77 replies to this topic

[Forward Look]

Okay, so David Arnold hasn't quite established the presence that John Barry has with his Bond film scores, but he's getting there. It has taken several tries for Arnold to get some semblance of rightness in scoring Bond, and with that, which incidental tracks showcase David Arnold at his best?

My picks are the opening surfer music in DAD and City of Lovers in CR. Anyone else?

[gkgyver]

That would still be White Knight.

[Harmsway]

I'd say his best cue is "African Rundown" from CASINO ROYALE. It's not only one of Arnold's best pieces, it's one of the best Bond action cues in franchise history, rivaling Barry's own magnificent work.

Other notables include "Station Break" from TOMORROW NEVER DIES (about the only track worth keeping from that score), "Aston Montenegro" and "City of Lovers" from CASINO ROYALE, and "Night at the Opera" from QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

[Elmason]

I like Night At The Opera it's quite retro and sets the scene nicely.

[crheath]

I'd say his best cue is "African Rundown" from CASINO ROYALE. It's not only one of Arnold's best pieces, it's one of the best Bond action cues in franchise history, rivaling Barry's own magnificent work.

Other notables include "Station Break" from TOMORROW NEVER DIES (about the only track worth keeping from that score), "Aston Montenegro" and "City of Lovers" from CASINO ROYALE, and "Night at the Opera" from QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

I agree about the African Rundown, especially the climactic part at the end. That's probably my favorite.

[Mr_Wint]

His track Casino from the TWINE score is my favourite work from Arnold. It captures the true Bondfeel perfectly.

[gkgyver]

Other notables include "Station Break" from TOMORROW NEVER DIES (about the only track worth keeping from that score),

[Professor Dent]

African Rundown from Casino Royale for me too. Night At The Opera from Quantum of Solace is very good but I need the "newness" to wear off before I put it up there in the favorite category.

Others worth mentioning are Time To Get Out from Quantum of Solace, Blunt Instrument & Dinner Jackets from Casino Royale, Ice Bandits from The World is not Enough, & Company Car from Tomorrow Never Dies when I just want to hear the Bond Theme.

[Qwerty]

Tough to call for me. Casino Royale has the pounding African Rundown going for it, while Quantum of Solace has favourites Time To Get Out and Night At The Opera.

There are a ton of action cues I love from Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is not Enough too.

At the moment, I'd probably go with African Rundown.

[Joey Bond]

Tomorrow Never Dies: If you don't count "Surrender", then "White Knight"
The world is not enough: "Come in 007, your time is up"- no question
Die another day: "Hovercraft chase" or "Kiss of life"
Casino Royale: "Blunt instrument", "Dinner Jackets" and "I'm the money"
Quantum of solace: "Time to get out", "Pursuit at Port au Prince", "The dead don't care about vengance" and "I never left"

Overall number one I'd go for Come in 007, but right now I'm into "The dead don't care about vengance"

[Scaramanga'74]

His compositions for the pre-title sequence of TWINE and DAD are vintage Bond. His contribution to CR ranks as one of the best in the series (remarkable instrumental version of the theme song). Nothing great (or memorable) in QoS, though.

[sharpshooter]

I agree, African Rundown is his best single track yet. I also enjoy City of Lovers and Time To Get Out. His TND, CR, and QoS work stands out for me.

[Double-Oh Agent]

I like quite a bit of David Arnold's stuff. My favorites, which apparently happen to coincide with many others, would be:

White Knight from Tomorrow Never Dies

Backseat Driver from Tomorrow Never Dies

Come In 007, Your Time Is Up from The World Is Not Enough

and

African Rundown from Casino Royale

[SecretAgentFan]

Okay, I´m a hopeless sap. Right now I love

- The Shower Scene from CR
- Night at the Opera from QOS

and

- The Dead don´t care about vengeance from QOS.

[gkgyver]

I don't get everyone's love for African Rundown.

To me, it's just a standard action cue with loads of layered percussion.
There are much better action moments in CR. Or any other Arnold score for that matter.

[00Twelve]

Vesper

The Name's Bond...James Bond (this is kind of a given)

Night At The Opera

African Rundown

City of Lovers

White Knight

Inside Man

Field Trip

[Harmsway]

There are much better action moments in CR. Or any other Arnold score for that matter.

I think all the other action cues in CASINO ROYALE get a big "meh." "Miami International," "The Switch," "Fall of a House in Venice" are all sloppy messes of sound, and while "Stairwell Fight" isn't quite as bad as the others, it's not very striking, either.

[Loomis]

Would you still say that QUANTUM is Arnold's best score, Harms?

[Harmsway]

Would you still say that QUANTUM is Arnold's best score, Harms?

Overall, I would. There are some better individual moments in his CASINO ROYALE score, but the CASINO ROYALE score doesn't have QUANTUM OF SOLACE's overall consistency of quality. Together, they definitely comprise Arnold's best work.

But yet again, Arnold's action cues are his Achilles' heel. Despite being able to produce a piece of the elegance and excitement of CASINO ROYALE's "African Rundown," Arnold continues to churn out crowded, blaring cacophonies of sound whenever action crops up on the screen.

And even with Arnold's progression as a composer in the past two films, giving us two very solid Bond scores, I think it might be time to push on. Unless he's capable of drastically shaking things up for the next installment - and maybe he is - his sound has gone about about as far as it can go.

[Loomis]

his sound has gone about about as far as it can go.

I don't disagree, but I think it does go far enough. And who could do a better job of xeroxing Barry (Arnold's greatest strength)? Besides, I like having Arnold around for continuity reasons. Same goes for Dench. After all, there are precious few reminders nowadays that you're watching a James Bond film!

OTOH, a new composer could, of course, deliver a much better score than Arnold is capable of. At the moment, though, my support of "good old Dave" for fanboyish reasons outweighs the thrill of a favourite of mine like Joe Hisaishi or Ryuichi Sakamoto getting the gig (which in any case a favourite of mine wouldn't).

To answer the question, my fave Arnold track (right now) is NO INTEREST IN DOMINIC GREENE/NIGHT AT THE OPERA (which to my ears sounds like the same thing), a beautiful, almost ethereal blend of YOLTish Barry and chilled out ambient music.

[Harmsway]

And who could do a better job of xeroxing Barry (Arnold's greatest strength)?

Well, if all we're after is a faux Barry-sound, Michael Giacchino can do, and has done, that better than Arnold. But I'm not particularly interested in that.

I'm interested in a Bondian score that has a bit of its own sound. I mention him all the time, and I'll mention him again: David Holmes is the kind of thing a Bond film needs, with a good jazzy sensibility (when's the last time we really had that jazzy/lounge music sensibility in a Bond score?), but with a sound that wouldn't feel "faux Barry."

[plankattack]

To answer the question, my fave Arnold track (right now) is NO INTEREST IN DOMINIC GREENE/NIGHT AT THE OPERA (which to my ears sounds like the same thing), a beautiful, almost ethereal blend of YOLTish Barry and chilled out ambient music.

Agreed - it echoes (unashamedly) Barry's best work (YOLT, bits from DAF & MR). It screams Bond, and its slower pace reflects Bond to the extent than some of his more fast-paced work (African Rundown - which I like), Time to Get Out, most of DAD, reflect more generic action-film scoring. Barry's best work, IMHO, was when he was controlling/slowing the pace (with the exception of TLD where his score helps up the ante tremondously).

I'll say this for Arnold, he is getting better and better - compare the last two scores with TND and it's apparent that that debut effort is very much like an excited-kid let loose in a Bond film. Unlike many, I find White Knight too busy seeking to channel the fanfare from FRWL instead of standing on it's own. But everytime we have a thread asking who ELSE we'd like to see doing the score, I do find it hard not to want to stick with Arnold. Barry's shadow will forever hang over the series and Arnold has finally shown the ability to echo Barry's work rather than mimic it. And there is no way to get to that stage without a couple of tries. For everyone who volunteers someone else's name, to my ear, with the exception of George Martin and Marvin Hamlisch (though TSWLM for better or for worse, will forever sound of 70s), all others who've tried have failed, their scores being the worst part of the film.

[Mr_Wint]

I'm interested in a Bondian score that has a bit of its own sound. I mention him all the time, and I'll mention him again: David Holmes is the kind of thing a Bond film needs, with a good jazzy sensibility (when's the last time we really had that jazzy/lounge music sensibility in a Bond score?), but with a sound that wouldn't feel "faux Barry."

His music is very laid-back and can feel somewhat repetitive after a while (like George Martins LALD). I think Bondfilms needs a more rich and timeless sound.

[Harmsway]

His music is very laid-back and can feel somewhat repetitive after a while (like George Martins LALD).

Which is what makes him perfect for a one-off, rather than a permanent position. But I don't agree that he ever gets dull - all three of his OCEAN'S scores are a delight (particularly his work for TWELVE). At the very least, it could provide a nice impermanent break between the string of Arnold scores.

And I, for one, love George Martin's LIVE AND LET DIE score, which was a wonderful change of pace and provided a wonderfully cool atmosphere for that film. I'd take it over most of the non-Barry scores, for sure.

I think Bondfilms needs a more rich and timeless sound.

Ah, but I think that jazzy style of Bond music is cool in a way that more generic, sweeping orchestral stuff isn't. Sure, Holmes' style is retro-cool, but retro-cool does age well. After all, Barry's 1960s Bond scores are incredibly of their time, but they have a cool to them that Arnold's never even came close to equaling.

If not Holmes, I say toss it to Lalo Schifrin. He's a legend in his own right, and even if he's past his prime, it would be a real treat to see another legend do a nod towards Barry.

[gkgyver]

And even with Arnold's progression as a composer in the past two films, giving us two very solid Bond scores, I think it might be time to push on. Unless he's capable of drastically shaking things up for the next installment - and maybe he is - his sound has gone about about as far as it can go.

That's really funny me thinks.
Arnold has done five Bond scores now; after roughly the same amount of scores, I don't think Barry had anything particulary important to add to the series as well, yet he proceeded to write several other terrific, while not awfully original, scores.

[Judo chop]

Dario Marianelli.

Just tossing it out there. I remember thinking how much I liked the score in ATONEMENT when the film was busily boring the hell out of me.

[Mr_Wint]

His music is very laid-back and can feel somewhat repetitive after a while (like George Martins LALD).

Which is what makes him perfect for a one-off, rather than a permanent position. But I don't agree that he ever gets dull - all three of his OCEAN'S scores are a delight (particularly his work for TWELVE). At the very least, it could provide a nice impermanent break between the string of Arnold scores.

And I, for one, love George Martin's LIVE AND LET DIE score, which was a wonderful change of pace and provided a wonderfully cool atmosphere for that film. I'd take it over most of the non-Barry scores, for sure.

I think Bondfilms needs a more rich and timeless sound.

Ah, but I think that jazzy style of Bond music is cool in a way that more generic, sweeping orchestral stuff isn't. Sure, Holmes' style is retro-cool, but retro-cool does age well. After all, Barry's 1960s Bond scores are incredibly of their time, but they have a cool to them that Arnold's never even came close to equaling.

If not Holmes, I say toss it to Lalo Schifrin. He's a legend in his own right, and even if he's past his prime, it would be a real treat to see another legend do a nod towards Barry.

I enjoy LALD too. But I belive that the whole film would be significantly improved if Barry did the music.

I don't mind Holmes experimenting a little bit. But leave it to Ocean's fourteen rather than the next Bondfilm.

[Harmsway]

Arnold has done five Bond scores now; after roughly the same amount of scores, I don't think Barry had anything particulary important to add to the series as well, yet he proceeded to write several other terrific, while not awfully original, scores.

Ah, but Barry's was in a very different category than Arnold. Arnold's contributions to date haven't been good - in some places very good - but not great. CASINO ROYALE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE were both strong, capable scores, but they weren't great scores, and the rest of his contribution has been wholly mediocre.

I'm looking for Arnold to step up and show he can really deliver one helluva score. And while he's had a few good moments, I think he's had enough chances and has shown that he's never going to evolve enough to really manage that, which is why I suggest Arnold's gone about as far as he can go.

Dario Marianelli.

Just tossing it out there. I remember thinking how much I liked the score in ATONEMENT when the film was busily boring the hell out of me.

He's a good name. I'd support him, even if he doesn't quite have the "cool factor" in any of his scores that I'm hoping to see return to the world of Bond music. It's been gone far too long.

[Harmsway]

I enjoy LALD too. But I belive that the whole film would be significantly improved if Barry did the music.

Maybe it would have. But I don't think it would have been improved if David Arnold did it, and that's really the discussion here. We're looking at the world of non-Barry composers compared against each-other, and how successful each has been. As far as non-Barry composers go, Martin was the only one, in my mind, to really give Bond music that "cool" sound, making him one of the most successful non-Barry composers.

I don't mind Holmes experimenting a little bit. But leave it to Ocean's fourteen rather than the next Bondfilm.

But experimentation and variety is the bread-and-butter of the Bond franchise, and Holmes' jazzy sound already lends him to Bond music. It's not a dramatic change, by any stretch, and would probably overall produce - in my mind - a more Bondian score than Arnold has so far managed, just because he'd bring "jazzy cool" back into the mix.

[BlackFire]

African Rundown, Blunt Instrument, Dinner Jackets from Casino Royale
Time to get out, Pursue at Port Au Prince from Quantum of Solace
Welcome to Cuba from Die Another Day

Those are my favourite from David Arnold's score.

Edited by BlackFire, 03 December 2008 - 05:52 PM.