473 replies to this topic

[Grard Bond]

I think it's a shame he didn't do a full J.B. theme. For two Bond films the least you can expect one time to hear the Bond theme full and I don't mean rehashing the Arnold one in Skyfall, but one of the composers own, with a destinctive style, like all other non-Barry Bondcomposers did before him: Martin, Hamlish, Conti, Kamen, Serra, you know in a second which version it is, when you hear them!

Edited by Grard Bond, 24 October 2015 - 12:34 PM.

[Guy Haines]

As for the action material I don't feel like its shortcomings even have to be argued!
 
(...)
 
Again, this is incredibly easy stuff to write.

 
It's not. As a composer this kind of material appears to be deceptively simple on the surface, but in a track like Snow Plane there is a careful contrapuntal dialogue between the moto perpetuo voices, the brass triads (of which one could pen an interesting paper using Neo-Riemannian theory to explain their elusive tonality) and a pedal point, and the interaction between this and pre-recorded soloists and electronic sequences. Compared to Arnold's often sloppy, overwrought and needlessly meandering action writing, it's like night and day.
 
I don't think there's anything generic about Newman's harmonic language and sense of modality. The soundscapes he creates are wonderfully evocative with ever-shifting acoustic-electronic textures. Tracks like Vauxhall Bridge hit that important mix of cool and sexy, yet most importantly--whimsical. Something that usually escaped Arnold.
 
And for the record, Barry's Thunderball is my favourite Bond score

And that makes two of us, Shark. Barry's score for TB has been played by me - car CD or at home - more times than any other. (With YOLT, for some reason a fairly close second.)

[Syndicate]

I think it's a shame he didn't do a full J.B. theme. For two Bond films the least you can expect one time to hear the Bond theme full and I don't mean rehashing the Arnold one in Skyfall, but one of the composers own, with a destinctive style, like all other non-Barry Bondcomposers did before him: Martin, Hamlish, Conti, Kamen, Serra, you know in a second which version it is, when you hear them!

He should of been doing that, his own destinctive style non- Barry Bond theme for a scene. That should be a given thing for any Bond composers. All the past composers knew to do that and Newman should have too. IF he said didn't want to do that, why is that?

[antovolk]

Interview with Newman on the soundtrack - including him confirming that WOTW is reprised in the film:

[Vauxhall]

Looked to me like Newman was conducting Sam Smith's backing orchestra on Graham Norton. Can anyone confirm?

[Grard Bond]

If he has said he didn't want to do the J.B. theme full, than why want to do the score of a Bondmovie in the first place? You know as a composer that this theme belongs to a Bond movie.

It's the same as not wanna do the Lalo Shifrin M.I. theme for a M.I. movie, or the by John Williams composed theme for a Jaws movie. If you don't wanna do that theme, than don't score such a movie.

Edited by Grard Bond, 25 October 2015 - 04:46 PM.

[SecretAgentFan]

He did not want to do the cliché, paste the film with the theme blasting out at every opportunity.  

 

Valid point, IMO.

[Grard Bond]

Doing it not at all is something completely different than doing it at every opportunity.

 

It looks more like he just did it because  his friend Mendes asked him, but didn't realy want to do it, especialy the second one.

Edited by Grard Bond, 25 October 2015 - 04:49 PM.

[Harmsway]

Thomas Newman actually asked for the Skyfall gig, if I recall.

[Vauxhall]

Thomas Newman actually asked for the Skyfall gig, if I recall.

That's right. The story goes Newman heard Mendes was doing it, and then emailed him to see whether he could/would be involved.

[Armand Fancypants]

Well, it's a safe bet from Newman - he's only missed one Mendes film.

[Grard Bond]

I thought he didn't want to do the Spectre score.

[deth]

I thought he didn't want to do the Spectre score.

 

 

source?

[Shrublands]

I thought he didn't want to do the Spectre score.

 

Why?

[SecretAgentFan]

Newman wanted to work on SKYFALL - and he wanted to work on SPECTRE.

 

Anything else is rubbish and not based on any fact.

[Guy Haines]

I think it's a shame he didn't do a full J.B. theme. For two Bond films the least you can expect one time to hear the Bond theme full and I don't mean rehashing the Arnold one in Skyfall, but one of the composers own, with a destinctive style, like all other non-Barry Bondcomposers did before him: Martin, Hamlish, Conti, Kamen, Serra, you know in a second which version it is, when you hear them!

Inclusion of the JBT in some form would be nice on the soundtrack CD of any Bond film. But I can think of several examples of pre-2003 remix soundtrack albums where the Bond theme is either used sparingly or not at all. It is overshadowed by the "007" theme on the TB soundtrack remix and doesn't appear at all on the pre remix version. Similarly on YOLT. A version of sorts appears - quite a good version I think, mixed in with the theme tune - on the DAF soundtrack as "Bond Meets Bambi and Thumper". On the MR album - not at all.

Linking all these is the composer, John Barry. Maybe he and the record producers felt that, after so long, audiences and listeners didn't need the JBT every other track to be reminded that they were listening to a Bond soundtrack. On other occasions, however, the JBT is there on the album - with OP more than once.

I guess the disappointment with Thomas Newman - and for me it really is only a minor point, especially after listening to the SPECTRE CD several times - is that we've so far been deprived of his personal "take" on the JBT, save for the track "Breadcrumbs".

[deth]

 

I think it's a shame he didn't do a full J.B. theme. For two Bond films the least you can expect one time to hear the Bond theme full and I don't mean rehashing the Arnold one in Skyfall, but one of the composers own, with a destinctive style, like all other non-Barry Bondcomposers did before him: Martin, Hamlish, Conti, Kamen, Serra, you know in a second which version it is, when you hear them!

I guess the disappointment with Thomas Newman - and for me it really is only a minor point, especially after listening to the SPECTRE CD several times - is that we've so far been deprived of his personal "take" on the JBT, save for the track "Breadcrumbs".

 

 

...which was really Arnold's take on it.

[antovolk]

So yeah - two massive omissions in the album.

1. Newman's fantastic combo (will make sense once you actually hear it) gunbarrel cue.
2. his own (!!!!!!!) short instrumental arrangement of Writing's on the Wall that appears in the film

[Orion]

 

 

I think it's a shame he didn't do a full J.B. theme. For two Bond films the least you can expect one time to hear the Bond theme full and I don't mean rehashing the Arnold one in Skyfall, but one of the composers own, with a destinctive style, like all other non-Barry Bondcomposers did before him: Martin, Hamlish, Conti, Kamen, Serra, you know in a second which version it is, when you hear them!

I guess the disappointment with Thomas Newman - and for me it really is only a minor point, especially after listening to the SPECTRE CD several times - is that we've so far been deprived of his personal "take" on the JBT, save for the track "Breadcrumbs".

 

 

...which was really Arnold's take on it.

 

It's not. It uses similar orchestration to Arnold's one for the Craig films, but adds in elements of Barry's orchestration of it from Goldfinger and Thunderball.

I like that Newman uses it as a character theme rather than having a loud bombastic version of it in there. I'd point out that Arnold didn't add a huge bombastic version of it in the body of either of Craig films he scored. It was used over the end credits yes, but the CR and QOS both use it the same way Newman does in SPECTRE and Skyfall.
 

[OHMSS Spion]

Anyone know if the instrumental version of WOTW on the soundtrack is the same as on the Sam Smith single CD?

[antovolk]

Anyone know if the instrumental version of WOTW on the soundtrack is the same as on the Sam Smith single CD?

No. It's cut down by half on the OST CD

[seawolfnyy]

IMO, Newman's work on Skyfall was far better, far fresher. In Spectre, he reused several of the motifs from Skyfall and the soundtrack never really matched the tone of the film.

[The Shark]

 

 

 

I think it's a shame he didn't do a full J.B. theme. For two Bond films the least you can expect one time to hear the Bond theme full and I don't mean rehashing the Arnold one in Skyfall, but one of the composers own, with a destinctive style, like all other non-Barry Bondcomposers did before him: Martin, Hamlish, Conti, Kamen, Serra, you know in a second which version it is, when you hear them!

I guess the disappointment with Thomas Newman - and for me it really is only a minor point, especially after listening to the SPECTRE CD several times - is that we've so far been deprived of his personal "take" on the JBT, save for the track "Breadcrumbs".

 

 

...which was really Arnold's take on it.

 

 

It's not. It uses similar orchestration to Arnold's one for the Craig films, but adds in elements of Barry's orchestration of it from Goldfinger and Thunderbal

 

The only difference is the size of the orchestra and the acoustic properties of the hall it was recorded in.

[antovolk]

THE gunbarrel cue in this video starting at 0:51!



Might be able to get a clean version off the EPK....

Edited by antovolk, 10 November 2015 - 10:35 AM.

[antovolk]

Allow me to interrupt your regularly scheduled horse manure with....

THE SPECTRE GUNBARREL MUSIC! Albeit it doesn't have the build up that we get over the studio logos but this is as good as it gets. Thank the folks at Sony for using it in the new short featurette that came out this morning.

[Grard Bond]

Does anyone know if the score also is gonna be released as a vinyl version like they did with Skyfall?

[deth]

Allow me to interrupt your regularly scheduled horse manure with....

THE SPECTRE GUNBARREL MUSIC! Albeit it doesn't have the build up that we get over the studio logos but this is as good as it gets. Thank the folks at Sony for using it in the new short featurette that came out this morning.

 

Great, thanks for putting it up on yt. I ripped it before it gets caught and taken down....

[AMC Hornet]

After two viewings, I have to say my favorite track so far is 'Blindfold' - if that's the one where Bond follows the arrows through the old MI6 bldg. That thirteen-note riff on the cello really helps build the suspense.

[MattofSteel]

"Blindfold" is when Bond's being taken to MI6 in the back of the truck, while Q etc. pick up M and race toward CNS. "Careless" is Bond following the arrows, intercut with Mallory confronting C. "Detonation" begins with Blofeld pressing the button.

[The Shark]

My favourite cue by far is Silver Wraith. Those ambient heat shimmers are beautifully evocative, and dat bass groove in the second half... Sexy as. Makes me wish Newman's standard Bond theme was more like that, and less of an Arnold redux.

 

 

I'd argue it's this score's counterpart to Shanghai Drive/Adrenaline.