59 replies to this topic

[YOLT]

I love FYEO, but the score could have been really better. Especially with a little bit of James Bond theme, it would have been great.

[ChandlerBing]

Some of it is good, actually, but some of it sounds like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and I keep expecting Robin Leach to come into the movie.

[Tanger]

I like it. I think the sound is a nice change to what we were used to and it works so much better for the film.

[Qwerty]

I like it alot. Some say the disco tracks are a bit much in the first half of the soundtrack, but I feel Conti gets more of a sound reminiscent to what we would expect of Barry in the second half of the film. I find the entire soundtrack to be quite good though.

[Turn]

I thought Conti did a fine job on FYEO. I listened to it last week and find myself likeing it more with each listen despite not being a very big fan of the film.

I disagree about his use of the Bond theme. He spreads it throughout the film, but thinly -- in the pretitles as he picks up Blofeld, in the car chase through Spain, in the submarine going to the St. Georges wreckage and during the cliff climb. He does so sparingly just the opposite the way David Arnold uses it way too much.

Conti accomplishes what Eric Serra should have done with the GE score -- use some current elements, but maintain enough of the classic score elements for a good blend.

[DLibrasnow]

I really like the work that Bill Conti did on FOR YOUR EYES ONLY...It's certainly better than anything that paint-by-numbers David Arnold has ever done.

[americanbond]

I love Conti's score... for being a non-Barry that is. Much better IMO than TSWLM, LTK, DAD.

[4 Ur Eyez Only]

I love Bill's score too!!! I think he actually did so well it freaked out John Barry enough to comeback and get his juices going again and do a few movies in a row.

also Bill is really the only one to make his own "action music" without having to use the 007 music.

[Tarl_Cabot]

"but some of it sounds like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"

That's because 'Lifestyles' adopted his "Runaway" track as part of it's theme music. Comon! You didn't know that!? I love Conti's score-it's got some fun beats and it's energetic. It's not John Barry but I love it.

[Triton]

For the most part, I like Bill Conti's score for For Your Eyes Only. It distinctly sounds like Bill Conti, and I presume that this is the reason that some fans don't like the score. Conti isn't emulating John Barry, nor do I think that he should have. Also remember that twenty-three years have passed since Conti scored the motion picture. How many scores from the early 1980's hold up in the 21st century?

[00Nothing]

His music isn't bad, but some of it has dated a bit today, but I feel that he gets the music in the chase sequences perfect, and the theme song is one of the best. However, I prefer the John Barry and David Arnold scores (Arnold is one of my favourite composers working today).

[Genrewriter]

I like the soundtrack quite a bit. It's probably the one time where disco has not made me want to club myself in the head with a brick.

Seriously though, the action music, especially the ski chase music is superb.

[00Nothing]

Seriously though, the action music, especially the ski chase music is superb.

Couldn't agree with you more. He seemed to get the pacing right and it corresponded with the music brilliantly. I also love the Nina Rota like essence to the score when the Havlocks' get killed and we get that close up on Carole Bouquet's eyes.

Edited by 00Nothing, 24 March 2004 - 07:00 PM.

[Bond Bug]

A wonderful sountrack.

I'm a big John Barry fan but Conti did a great job and made a different sound.

He really created tension and excitement. Use of Horn and plucking strings, he really got the Greek atmosphere. The car chase music portrayed a perfect mix of pace, tension and comedy. Using the orchestral theme for romantic and scenic moments really worked well too. And yes it really captured the revenge theme. Weak I thought as they made the climb up to the monastry and inside it, became a bit cliched, reminded me of many TV shows. Also liked the disco song by Rage. Definately rate among the best.

[DLibrasnow]

His music isn't bad, but some of it has dated a bit today, but I feel that he gets the music in the chase sequences perfect, and the theme song is one of the best. However, I prefer the John Barry and David Arnold scores (Arnold is one of my favourite composers working today).

I really dislike David Arnolds scores...he uses the James Bond theme too much...almost like he cannot be bothered to come up with something original so he sticks that tired old track in there!

[00Nothing]

I really dislike David Arnolds scores...he uses the James Bond theme too much...almost like he cannot be bothered to come up with something original so he sticks that tired old track in there!

In fairness to Arnold the primary reason he uses the Bond theme too much is because, with the exception of TWINE, he hasn't been able to compose his own theme tune. TWINE made use of the theme because it was written by Arnold, while TND was a tribute to the Barry era. Arnold had little else to rely on in DAD. Also the use of music comes from the director who tells the composer what he wants.

In saying that, I think he should come up with a secondary theme, like the 007 theme, which Barry used to do so well.

[Bond111]

I don't think For Your Eyes Only has a bad score, but it's probably one of my least favorite of the Bond soundtracks. Some of the tracks are very good (even better than some of Barry's) as seen in "A Drive in the Country" and "Ski...Shoot...Jump...", but some of the tracks just don't go over too well with me. I think it could have been better if Conti relied less on disco, but so be it. Not a complete miss, but give me Barry anyday.

[00Nothing]

One of the things about other composers is that they try to make the music relevant for the time and the counter effect is that it seems dated years later. Marvin Hamlish admitted his score was done in such a way to correspond with the Bee Gees, who were big at the time. George Martin's music is 70's rock, Hamlish 70's pop and Bill Conti is 80's disco. Kamen's music wasn't too bad, if a bit unatmospheric (surprising considering some of the great scores he came up with over the years), wheras Barry and Arnold seem to have come up with music that will last a lifetime, more so Barry who is perhaps one of the greatest composers to work for the silver screen.

[DLibrasnow]

I really dislike David Arnolds scores...he uses the James Bond theme too much...almost like he cannot be bothered to come up with something original so he sticks that tired old track in there!

In fairness to Arnold the primary reason he uses the Bond theme too much is because, with the exception of TWINE, he hasn't been able to compose his own theme tune. TWINE made use of the theme because it was written by Arnold, while TND was a tribute to the Barry era. Arnold had little else to rely on in DAD. Also the use of music comes from the director who tells the composer what he wants.

In saying that, I think he should come up with a secondary theme, like the 007 theme, which Barry used to do so well.

Oh C'mom there's plenty more stuff that Arnold could use than the tired old overused James Bond theme!

[Triton]

I really dislike David Arnolds scores...he uses the James Bond theme too much...almost like he cannot be bothered to come up with something original so he sticks that tired old track in there!

I disagree. I think David Arnold is in a difficult position. One, he is a James Bond fan and a big fan of the music of John Barry. He feels that fans when they see a James Bond film expect to hear James Bond music which is the James Bond theme. He feels that James Bond music isn't in the movie that movie goers will be disappointed.

Second, unlike John Barry, Marvin Hamlisch, and George Martin, the producers have twice forced a theme song on him twice that he did not write, contribute to, or produce and whose melodies and themes he could not integrate into the rest of the score. So the pieces of music written for the film don't fit together into a whole.

I could understand if you didn't like Arnold's work because it didn't appeal to your sense of taste. Arnold's style of music is very different from the other composers who have contributed scores to the series. He certainly isn't jazz influenced like John Barry.

But I don't agree that Arnold has a paint-by-numbers approach or he can't be bothered to come up with something original. I think that he works under tighter constraints than other Bond music composers.

[00Nothing]

I disagree. I think David Arnold is in a difficult position. One, he is a James Bond fan and a big fan of the music of John Barry. He feels that fans when they see a James Bond film expect to hear James Bond music which is the James Bond theme. He feels that James Bond music isn't in the movie that movie goers will be disappointed.

Second, unlike John Barry, Marvin Hamlisch, and George Martin, the producers have twice forced a theme song on him twice that he did not write, contribute to, or produce and whose melodies and themes he could not integrate into the rest of the score. So the pieces of music written for the film don't fit together into a whole.

I could understand if you didn't like Arnold's work because it didn't appeal to your sense of taste. Arnold's style of music is very different from the other composers who have contributed scores to the series. He certainly isn't jazz influenced like John Barry.

But I don't agree that Arnold has a paint-by-numbers approach or he can't be bothered to come up with something original. I think that he works under tighter constraints than other Bond music composers.

Yes, you've hit the nail in the head. He's contemporary too. His music fits in more with the musical styles of today. I've been a fan of his since I was 12 years old when I first watched Independence Day. His music in that was something, let me tell ya.

Plus his album of cover version of James Bond themes is one of the best I have ever heard.

[DLibrasnow]

Using the James Bond theme is fine....but Arnold overuses it.

He fails to realize that you save it for moments when 007 does something really Bondian and hence the theme has lost its special quality. That is why I don't like Arnold...he overuses the James Bond theme.

[Qwerty]

Perhaps he used it a bit much in Tomorrow Never Dies, but I think that only enhanced the score. I love that soundtrack. I really don't think it was overused at all in TWINE or DAD. He's made some terrific original action cues.

[Kristatos]

I found the start of the Soundtrack of DAD from Arnold very good. But the final is very suffering, because he used a theme of TWINE again.

[DLibrasnow]

Perhaps he used it a bit much in Tomorrow Never Dies, but I think that only enhanced the score. I love that soundtrack. I really don't think it was overused at all in TWINE or DAD. He's made some terrific original action cues.

In my opinion the soundtrack for Tomorrow Never Dies is the weakest of the series precisely because of the over reliance on the James Bond theme. I even remember thinking in the movie theater how ho-hum the music was.

[Qwerty]

Hmm, I guess I just liked his idea to split the soundtrack up into parts for TND. Only the first third really stands out as having a lot of the Bond theme in it, in my opinion. The final third is quite good with the far eastern flavors and styles.

The action music for the car chase and bike chase also seem quite fine and although there are hints of the Bond theme, so what? That's what it's there for, it doesn't take over, it just adds flavor.

[Turn]

I love Arnold's TND work. Yeah, the Bond theme was underused, but I think some of that makes up for there being a major lack of it in GE, where it should have been out in full force to herald 007's return after six years.

My problem with Arnold's last two Bond scores was I have both in my car, listen to them every now and then and still can't get any of his tunes stuck in my head the way most of the other Bond composers stuff can.

And I don't buy his having other people's songs forced on him as an excuse for not having a decent running theme. He did fine in TND with his ending k.d. Lange song. It worked quite well. Barry never had a problem with coming up with a consistent action song, why does Arnold?

[Qwerty]

I feel some of his tracks in The World Is Not Enough often get in my head. Certainly the action ones, I feel his best in that retrospect was his work on Tomorrow Never Dies. k.d. Lang's theme was a true guiding force in that one and it worked like a charm.

I feel that while The World Is Not Enough didn't necessarily had a main action theme, the action tracks were very good. And while it seemed that in the CGI ice parasurfing and the precredits in Die Another Day had an action theme, but it was original.

[JackChase007]

I love how a conversation is started concerning Bill Conti's score to For Your Eyes Only, yet DLibrasnow just HAS to belittle David Arnold in one way or another, and now we're talking about Arnold's scores. Also, make sure not to make any negative comments about that ****pile called Never Say Never Again, otherwise you're going to have a true problem on your hands...

[DLibrasnow]

I think Arnold spoiled the James Bond theme by using it too much.