Quick Big Mi6 Music Score Ranking Game

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  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    pachazo wrote: »
    I'm starting to see that there's a certain composer that you all probably hold in higher regard than me, but I will save my comments for that when the time comes.

    Not a Barry fan, eh? ;)

    Right. Unlike Ms. Moneypenny, I'm not partial to Barry Manilow. :))
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    edited July 2021 Posts: 7,021
    "The GoldenEye Overture" is one of the best pieces in the entire series. "The Severnaya Suite" is unendingly gorgeous, and the way it plays in the film is really powerful. The timing of its climax with Natalya successfully escaping the dish is cathartic even after dozens of viewings of the film.
    I'm partial to We Share the Same Passions myself. Goes well with the casino scene. Another cue I really like is when Bond and Natalya are taken to the building where Mishkin questions them.

    I also think this has got to have one of the five or six best gunbarrel musical cues, if not even closer to the top than that.
    Quite different from usual in some respects but very Bondian.

    I also adore the little piece that plays as Bond arrives in Russia and meets Jack Wade, which I also can't find on the soundtrack. It's very short, but it just feels SO Bond. It's a wonderful update of the kind of incidental piece Barry would create once he got out of the habit of using the Bond theme itself for scene transitions.


    The melody is missing something though-- the instrumentation sounds a bit thin. But very nice recreation otherwise. And great cue indeed.

    The theme song is gorgeous, although it's a little slow and, because the intro is truncated in the movie, there's a little less buildup and then once those horns explode, the song has almost already peaked.
    In the intro of the album version, I love the high-pitched sound that sounds like a cat's meow and kicks in at about 20 seconds together with the percussion. Sounds so sexy!

    I just don't find myself going for this theme song very often when I want to hear a Bond song, and as a result it ranks just about dead center for me, I think.
    I don't listen that often to it either but I agree, she's a won-der-ful singer! And that signature pizzicato motif of the song is terrific.

    I also love how the trailer music (which is an iconic piece of Bond music despite never being used in a film) is apparently on the soundtrack? I don't own a physical copy of this one, but it is in the tracklist on YouTube.
    It's a custom tracklist. The track was originally released in the Best of Bond...James Bond compilation album in 2002.

    It's a kickass piece of music and rightly beloved by Bond fans and also reused in a bunch of other marketing (I don't think any of us here can hear the opening string swell and not hear "through the power of a breakthrough digital process..." in our heads).
    Haha, guilty as charged.

    P.S. Oh, yeah, I forgot... I think The Experience of Love is great!
    I like it!
  • mattjoes wrote: »
    P.S. Oh, yeah, I forgot... I think The Experience of Love is great!
    I like it!

    I actually kind of like the song on its own myself, but that was just the wrong note to end the film on. The song really does have a sleepy kind of quality to it, and even as a romantic ballad it doesn’t seem to match the more playful tone we leave Bond and Natalya on at the end. For a film like GoldenEye I would rather have expected a rip-roaring rendition of the Bond theme to send in the end credits. Not, well, “Just understanding for the first time what you feel inside, love is in your life.”
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    While I generally defend the soundtrack, I have to admit that I absolutely dislike Experience of Love as the end track.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    mattjoes wrote: »
    P.S. Oh, yeah, I forgot... I think The Experience of Love is great!
    I like it!

    I actually kind of like the song on its own myself, but that was just the wrong note to end the film on. The song really does have a sleepy kind of quality to it, and even as a romantic ballad it doesn’t seem to match the more playful tone we leave Bond and Natalya on at the end. For a film like GoldenEye I would rather have expected a rip-roaring rendition of the Bond theme to send in the end credits. Not, well, “Just understanding for the first time what you feel inside, love is in your life.”
    No argument from me there!
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,136
    I wasn't taking the original songs into account, but The Experience of Love is a song I really like and it doesn't take the score down in any way for me.

    I found this video from musician Yannick Zenhäusern, who gives some interesting observations concerning the GE score at 17:53:



    Zenhäusern, who of course was set to score the GE hommage video game that got cancelled. He created the Janus Files instead, worth a listen for those of you who appreciate the original GE score:



  • edited July 2021 Posts: 1,469
    #17 for me. I think the music largely supports the film. During the PTS, the use of the "sleigh bells" in the track The Dam adds an interesting element. I like the soundtrack's contemporary sound and how Serra incorporated Bond themes. Ladies First is good. However I find some of the music saccharine and maudlin, like when Bond is crossing the amphitheater where there are the mimes with the flower; maybe that's part of We Share The Same Passions. The soundtrack, with its tympani, other percussion and synths, reminds me in places of Stewart Copeland's Wall Street soundtrack, but I like that soundtrack more.
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    The electronics in the music match the heavy use of computer tech in the film.
    This is a very good point.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,136
    Onwards now with the better ranked entry from this composer.

    SKYFALL
    Music composed by
    THOMAS NEWMAN

    91T2HbLRBjL._SL1500_.jpg

    SF's best ranking was 9th on one occasion. It also obtained one 10th, two 11th and one 12th spot.

    With 10 rankings between 16th and 18th, it seems SF is mostly appreciated though without having too many huge fans or too many big haters.

    With that being said, seven members did rank it in their bottom 5. Two 25th places were its worst rankings.

    In total the original music for SF obtained 89 points, securing a top 20 spot over GE's 86.

    SF's score collected quite a few interesting accolades. It won a BAFTA, a Grammy and an International Film Music Critics Association Award. Additionally it was also nominated for an Academy Award, as well as for a Sattelite and a Saturn Award. Impressive.
  • edited July 2021 Posts: 1,469
    My #11. New Digs is a favorite cut. Voluntary Retirement is poignant, with its mournful and stately French horns. Severine is luxuriously sensual and exotic, likes its namesake. Brave New World is excellent. Modigliani is perfect for the visuals. Close Shave accurately portrays the playful flirting. Quartermaster has nice noodling. And the track Skyfall contains echoes of the past and signifies the calm before the storm.
  • Posts: 2,402
    I just think Skyfall's score needed more Bond theme or at least cues of it. And it's damned near criminal that the melodies of the theme song get all of one usage within the rest of the movie. It's damned near the best Bond song of all time, yet painfully overlooked. I mean, Writings on the Wall got more mileage in Newman's follow-up! The rest of what's here just feels very nondescript. The theme song is the only thing I ever reach for. "Breadcrumbs" and the aforementioned Macau piece are lovely but I avoid them because hearing either one just reminds me of what this score could've, and should've been. Considering that the best part of either Newman soundtrack is a reused Arnold arrangement, maybe David Arnold should've just kept his job.

    I forget where I had it ranked but 18 sounds about right. I don't really have anything else to say. An incredibly unmemorable and unremarkable piece of a film that is otherwise the polar opposite on both counts.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    Some parts work, some are hard to sit through. I find the SP score thematically richer. The Scotland scenes, however, are scored very well, even if it's more ambient than melody driven music we're talking about. Overall, I would've preferred this score and SP to have swapped places in this ranking.
  • I think I had SF at #10. The Shanghai music + New Digs is great. I really like the SF score personally, a bit more Bond theme couldn't have done any harm, but I think it's underrated.
  • Posts: 1,469
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.
  • BennyBenny Shaken not stirredAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 15,138
    Thrasos wrote: »
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.

    AVTAK? Really? That surprises me. Personally I rate it very highly. But maybe it's not for everyone.
    SF does rank higher than this for me, number 16. Above TWINE, DAD, LTK, TB and QOS.
    I thought SF was higher regarded than this, but I do believe that some of these placing's will be quite shocking.

  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,483
    I ranked SF as #17. Some moments are underwhelming (the Indiana Jones? music while Bond is using the digger) other parts like the Shanghai bit are awesome.
  • Thrasos wrote: »
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.

    I love the scores for DAD and AVTAK even though the films that go with them aren't exactly great.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    SF is #22 for me. Newman's a great composer, just not when it comes to the Bond series, apparently. There's nothing overly memorable or catchy about his tracks, and the fact that they're re-used in SP (as if the score is somehow SO good, it demands repeating) is laughable and lazy. Definitely one of the weakest of the series for me.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,136
    Not a favourite of mine either. There are some good tracks, like New Digs, but overall the excessive use of horns are not my cup of tea. Overall too loud and bombastic imo.
  • Slazenger7Slazenger7 Gothenburg, Sweden
    Posts: 1,344
    Thrasos wrote: »
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.
    Don’t confuse the quality of the scores with the actual movies. Those are all great scores, with maybe the exception of LTK. DAF are among Barrys best. Arnolds score for TWINE is what holds up that movie.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    Posts: 1,711
    If AVTAK isn't in the top ten, then we are all collectively ridiculous.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,183
    If AVTAK isn't in the top ten, then we are all collectively ridiculous.

    Agreed. But then, I can't see a single Barry score rate lower that any of the others.
  • Slazenger7 wrote: »
    Thrasos wrote: »
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.
    Don’t confuse the quality of the scores with the actual movies. Those are all great scores, with maybe the exception of LTK. DAF are among Barrys best. Arnolds score for TWINE is what holds up that movie.

    Agreed, though I like the LTK score as well.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    Birdleson wrote: »
    AVTAK is a Top Three for me, and DAF is up there.

    It just missed my Top 3, but it's up there. In fact, it may be the overall catchiest score for me. I find myself whistling it or thinking about it days after my latest rewatch.
  • Yikes! I wasn’t expecting this one to turn up quite so soon. But I guess it makes sense? I’ve come to really enjoy quite a lot of Newman’s score for Skyfall, especially his music for the sections in Shanghai and Macau: “Brave New World,” “Shanghai Drive,” “Jellyfish,” Modigliani,” “Close Shave,” “Komodo Dragon,” “Severine,” “The Chimera.” “New Digs” is great fun as well, and “Tennyson” and “Enquiry” make for a pretty rousing two-part action cue. It did take time for me to come around to it, but I hold a much higher appreciation for this score now.

    Thrasos wrote: »
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.

    You just named five of the best scores in the series!
  • edited July 2021 Posts: 1,469
    Slazenger7 wrote: »
    Thrasos wrote: »
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.
    Don’t confuse the quality of the scores with the actual movies. Those are all great scores, with maybe the exception of LTK. DAF are among Barrys best. Arnolds score for TWINE is what holds up that movie.
    I didn't confuse the scores with the movies; I listened to each score separately. I just scanned the AVTAK score again and still think SF should be higher. The AVTAK score is okay for movie music, but to me it sounds like generic James Bond movie music, like John Barry was past his prime, phoning it in; boring and flat in places, bloated in others, even dated. I think Barry even said that TLD was his last Bond film because he'd run out of ideas to make it fresh, that he'd done everything he could with the flims.
  • Well, I know Barry had a frustrating time collaborating with a-ha during The Living Daylights. That may have had something to do with his sentiments on the end of his time with Bond. Conversely, it sounds like he had a wonderful time teaming with Duran Duran on A View to a Kill. He transformed their theme into some of the most exquisite, most gorgeous pieces of his career (and that's saying something when you look at his career). I'm not sure if AVTAK will make the top 5 here, but it deserves to.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    edited July 2021 Posts: 7,314
    I was the one who had it at 9th. I'm shocked it went this early. Blown away really. Say what you want about the film itself but I believe every moment was perfectly scored imho.
    I’ve come to really enjoy quite a lot of Newman’s score for Skyfall, especially his music for the sections in Shanghai and Macau: “Brave New World,” “Shanghai Drive,” “Jellyfish,” Modigliani,” “Close Shave,” “Komodo Dragon,” “Severine,” “The Chimera.” “New Digs” is great fun as well, and “Tennyson” and “Enquiry” make for a pretty rousing two-part action cue.
    These are all wonderful and a perfect example of how much strong material is present throughout the film.

    Thrasos wrote: »
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.
    Hmm.. very much agree with you on the first three but strongly disagree about your last two choices there. Not to give anything away, but I personally think Barry was at his peak from 67 to 71. And I'd say AVTAK was definitely his strongest 80's score.
  • pachazo wrote: »
    Not to give anything away, but I personally think Barry was at his peak from 67 to 71.

    Totally agree with this statement. You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Diamonds Are Forever were a powerhouse trilogy for Barry. I do think he brought the old magic back for Moonraker and A View to a Kill, but those three from '67 to '71 were really Barry reaching for the stratosphere.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    Posts: 1,711
    Thrasos wrote: »
    Slazenger7 wrote: »
    Thrasos wrote: »
    Personally, I'm surprised these haven't gone down already: The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Licence to Kill, A View to a Kill, Diamonds Are Forever.
    Don’t confuse the quality of the scores with the actual movies. Those are all great scores, with maybe the exception of LTK. DAF are among Barrys best. Arnolds score for TWINE is what holds up that movie.
    I didn't confuse the scores with the movies; I listened to each score separately. I just scanned the AVTAK score again and still think SF should be higher. The AVTAK score is okay for movie music, but to me it sounds like generic James Bond movie music, like John Barry was past his prime, phoning it in; boring and flat in places, bloated in others, even dated. I think Barry even said that TLD was his last Bond film because he'd run out of ideas to make it fresh, that he'd done everything he could with the flims.

    But Barry also implied that everything he did after Goldfinger was just rehashed and mediocre. Artists don't always judge their work all that well.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,217
    Indeed, most of them are their own worst critics.
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