22 replies to this topic

[bondrules]

This thread is in response to JimmyBond's thread on AVTAK's Snow Job. All that talk about old Barry music from 80's Bond got me all worked up.

Quite possibly (one of) the best action cues in the series?


I have mentioned before how much I like the score from TLD. Hence me picking TLD's Ice Chase. The one action cue that never ceases to impress. Very few action cues on any movie can keep you in suspense and yet not stress you out if you listen to it by itself. And the way it integrates the Bond theme is pure genius! I love Ice Chase. What do you think?

Mods, this one needs to go into the Dalton region. Pls help?

thanks!

[Bryce (003)]

Ask and ye shall receive.

[bondrules]

Ask and ye shall receive.

Many thanks 003 !!

[JimmyBond]

I love this piece of music. In fact over in the "Favorite rendition of the Bond theme thread" in the Music forum I cited this as my favorite. It's a perfect example of Barry utilizing the Bond theme in such a way that it feels like an organic part of the score, rather than something just thrown over a scene because it's the Bond theme and it "has" to be in used in a James Bond movie.

[DamnCoffee]

Not really too keen on Ice Chase, I'm afraid. It sounds awful in some places. Plus, I love how Barry still managed to use that awful rendition of the Bond theme he used for over a decade.

[Aris007]

Love it! The thing that makes it adorable is that Barry mixed both the Bond theme and the main theme of the movie, which comes from "Necros Attacks".

[The Shark]

Not a fan personally. Not big on the synth beats, or the orchestration of the Bond theme here. One of weakest cues from TLD.

[bondrules]

Not a fan personally. Not big on the synth beats, or the orchestration of the Bond theme here. One of weakest cues from TLD.

The synthesizer didn't bother me at all. In fact, this score is so good that I don't have to cherry pick tracks when I play it.

[AMC Hornet]

One of my favorites.

[The Shark]

Not a fan personally. Not big on the synth beats, or the orchestration of the Bond theme here. One of weakest cues from TLD.

The synthesizer didn't bother me at all. In fact, this score is good that I don't have to cherry pick tracks when I play it.

Not me, too many dull middle of the road cues from TLD. Unlike say AVTAK.

[Turn]

Not a fan personally. Not big on the synth beats, or the orchestration of the Bond theme here. One of weakest cues from TLD.

The synthesizer didn't bother me at all. In fact, this score is good that I don't have to cherry pick tracks when I play it.

Not me, too many dull middle of the road cues from TLD. Unlike say AVTAK.

I'll debate you all day on this one. I simply don't understand the enthusiasm over the AVTAK score when TLD was the last great Barry score. AVTAK barely registers in my memory aside from the title track and action theme. I hate to say it but it's almost as random and unmemorable as most of David Arnold's output.

TLD's score lends an energy that's fresh along with the new Bond and fresh approach the series took at that point.

[bondrules]

Not a fan personally. Not big on the synth beats, or the orchestration of the Bond theme here. One of weakest cues from TLD.

The synthesizer didn't bother me at all. In fact, this score is good that I don't have to cherry pick tracks when I play it.

Not me, too many dull middle of the road cues from TLD. Unlike say AVTAK.

I'll debate you all day on this one. I simply don't understand the enthusiasm over the AVTAK score when TLD was the last great Barry score. AVTAK barely registers in my memory aside from the title track and action theme. I hate to say it but it's almost as random and unmemorable as most of David Arnold's output.

TLD's score lends an energy that's fresh along with the new Bond and fresh approach the series took at that point.

yes, yes, and yes.

The AVTAK score had the title track by Duran Duram, which I still enjoy very much, and Snow Job was a masterpiece. Barry at his very best. Beyond that, you said perfectly, it's like regular Arnold.

There is no other Bond score, IMHO, that comes together in such perfect harmony as Barry's last. It's so good that it works as music you can throw here, there, and anywhere.

[The Shark]

Not a fan personally. Not big on the synth beats, or the orchestration of the Bond theme here. One of weakest cues from TLD.

The synthesizer didn't bother me at all. In fact, this score is good that I don't have to cherry pick tracks when I play it.

Not me, too many dull middle of the road cues from TLD. Unlike say AVTAK.

I'll debate you all day on this one. I simply don't understand the enthusiasm over the AVTAK score when TLD was the last great Barry score.

It was the last "Barry Bond score" yes, but I still still stand by AVTAK being his last 007 masterpiece.

Mind you, the AVTAK score I'm martyring for isn't the album form, but what you hear in the film. Which includes about 30 extra minutes of music. That's what I love. Everything from the the menacing underscore accompanying Bond being briefed about Zorin's microchips, the eerie whistled cue for the Butterfly Act, Bond's stately arrival at the château, Stacey's mysterious but sexy arrival via helicopter, May Day's sleazy but strangely resonant tenor sax variation of the title theme, the frenzied cue for occurring when the horse chase goes wrong and Bond tries to escape, the businessman "dropping out", the lush violins and violas with cello bass play broken chord arpeggios underscoring Stacey driving to her residence etc...

I'd rank in my top 5 Bond scores, without a doubt. Barry truly gives it his all, and shouldn't have returned after this.

AVTAK barely registers in my memory aside from the title track and action theme. I hate to say it but it's almost as random and unmemorable as most of David Arnold's output.

I'd argue that aside from the variations of If There Was a Man, The Living Daylights, The Bond Theme, and Where Has Everybody Gone? - the score is pretty bland and unmemorable. There's too much monotony and repetition, the synth beats are tinny and annoying, the orchestration is too thin and polished, and the harmonic dissonance is mostly gone. It reminds more of one of David Arnold's Bond scores, than any of Barry's others.

TLD's score lends an energy that's fresh along with the new Bond and fresh approach the series took at that point.

Proponents of David Arnold rally on about the "energy" and "freshness" of his scores, but that holds little weight to me. A score can't rely on energy alone - it needs strength and depth behind it. I think TLD lacks that compared to most of Barry's Bond output.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I like it, personally...

[The Shark]

I like it, personally...

That's nice.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I like it, personally...

That's nice.

Opinion's got to count for something, right?

[darthbond]

Wish I had all of it on my iPod. It is perhaps the best cue on the soundtrack other than the Vienna music.

darthbond

[The Shark]

I like it, personally...

That's nice.

Opinion's got to count for something, right?

Yes, but reasoned explained counts more.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I like it, personally...

That's nice.

Opinion's got to count for something, right?

Yes, but reasoned explanation counts more.

Okay... well, I feel it was good because it had an incredibly modern sound; despite using as its foundation the same old orchestral Bond theme that had been used by John Barry for over a decade, the synthesizer backbeat and the orchestra being perfectly in synch with it, rather than having them at two disparate tempos, really gives it a modernity in my eyes (or ears )... even today.

I also prefer it to He's Dangerous because that wailing guitar gets on my nerves after a while; the fact that Barry actually varied the renditions of Ice Chase, in a way he usually didn't with He's Dangerous, helps, too.

[The Shark]

I like it, personally...

That's nice.

Opinion's got to count for something, right?

Yes, but reasoned explanation counts more.

Okay... well, I feel it was good because it had an incredibly modern sound; despite using as its foundation the same old orchestral Bond theme that had been used by John Barry for over a decade, the synthesizer backbeat and the orchestra being perfectly in synch with it, rather than having them at two disparate tempos, really gives it a modernity in my eyes (or ears )... even today.

I also prefer it to He's Dangerous because that wailing guitar gets on my nerves after a while; the fact that Barry actually varied the renditions of Ice Chase, in a way he usually didn't with He's Dangerous, helps, too.

Snow Job, Fight at Stacey's House, He's Dangerous and Golden Gate Fight are highly varied renditions of the same theme. Seriously, listen to them carefully.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I like it, personally...

That's nice.

Opinion's got to count for something, right?

Yes, but reasoned explanation counts more.

Okay... well, I feel it was good because it had an incredibly modern sound; despite using as its foundation the same old orchestral Bond theme that had been used by John Barry for over a decade, the synthesizer backbeat and the orchestra being perfectly in synch with it, rather than having them at two disparate tempos, really gives it a modernity in my eyes (or ears )... even today.

I also prefer it to He's Dangerous because that wailing guitar gets on my nerves after a while; the fact that Barry actually varied the renditions of Ice Chase, in a way he usually didn't with He's Dangerous, helps, too.

Snow Job, Fight at Stacey's House, He's Dangerous and Golden Gate Fight are highly varied renditions of the same theme. Seriously, listen to them carefully.

I've never had occassion to, I'm afraid... nor would I neccessarily want to; too many unpleasant memories of the film...

[The Shark]

I like it, personally...

That's nice.

Opinion's got to count for something, right?

Yes, but reasoned explanation counts more.

Okay... well, I feel it was good because it had an incredibly modern sound; despite using as its foundation the same old orchestral Bond theme that had been used by John Barry for over a decade, the synthesizer backbeat and the orchestra being perfectly in synch with it, rather than having them at two disparate tempos, really gives it a modernity in my eyes (or ears )... even today.

I also prefer it to He's Dangerous because that wailing guitar gets on my nerves after a while; the fact that Barry actually varied the renditions of Ice Chase, in a way he usually didn't with He's Dangerous, helps, too.

Snow Job, Fight at Stacey's House, He's Dangerous and Golden Gate Fight are highly varied renditions of the same theme. Seriously, listen to them carefully.

I've never had occassion to, I'm afraid... nor would I neccessarily want to; too many unpleasant memories of the film...

Snow Job.

Fight at Stacey's House.

He's Dangerous.

Golden Gate Fight.

In comparison, there are only two variations of that "Ice Chase" Bond theme throughout the score, both nearly identical.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I still like it, better, Shark, just as you prefer Thunderball over Quantum of Solace, or caviar over Peking duck...