1942 replies to this topic

[David_M]

Radiohead versus Sam Smith = Scoreless Tie.

 

Guess they ran out of time and/or money to solicit a third candidate.

[Hockey Mask]

Radiohead version isn't very good at all.

Edited by Hockey Mask, 25 December 2015 - 08:23 PM.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Last year we were asked to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre.

 

Last year? Before or after EON heard Sammy's effort?

[Walecs]

 

 it´s pretty hard to find enough film songs to nominate.

 

I was thinking about this the other day, film theme songs really are a dying breed, musicals have been a niche genre since the 60's and after a glut of them in the early noughties (Hero by Nickleback for Spider-man swings to mind), singers and bands doing theme tunes for films seems to have almost died out. 

 

 

Also, it seems to me that very few movie theme songs actually make it in the movie - at least in full form. Most of the time they're just used to promote the movie, but do not appear in the movie itself, and even when they do, you don't hear instrumental cues like in Bond movies.

[Dustin]

I suppose the options were simply two not very distinctive songs, with one coming from a band that had a huge influence in the 1990s - and the other from a singer who has a major fanbase today. They really had no choice but to take Smith's, he simply packs the greater punch on the market today. If Radiohead's version had been spectacular hit material things might have been different; but I actually don't see it, their tune is even less radio-friendly.

[Gobi-1]

Couldn't even finish the Radiohead version. Absolute garbage. Although WotW is not my favorite Bond song at least it sound like a song. 

[The Dove]

Awful... Just awful!!

[SecretAgentFan]

Personally, I think they made the right choice.  

 

Never was a fan of Radiohead, though.  And the high voice of the lead singer - hmmm, was that always a requirement for the title song?

[Dustin]

Yes, odd how both efforts feature a similar approach in their whining vocals. Also they both refuse to deliver some punchy refrain, it's as if they both hold back on purpose.

[marktmurphy]

The Radiohead one is so much better! A song that actually works cinematically.

[marktmurphy]

Set to the title sequence:

 

That's excellent. It evokes a mood and has a substantial classiness, as opposed to the cheap, thin feel of Smith's effort. No, it's not the most hummable tune in the world, but this is the sort of thing I've been hoping for from a Bond theme since Craig started and since Goldfrapp were mooted.

[stromberg]

Not my cup of tea, sorry. Not particularly fond of the song itself, even though some bits of the arrangement are quite interesting.

It lacks a certain punch, and the off drums are, well, just off. I'm not really a fan of off drums, but usually, I get the point why it was done and how it works. With this one, I get the feeling that they just mixed a random drum track under the rest of the song.

[marktmurphy]

Would anybody actually take the Smith track over this, though?

[Walecs]

Would anybody actually take the Smith track over this, though?

I do.

[The Dove]

I'll take Sam Smith's song as well..

[Harmsway]

Would anybody actually take the Smith track over this, though?

Not I.

The Radiohead track is considerably better. That said, it's easy to see why it was rejected. It's a bold, atypical theme that wouldn't go anywhere on the charts.

[Arbogast777]

I have a feeling the Radiohead song wouldn't have been the exact version used in the movie and probably wasn't even the version EON heard. Thom Yorke said "while it didn't work out it became something of our own which we like very much." It sounds like they did a demo and when it was rejected they did something different with it, which is what we're hearing here.

Edited by Arbogast777, 26 December 2015 - 06:46 PM.

[coco1997]

I have to admit, for as long as I've championed Radiohead to do a Bond theme, I find this severely underwhelming. The melody just meanders, there's no chorus, and it's almost immediately forgettable. The song they submitted for "The Avengers," entitled "Big Boots (Man-O-War)," was miles better and would make for a fantastic Bond theme. I consider Radiohead one of my favorite bands, but I can see why EON didn't choose this.

[Harmsway]

The melody just meanders, there's no chorus

So, in other words, it's a Radiohead song.

[marktmurphy]

I have to admit, for as long as I've championed Radiohead to do a Bond theme, I find this severely underwhelming. The melody just meanders, there's no chorus, and it's almost immediately forgettable. 

 

Are you sure you're a Radiohead fan? Have you heard any of their stuff in the last ten years or so? Soundscapes and mood is what they do. It's not what Sam Smith does, and he failed miserably trying.

[SecretAgentFan]

By the way - the rumour of Radiohead possibly doing the theme song obviously had some truth in it.

 

Damn, does that mean we have to believe in rumours from now on?

[coco1997]

Are you sure you're a Radiohead fan? Have you heard any of their stuff in the last ten years or so? Soundscapes and mood is what they do. It's not what Sam Smith does, and he failed miserably trying.

 

I've loved everything Radiohead has done from The Bends-In Rainbows, and while it took me a while to "get" it, I ended up enjoying The King of Limbs, though I'd still rank as it one of their lesser releases. Just because I wasn't big on the direction they took with their last record, that doesn't mean I'm not a fan. You can't really stack Limbs up against something like OK Computer and try to argue that they're the exact same style of music.

[marktmurphy]

I don't think anyone is trying to.

[coco1997]

I don't think anyone is trying to.

 

You did when you questioned whether I was actually a fan since "Spectre" is similar to a lot of stuff on King of Limbs. "Soundscapes and mood" may be what Radiohead do now, but it's not all they've ever done.

[dtuba]

I think Radiohead is a good band, but...not the most cheery bunch of lads. This is even more of a dirge than WOTW. I'm afraid I prefer Smith's song in this case.

At any rate, I guess we were destined to have a male falsetto singing our theme tune.

[Shrublands]

I think the Radiohead track is vastly better. 

To me, not using this song is indicative of Spectre's wider problem, it lacks the strength of its convictions. In its desperate attempts to be popular it ends up looking like such a bland confection and I think (ironically) this harmed its popularity. 

[Harmsway]

I think the Radiohead track is vastly better.
To me, not using this song is indicative of Spectre's wider problem, it lacks the strength of its convictions.

Yep.

[SecretAgentFan]

Although I consider Smith´s song vastly superior I am surprised how well the song matches the rhythm of the visuals in the title sequence.

 

Was it that close to being chosen - or is this merely a strange coincidence?

[antovolk]

Although I consider Smith´s song vastly superior I am surprised how well the song matches the rhythm of the visuals in the title sequence.

 

Was it that close to being chosen - or is this merely a strange coincidence?

I will admit I did make a few trims in some shots to match the beat/rhythm. So just a coincidence.

[Dustin]

Well, you did a fine job there.