71 replies to this topic

[Evil Doctor Cheese]

I wrote a very very long and passionate post that I wasn't allowed to post because the forums kinda imploded on me! So I'll keep it short and sweet using very short and passionate words.

BEAUTIFUL SONG. MAKES ME WANNA DANCE. CONTEMPORARY. STANDS UP NEXT TO CURRENT POP SONGS. SAYS BOND IS MODERN. MOVES BOND ON. GLORIOUS STRINGS. ARNOLD WILL MAKE A GREAT SCORE WITH THE STRINGS. IT'S DIFFERENT TO OTHER BOND SONGS BUT NOT UN-BOND. REDICULOUSLY CATCHY.

I've always said that the artists and songs should place the film firmly in the decade. Shirley and Tom said the 60's. Wings and Carly Simon said the 70's. Duran Duran, Sheena Easton and A-Ha were ontop in the 80's. The 90's didn't do so well. Madonna is new and fresh and the song is very modern and, like Thunderball makes you say "that's from the 60's" and FYEO the 80's this says 2002, it reeks wonderfully of it! Daft Punk, Aqyalung, quality dance music that's our era! It's epoch defining rather than a retred of Goldfinger. It still has Bond song written over it... the strings are the best since YOLT, the song is dark and mysterious like Moonraker, dancy like AVTAK matched with it's weird lyrics. I really like it and I can't wait to hear it over the credits.

The cons for me are that we don't get to hear her "Frozen voice" and that the song does make her sound a little "Borderline" or "Like A Prayer" but hey! that's my favourite Madonna era (BTW... I'm a closet Madge fan). The electronica may date it like FYEO's 80's electronica has done to Sheena Easton's song... but hey that's what happens when you amke Bond more relavant.

And just a final thought: In my opinion it's a lot more Bondian than TLD.

[HowiePussy]

The song is awesome. Its about time we've had a really fast, good song. And as for peopel sayign it's not a Bond song, what do you want, "Goldfinger Part 2"? The movie is Die Another Day, the song is Die ANotehr Day, teh song was recorded for teh Bond movie, therefore, it's a Bond song, end of story.

[Loomis]

Oh well, so much for willpower. In a total U-turn from what I wrote above, I couldn't resist downloading the song.

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! I don't say it's a masterpiece or one of the best songs I've ever heard - or even one of the best things I think Madonna's ever done - but blow me down if it isn't a catchy little number. Another couple of listens and I won't be able to get this track out of my head. It's the kind of thing you just know the first time you hear it is going to grow on you and grow on you and grow on you. It'll be a colossal international hit, an almost certain number one in the UK and elsewhere.
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that the first time I heard Madonna was doing the DAD theme song, I automatically thought she'd deliver some common-or-garden theatrical power ballad of the sort that you can picture everyone from Celine Dion to Mariah Carey doing, or at least something along the lines of her other movie themes: Live to Tell, This Used To Be My Playground and Beautiful Stranger. A good old-fashioned "proper song", in other words. And frankly that thought made me go: "Zzzzzzzz...."

I was pleased that a such a famous name was attached to Bond 20, but I didn't imagine she'd bother to come up with anything other than the sort of easy, standard issue love song she cranks out a handful of each time she makes an album. Apart from anything else, I didn't think she'd be allowed to. What with the notorious conservatism of the Bond people, this kind of "happening" dance track was definitely not what I expected.

Is it too radical for a Bond theme? I don't think so, and by the way I wouldn't advocate putting, say, The Aphex Twin or Eminem over the opening credits just to be "innovative". I love the fact that Madonna's track is something unexpected, but (without, obviously, having seen DAD) my instinct is that it's appropriate for the material. I think it's Bondian, I think it works. Besides, we've had techno beats and dance loops all over the soundtracks of the last two Bond films, courtesy of David Arnold, and techno tracks have recently been in a number of films of roughly the same genre as Bond, notably THE JACKAL and TOMB RAIDER. I'd say Joe Public is well prepared.

We've had even more "radical" Bond themes in the past, perhaps none more so than a-Ha's The Living Daylights. I don't care for it much, but it sounds more unusual each time I hear it. Duran Duran's A View To A Kill is another true original (terrific song), and I can't begin to imagine how astonishing Live and Let Die must have seemed back in the day.

Finally, I'm sure the pauses are intentional, and I think they work brilliantly. They might be extremely effective in conjunction with whatever's happening onscreen at the time, i.e. if we think (COULD SOMEONE PLEASE HIDE THE FOLLOWING WITH A SPOILER WARNING) Bond's about to be killed or we see him being tortured and the music suddenly stops.

[JBond007]

Spoiler

I don't really like the idea of Bond being tortured at all

[JBond007]

For anyone that wants to hide text type

[spoiler] TYPE YOUR TEXT HERE [spoiler]

but put a / before the last 's' above ie [/spoiler

[JimmyBond]

JBond007, too late to complain about that, we've already discussed it a lot in other threads. Welcome to start up a thread of your own on the subject though.

[JBond007]

JBond007, too late to complain about that, we've already discussed it a lot in other threads.

Ah, I definitely will have a look into what people have typed!

[JimmyBond]

If you want to create your own thread on the subject, I say do it. I'd love to debate with you about that subject, its just, this thread isnt the place to do it.

[mkkbb]

Oh dear, this is terrible. TERRIBLE. And for the 40th anniversary film you'd expect a song to be in the same vein as the great Bond songs. I would have liked to have one that could become a classic like Nobody Does it Better, but instead we have this one which is not distinguishable from a normal dance song.

Plus while it is nice to have the strings section at the start, does it have to be played all the way through, it gets annoying after a while.

One plus note, at about 2mins 30 seconds through the song there is a strings cresendo (is that right), that sounds very good. I hope Arnold has done an orchestra version for the titles with Madonna singing properly, and the strings to be altered (i.e. not repeated over and over again).

[Blue Eyes]

I took a trip over to Madonnarama just then and I noticed a poll up with the issue; 'is it time Madonna ditched the Autotuned vocals?'.

Apparently the Autotuned vocals are what have been applied to Madonna's voice in the 'piece'.

Well there it is, the autotuned vocals are what, imho, screw this song.

[Moonraker 5]

I have to throw my hat into the ring by saying I really love this song. To me, TND and TWINE were instant disappointments. TWINE was too slow, too melodramatic and too, well, downright dull. I'm a big Sheryl Crow fan, but I didn't appreciate her letting her cat sing most of the vocals. GE I just didn't like, Tina Turner sounds like an old hag when she sings "GoldenAyeeee".

This, however, is instantly memorable. Perhaps for all the wrong reasons, some of you are saying, but its what the Bond franchise needs at the beginning of the 21st Century. It's fresh, modern, unlike anything that's been done before and it'll create awareness of Die Another Day among the masses who would just pitch up at the cinema on the off chance there's a good film on. And it just so happens that there'll be A LOT of good films around that time. Madonna's huge airplay and massive number 1 with this song will put DAD among the public first. The last 3 Bond themes have charted miserably in the UK, this one is not going to do the same.

As for it being non-Bond. I disagree. I think the under-lying string section is very Bond, the lyrics are very Bond. OK, the dance beat isn't Bond, but that's only because it's not been done before. Bond has to sometimes change and break new moulds to keep him out there, and we're getting to a point where most of the Bond-style theme's are getting dull. Let them take a new route, and if the PUBLIC like it more than the fans, then it's a huge bonus. It's the public that keeps Bond alive, not us.

I can see Kleinmans titles fitting over this very well. And I think for the first time since AVTAK, we're going to get Die Another Day flash up on the screen as Madonna sings it. The titles to this are going to be very fast paced, mean and very dark. I was sceptical in the past because I feared the Bond theme would be too techno and dance. Hey, it turns out it is, and I'm eating my hat because I love it. I think EON have scored a huge goal by bringing Madonna on board.

[Blue Eyes]

Could resist posting this, but it came up in a conversation with a friend after they heard the song. Their comment on it, "...so Bond isn't the only person tortured in the film?".