QoS score was really changing his Bond Sound, adding more heart & intensity, but still very much Bondian. I really wished he scored scored SF....maybe he would have added some good Celtic Bondian sounds when Bond was approaching Scotland.

    Interesting comments. QOS is in a league of its own. The best non-Barry Bond score by far.

    +1
    +2
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