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I had to laugh at somebody’s comment about Conti using a 1st generation Moog on FYEO. Considering Barry used one back in ‘69, along with The Beatles, and Kubrick for Clockwork Orange, not to forget all the early 70’s prog rock bands (Keith Emerson being the most influential in its development) I found it comical that someone could think the Moog was still in its infancy by ‘81.
Anyway, I hope Arnold is back and I’m not getting my hopes up.
Regarding the dangers of doing trendy scores, I think if a score was popular on it´s release and now people find it outdated, that only speaks in favor of the score catching the zeitgeist of the period it was released in. If people liked a certain style then and don´t like the same style now, then they can´t blame the style. And if they didn´t like it back then, then the style isn´t outdated.
I’d say that’s extremely 90s. Don’t forget Backseat Driver essentially being Big Beat (remember that?). Even his leaning on the 60s sound (dated in itself!) was very 90s as around that time everyone was obsessed with the 60s aesthetic: Michael Caine posters everywhere, Oasis pretending to be be the Beatles, Andy Williams at no.1 etc. But there’s nothing wrong with something being of its time.
This was a hit in 1975, which has all the hallmarks and brass build up as Conti’s terrible score. It’s bland soul/disco before the Bee Gees revolutionised it with their own take on it in ‘77. I’m not sure where you’re getting this “score was popular on its release and now people find it outdated, that only speaks in favor of the score catching the zeitgeist of the period it was released in”? The album soundtrack was a commercial flop, only reaching number 84 in the US Billboard charts. It performed so badly that when the CD format took off a few years later, it was never re-released, only available on bootleg until 2000 with the deluxe editions. I don’t even think it made the British album charts in ‘81 it was so bad.
Update: I’ve just double/checked my facts and I was correct. Conti’s soundtrack failed to enter the UK album chart.
As I said above, and take it from someone who was an adult and a huge record buyer at the time, apart from the Sheena Easton title song, Conti’s soundtrack wasn’t that popular, not even with soundtrack enthusiasts.
Yes, Arnold has some cues from TND that sound dated, IMO. Never liked that beat on Backseat Driver, which was modern at that time. Regarding 'Hamburg Break-in" - I disagree. I don't think people in general would think "oh, that's so 90's", but I could be wrong.
With that title no wonder lol.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ease on back and let the loving flow
Brilliant lyrics. :))
I would welcome David Arnold with open arms because I genuinely love his scores. Considering he's been away for over a decade, I think he would feel revitalized and ready to give us something akin to CR/QOS but turned up to 11.
Perhaps letting Arnold “let loose” on that one was not such a hot idea.
I think I saw someone on here last night compare Nino Rota's Godfather score with the FYEO soundtrack.... I'm afraid some people just have cloth-ears.
On the Beach, How do you intend to kill me?, Some Kind of Hero, Kiss of Love, Peaceful Fountain of Desire, Welcome to Cuba/Cuban Car, Jinx Jordan, White Out, Gustav's Gravitational Exit are all great tracks.
The truth is Bond music has such a definitive sound that is indebted to Barry. David Arnold inherently understood that and always worked within that tenet. Other composers wanted to do 'their own thing.' Naturally, these scores age badly with fans. (Though I think Eric Serra's score is a work of iconoclastic genius)
Though......we need to consider the facts of the situation. Everything seems to say that Dan Romer is still the composer.
Firstly if Romer has been fired, then it's likely this decision has been made and Romer is back home. If you're ever been in such a situation, you'd know that you'd be feeling a little worthless and embarrassed. I'd quietly avoid social media, but I would be obliged to delete this post from my Instagram where I'm basically congratulating myself for getting a job I no longer have:
It's still online.
Secondly, Romer is still following the official 007 account and CJF.
Moreover, Romer's friend posted this photo on 25 October 2019 with the caption saying that he was now in London:
So if Romer did get fired, it happened in the last week......
Probably unlikely though…
I am beginning to question the rumour too
It's only logical.
Things are fashionable for a time, then something else becomes cool, and the old thing looks woefully out of date. Then after 2-4 decades, when the people who grew up with it become adults, that thing will become retro and back in style. After that, it just becomes period dressing.
Remember how hard the Bond films of the 80s increasingly tried to avoid the 60s/70s films? Almost no tuxedos and elegant three-piece suits, no supervillains wanting to take over the world with ridiculous space technology, darker tones, and fewer one-liners/silly names.
Then Brosnan comes along in the 90s and we're back to a lighter tone, space satellites destroying things galore, Xenia Onnatopp, Bond "brushing up on a foreign tongue"... you get the picture.
If the composer were fired five months before release, it wouldn't be such a big deal. These things happen all the time. The original composer for The Right Stuff was used by director Philip Kaufman for anything that went wrong during production. His replacement only had weeks to write and record the score, and had to fight Kaufman who wanted him to stick to temp tracks (classical music by Holst and Tchaikovsky, for instance) as much as possible, which resulted in a lot of fighting. The replacement still won the Oscar for that score. It was Bill Conti... who replaced John Barry.
On the other hand, John Barry wrote the score to The Man with the Golden Gun in three weeks, and it quite shows...
Hans Zimmer is a tricky question, given that most of his scoring duties these days are done by a team, with his contributions being uneven.
There was an interview a few days ago with Randy Newman (Thomas' first cousin), who's an old-fashioned composer on his own (the four Toy Story films and a lot of other scores). He tends to comment on scores he hates (about Mystic River, he said something that at some point he had noticed an improvement, but he realized that it was actually the guy next to him whose phone was ringing, and I know for a fact he's not a fan of the current modal scores). Given that a few names of the composers he discussed were mentioned here, this passage might be of interest to you:
https://variety.com/2019/music/news/randy-newman-reached-into-his-past-for-marriage-story-score-1203389027/
Coincidentally, Randy Newman had completed a score for Air Force One, that the producers didn't like, and he was replaced by Jerry Goldsmith, who also had weeks to come up with material. It turns out that the Newman soundtrack surfaced and people put together YouTube videos which suggest it was actually good, given that Newman had zero credentials for this type of picture. Some of it was also reused for Toy Story 3, as the director loved these cues.