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There has been alot of criticism for this soundtrack (from me included) but I have been relistening to it quite a bit so I can go into my third viewing with a bit more focus.
So far most of the criticisms still stand but I actually think the above track is very good. One of the few occasions where Newman's style stands out but also uses part of the Bond riff to good effect. I really like the piano theme he used here for when Bond and Swann part ways. This is where Newman seems to excel in comparison with his lacklustre action cues.
I wish he had developed the piano theme more and turned it into Swann's main theme - and used it to harken back to Arnold's Vesper theme. It would have drawn a deeper connection between Bond's love for Vesper and his new relationship with Swann.
Seconded.
It's usually the song or the Bond theme that leaves you humming, not action cues like "He's Dangerous". I'm not even sure the song being more integrated in the score would have left one humming that out.
I also admit to humming Arnold's Time to Get Out & African Rundown, because they do have a melody.
I agree with you about Smith's song. Not much chance I'd be humming that one either. Barry gave the songs he composed/worked on his own 'score-like' touch/Bondian sound, including TLD & AVTAK. That's been missing from most of the title songs since, but I think GE could have been worked into the score if Serra had wanted to, and of course Arnold worked in Cornell's excellent YKMN.
The rest of the title songs have been a little slow and dreary in a way to fully speed up and incorporate into an 'action score', or alternatively impossible to incorporate (DAD & AWTD).
I suspect tastes and demands in soundtracks have changed just like we now have colour grading. It's off topic for this post but the colour grading for the Mexico scenes was disappointing. The crowd in chaos under the helicopter would have looked better with the genuine more vivid colouring.
I strongly disagree on that one. He's dangerous is one of Barry's most memorable and hummable action cues. All versions present on my Bond driving tunes mixed CD. ;)
After seeing the movie, And no I'm not exaggerating. Half the score was literally lifted from Skyfall and it was detracting at times. The new music featured in the film is good. But the recycled music was just not a good idea. Even Arnold's CR Bond theme was reused again for the end credits. It's destractablility was the only problem in an otherwise great film. I was sorely disappointed by the score and hope whoever takes up the Composer's chair next delivers something much more memorable and doesn't rely on copy and pasting music.
For me, Tom Newman delivered a much more polished score this time round and I really liked those little brassy Barryesque flourishes that cropped up at all the appropriate moments. If this is Newman's last score, and by all accounts I think it will be, then at least he's bowed out on a musical high. Sadly, those wanting Arnold to return for Bond 25 are going to be sorely disappointed - it's not going to happen I'm afraid.
For the record, I really liked Arnold's score for CR and wasn't much of a fan of Newman's SF. But I'm willing to concede Newman delivered a far better score for Spectre and the music fits and accompanies the drama more fittingly this time - well, to my ears anyway.
Beyond that, I only recognized three other pieces that were reprises of action cues that were either melded with new music ("Backfire") or amped up ("Westminister Bridge"). Overall, instead of a wholly episodic approach like Barry and Arnold did, Newman seems to approach this more as a saga where recurring pieces play out through the films to give them a connective tissue.
Because Newman personally asked to do the Bond gig, and was just offered by Mendes as many seem to believe, I hope EON approaches him for one last gig if the fifth film is to be Craig's last. After that, I'd love to hear a new composer for a new Bond.
You must be joking. AVTAK probably had the coolest, most 'hummable' score of the lot. Even TND had me humming some of the soundtrack.
I simply loved it. I want Newman to continue. Or better, I want Sam Mendes and Newman to continue.
I think my favorite re-usage of the SF score was when:
The score for Spectre works very well when seeing the movie. The only thing that I ask myself is, how it will stand the test of time. I see a Serra situation here.
In many scenes, the music in Spectre has a very "metallic" feel, almost no melody recognisable and you could say it's almost like throwing cans down an elevator shaft :)) (little inside joke here).
My biggest criticism with Newman definitely is now, that he should be more melodic. There is almost nothing you can hum after you leave the movie, except the Bond theme of WOTW that appears in the middle of the movie and that wasn't even written by Newman.
In any case, even if Mendes should return, Newman should go.
The score is excellent imho. It fits the scenes as well as SF's does for that film, and for me, that's good enough.
I only have one problem with it: that is it plays way too loud in certain parts and sort of drowns out the dialogue, particularly during the car chase and during the entire finale. It sort of reminds me of Zimmer's Interstellar, Inception or TDKR scores in the amped up volume. A bit annoying. It's almost like they decided to make it louder to give the action scoring more character.
However, the rest of his score is just perfect for the film imho. I have no complaints. Job well done, I'd say.
I want Newman gone from the franchise. His music is the only problem I had with SPECTRE.
AVTAK is Barry at his best. Only OHMSS and TLD scores can compete.
I felt so lonely until you showed up.
100% in agreement, although TMWTGG is a personal favourite of mine for its quirky flavour, it objectively is nowhere as good as the others.
Good Bond music is all about thematic material, stuff that you come out of the theatre humming to yourself. Much as I've appreciated Thomas Newman's work, when was the last time we had that?
Is melody dead?
So badass.
I loved how Newman uses the finale cues from Skyfall in Spectre, but in different ways.