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Music in SPECTRE
I thought starting this discussion to discuss what kind of music Thomas Newman will be composing in the movie.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what kind of music we will be hearing in the movie.
If anyone wants to specify any kind of special scene or location please put it in a spoiler bracket.
I thought we could start discussing on what kind of music will be playing during the action chase in Austria
Does anyone have any thoughts on what kind of music we will be hearing in the movie.
If anyone wants to specify any kind of special scene or location please put it in a spoiler bracket.
I thought we could start discussing on what kind of music will be playing during the action chase in Austria
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For Austria, it is likely that Newman will go to the OHMSS well and attempt a Barry orchestral homage. This is more likely than something electronic imo such as the FYEO ski music.
At least I hope so.
I was thinking in that way too and Newman is way more fond of orchestra than electronic music. Let's hope we get a great score. A lot disagree but I think SF had a great score.
I'm pretty sure we'll get an epic score for SP. It's a real opportunity to shine when you have the privilege of being invited back to score Bond for a 2nd time. Only Barry & Arnold have been given that opportunity before. The Oscar nom should motivate him, as well as the fact that this whole team is trying to surpass what they achieved with SF.
Unlike some, I'm not worried, and am very much looking forward to hearing the score.
Consider me one of those who is worried. I don't necessarily dislike Skyfall's score (for the most part), but I feel it was completely wrong for a Bond film. I really hope that Newman does something different with SP.
On a side note, I would love to hear a hint of Vesper's theme in SP. Perhaps if Bond visits her grave or maybe if he has a sentimental moment after doling out some retribution on Mr. White.
I felt the same way. Like I said. Most of it was serviceable but was pretty underwhelming by Bond music standards. Bond Music should be a character in the film. A companion to the journey. There was no whimsical element to it. It just sounded like a generic soundtrack you hear in most movies today. Nothing special. That's how I felt about Skyfall's score.
That said, I am curious whether Mendes sneaks in some foreign tunes again (like the "Boom Boom" songs in SF).
If Newman can come up with anything even close to the cues in OHMSS we'll be in dreamland.
However, do they have the rights to the OHMSS? As far as I know, Arnold wanted to use the 007 theme but never could because of rights issues, thus I guess they'd have to ask to John Barry's family, perhaps? I feel the same way as well. Also, if Vesper gets mentioned I doubt that Newman will include a hint of Vesper's theme (one more reason they should have brought Arnold back), infact, I doubt Newman even knows the existence of Vesper's motif in CR. But I'd love to hear the Vesper theme if she gets mentioned or if Bond visits her grave. It is called leit motif, and John Williams uses it brilliantly in his scores.
I just uploaded that not too long ago. :))
But yes, that version of OHMSS done by David Arnold was used in his collab with the Propellerheads. So that cover was made around 96 or 97.
SF just about got away with it's score, it had some great moments but a lot of it was pretty nondescript.
SF had it's seriously Bondian moments that cried for something more Bond like unlike Newman like, I love SF but a more classic sounding score would have made it better.
The problem with someone like Newman is he's going to stamp himself over the score, his sound and style but Bond is one of those jobs where you have to let the sound in, he did at times but not enough and I think he's afraid to sound too much like Barry.
Now I'm not calling Arnold amazing but he was definitely getting somewhere with QOS score, Time To Get Out is probably his best Bond cue yet but he also disappears into nondescript maybe not as much as Newman's score did but his CR score while had some great moments also had some downright bloody awful (Miami sequence I'm looking at you).
Whereas SPECTRE is screaming out for full on Bond in the score department and Arnold not using the JB theme so much during the the Craig era, that this may well have made his score for Craig's most Bond like film just right. Whereas I think Newman is going to disappoint in this department and be too busy wanting us to hear his sound rather than the Bond sound.
I hope come November (or October) I get to eat my words and Thomas Newman delivers a score worthy of SPECTRE but I'm skeptical, I guess we'll see.
I detected an element of finesse in Newman's compositions that I have missed for many years.
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I'm quite happy Arnold is not back. While I can appreciate the adulation for Barry (a true genius among composers), Arnold for the most part was not up to the job in my estimation. Yes, QoS was by far his best work, but for 11 long years we had to endure his mainly generic scores, which I personally found quite tedious and unbecoming of the excellence we have come to associate with James Bond. Terribly noisy action scoring, & otherwise pedestrian and unfocused work by and large. Not even up to the level of Jason Bourne, let alone Jack Bauer in my opinion.
So, while I can understand doubts about Newman, I also have serious problems with David Arnold remaining as James Bond's go-to composer post-SP.
As I've said elsewhere, once Mendes leaves the franchise, I sincerely hope that EON goes elsewhere. Personally I was quite impressed with Henry Jackman's and Matthew Margesan's work for Kingsman.
In the meanwhile, I'm cautiously optimistic about SP.
Newman needs to really up his game.
Plus, we don't know the tone of the film, and Mendes has control over that. Like most directors, if he doesn't like a piece, the composer will change it or write soemthign new. This happened with the "Close Shave" piece which was written last minute to replace "Old Dog, New Tricks,' which Mendes thought was "too" sexually suggestive. I though the SF score was perfect for that film; I trust that SP's score will work well, too.
Oh how I miss the days when Bond was SETTING trends instead of FOLLOWING them.
Barry invented the sound and all other people who sign on for the job need to realise they need to revisit that sound from time to time, unless someone is capable of reinventing the Bond sound in a new fresh and exciting way stick with what is best. No trying to make it sound like score from other films, which is what Newman's did at times.
No I don't want Barry pastiche but a nod here and there and SPECTRE is crying out for a return to that Barry sound, Newman's score while fine at times in Skyfall this time will not be sufficient for SPECTRE, he needs to bring the Bond back in a big way and not be bothered with showcasing his own sound so much.
Yes and the return of the brass as long as it's not that Austin Powers like sound from CR is definitely something this film requires, who cares what is fashionable it's what works.
Look at Bond Back In Action from GF or This Never Happened To The Other Fella in OHMSS now if someone could rework it like that then I'd have no problem hearing it but playing the same version every 10 minutes just dilutes it's power.
I don't need cliches to sell me it's a Bond film, the Craig era refreshingly bought an end to all the subtlety of sledgehammer Brosnan style which frankly just pasted all the tick the box moments of the series onto a generic action flick and tried to convince us it was Bond film, some were convinced I wasn't.
I prefer Arnold's approach on the last 2 films he scored to his Brosnan ones. If you rework and tease it but just playing it blaring every ten minutes, I certainly hope not.
Tomorrow Never Dies: White Knight; Company Car; Bond drives to Paris; Backseat Driver; Bike Shop Fight; All in a Day's Work - with the exception of Company Car and Drive to Paris, it is used solely to score action sequences, which is exactly where it should be, and considering the movie is two hours long, it is not "every ten minutes".
The World is Not Enough: Escape from Bilbao Bank; Come in 007; Caviar Factory. They're the only tracks I recall featuring the Bond theme in a blaring way.
Die Another Day: Hovercraft Chase; Kiss of Life (does this even count?); Sword Fight (very short); Bond to Iceland; Ice Palace Fight; Whiteout; Antonov; Going down together - again, like for TND, it made sense in most of these tracks, considering the Bond theme accompanied Bond being, well, Bond.
I'm 100% in agreement with everything you said in your last post @Walecs. Could not have said it better
No one can be Barry - I know that now - so I'm ok with someone trying to create their own sound. If one wants to do a Barry homage, then I expect absolute excellence. For me, Arnold came closest in QoS, but after 11 long years of listening to his less than stellar scores (to my tired ears), I have given him all the time I care to.
I'm in agreement that Newman needs to attempt to emulate the Barry sound more. He has the ability to do that, as he is an excellent composer. Hopefully he gets instruction from EON and Mendes to do just that. Newman on his game is in a completely different league to Arnold as a composer imo.
How do we feel about the OHMSS theme for snow scenes is it sacred or is it just now 'bond+snow" music. I would love to hear it reworked in some capacity.