1894 replies to this topic

[MattofSteel]

Huge percentages of Casino Royale's album don't really entertain 'on their own' and contain plenty of 'dead air', and yet I love the out of that score. I've liked the Newman samples I've heard, and from them alone, we know the Bond theme is integrated more heavily than it's been suggested in this review.

I'll no doubt end up agreeing with some of what Christian's said, but for now, I'll wait for my own first listen before I start reacting.

EDIT: I'm about halfway through 007 Legends, and though my reaction to the game is mixed, the score is bloody wonderful. If you're a fan of Barry or Arnold, it hits the spot. Kliner's literally remixed music from each film's scores (IE, the 'Goldfinger' level contains traces of "The Laser Table" and the OHMSS tracks contain the Main Theme, Gumbold's Safe, and the track when the girls are being communally hypnotized).

I'm a well known fan of pastiche from time to time, so I'm finding it particularly wonderful.

[littlenellie]

Shark really really wants Skyfall to have an amazing score, we all do, (perhaps partially to say to arnold fans " see...i told you someone else,almost anyone else,would be better! but looking around at reviews....the film appears to be amazing and the music generally has received a so so response where it has been mentioned,which is barely at all...in a film where acting,editing and cinematography is getting major shout outs...it's disappointing that it doesn't even provoke a mention. .ill be watching the film before I make any comment...I hope shark makes a considered and suitably intelligent review of the score as he honestly sees it .ive no reason to believe he won't.

[gkgyver]

There is rarely an occasion where I disagree with Clemmensen, and seeing that his sentiments pretty much cover my initial reaction to the samples, I would say he's right.

[The Shark]

Big surprise.

[QOS4EVER]

Shark really really wants Skyfall to have an amazing score, we all do, (perhaps partially to say to arnold fans " see...i told you someone else,almost anyone else,would be better!

Judging from what we heard in the reviews so far I honestly doubt that Shark will get to say that this time.

Edited by QOS4EVER, 18 October 2012 - 02:04 PM.

[junkanoo]

Huge percentages of Casino Royale's album don't really entertain 'on their own' and contain plenty of 'dead air', and yet I love the out of that score.

If you really meant what you said ... that boils down to the Casino Royale score being hugely non-entertaining ... yet you love it. ???

[The Shark]

Huge percentages of Casino Royale's album don't really entertain 'on their own' and contain plenty of 'dead air', and yet I love the out of that score.

If you really meant what you said ... that boils down to the Casino Royale score being hugely non-entertaining ... yet you love it. ???

"It's called Stockholm Syndrome..."

[SecretAgentFan]

There is rarely an occasion where I disagree with Clemmensen, and seeing that his sentiments pretty much cover my initial reaction to the samples, I would say he's right.

Um, how can he be right when it´s all about expressing a personal opinion or preference?

By the way, there are many occasions where I disagree with Clemmensen. In fact, I find his reviews almost always arrogant and contrarian - as if he just needs to express that he expected more, like a teacher that just does not want to see you succeeding.

[MattofSteel]

Huge percentages of Casino Royale's album don't really entertain 'on their own' and contain plenty of 'dead air', and yet I love the out of that score.

If you really meant what you said ... that boils down to the Casino Royale score being hugely non-entertaining ... yet you love it. ???

"It's called Stockholm Syndrome..."

Ha, piss off. I'm no EON apologist. I'll gladly call them on it when they or their music department bungles something. I still Think Newman was a mistake for Skyfall, and Arnold would have provided a much more appropriate 50th anniversary score. But that doesn't mean I can't still like what Newman does. It's not binary - "perfect", or "terrible". I've said this before. There's plenty of middle ground.

But reviewers and evaluators don't like to phrase their thesis that way, do they? Makes it harder to write a convincing piece.

RE: CR, it's called admitting there are long stretches that aren't anything approaching entertaining listens, but they're offset by massive quantities of music I absolutely love. A score doesn't need to be uniformly amazing for me to be a fan. And that's not to say the poker game sections or tracks like "Licence 2 Kills" are bad, per se - they just don't really make for good listening outside the film. Vast difference.

[SecretAgentFan]

I´ve been listening to DAD today - the complete score, not the misrepresentation released on CD, and I must confess: I love it! Totally underappreciated (by myself, too). When I thought about the DAD score I only remembered the heavy techno rhythms and the Icarus theme - but there are so many subtle things about this score, wonderful ways of using the Bond theme. Really, it´s time to re-evaluate this one.

And - to come back to the thread´s title - once again I´ve been listening to the samples and I really can´t wait to hear the whole score. It´s brilliant. Different, but still Bond AND Newman. Yes, we did not get the full brass-Barry-score for the anniversary - but would that really have worked or become a "been there done that"-parody?

These samples reveal themselves the more you listen to then, trust me.

And I´m not under the influence of anything illegal here...

[MattofSteel]

100% on board with all of that, SAF. DAD's a massively underrated Bond score.

[The Shark]

Agreed. Probably my joint favourite Arnold Bond score, along with QOS.

[MattofSteel]

Really? Ha, that's interesting. I'd have expected you to consider it 'definitive Arnold', aka, everything that's wrong with Bond music.

What do you like about it?

Personally, I just adore the fact it's basically a two hour celebration of the James Bond theme re-orchestrated in different ways, as SAF mentioned. The standalone, original stuff is pretty solid too. A real sense of "event" about the whole thing. Big and brassy everywhere I want it to be. Sort of Arnold's Goldfinger, IMO.

[PeteNeon]

I´ve been listening to DAD today - the complete score, not the misrepresentation released on CD, and I must confess: I love it! Totally underappreciated (by myself, too). When I thought about the DAD score I only remembered the heavy techno rhythms and the Icarus theme - but there are so many subtle things about this score, wonderful ways of using the Bond theme. Really, it´s time to re-evaluate this one.

Where did you get that from? I would love to hear it!

Yes, we did not get the full brass-Barry-score for the anniversary - but would that really have worked or become a "been there done that"-parody?

I think it would have worked. We've been starved of that sort of thing since Daniel Craig took the role, it was about time he got the full Arnold treatment!

[The Shark]

What do you like about it?

It's just fun, out-there (I kinda like the experimental stuff he does with flipping the recording backwards, speeding and up and slowing it down, even if it does get gimmicky at times) and the breakbeats work very well. Unlike CASINO ROYALE it's rarely boring, sappy, Barry-by-numbers (thankfully the horrible Jinx theme and "Going Down Together" are exceptions), half-hearted or holding back. It's David Arnold on steroids, not David Arnold on Prozac. He's not very interesting when he's trying to be subtle, so DAD plays to his strengths. Balls to the wall, kick-, anthemic Bond music.

Still not as good as Barry, Serra, Martin or Conti, but I dig it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN81Ovei4ZY

[delfloria]

From over at MI:6,

SF Score by Newman and other artists:


KONYALI
Written and Performed by ENSEMBLE HÜSEYIN TÜRKMENIER
Taken from the album “Turkish Bellydance”
Courtesy of ARC Music Productions International Ltd.

CNN BREAKING NEWS THEME #2
Written by HERB AVERY
Courtesy of CNN

MOONLIGHT
Performed by JUN CHEN
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

BOUM!
Written and Performed by CHARLES TRENET
Courtesy of Capitol Music,

BOOM BOOM
Written by JOHN LEE HOOKER
Performed by THE ANIMALS
Licensed courtesy of EMI Records Ltd. and ABKCO Records

THE NAME’S BOND… JAMES BOND
Written by MONTY NORMAN
Arranged by DAVID ARNOLD

THE JAMES BOND THEME
Written by MONTY NORMAN



The official album will not be the complete score.............. to say the least. (The Animals? ............... no earmuffs needed.)

[DamnCoffee]

Thanks for this. I assume the majority of this will be bar music.

[Walecs]

The wrong comparison with Star Wars is the fact that SW main title (aka Luke's theme) and Star Wars Main Theme (aka Force Theme) are not the same thing. The first does appear in different forms during the classic trilogy, but it's used way less than the Force theme, which is real SW main theme.

[Shaun Forever]

If I look at the track listing for the Skyfall soundtrack, is it likely to give away any major spoilers?

[The Shark]

No. They're quotes from dialogue that have no relation to the content of the tracks.

[MattofSteel]

Confirms they've used the Arnold cue, then. Likely for the ending - although one reviewer on Twitter claimed to have heard it multiple times.

[Shaun Forever]

Excellent!


Thanks Shark, going to pre-order my copy now.

[DominicGreene]

"Boom Boom" by the Animals? Interesting.

[MattofSteel]

Interesting indeed. Agreed with the above - very likely some rowdy bar music played behind a deadly drinking game of some sort.

[gkgyver]

There is rarely an occasion where I disagree with Clemmensen, and seeing that his sentiments pretty much cover my initial reaction to the samples, I would say he's right.

Um, how can he be right when it´s all about expressing a personal opinion or preference?

Bad choice of words.
I mean that he strengthens my suspicions about the score, and I'm now even more convinced that I find it bland.

[Rich Douglas]

I've NEVER agreed with Clemmensen for the 10 years I've been going to his site. Make that 8 years... I gave up on his "reviews" two years ago. Going to wait and see for myself before making any snap judgements.

No one is right or wrong here btw. Music is really one of the most subjective things on the planet... and that is exactly why being a composer is one of the most difficult professions on the planet.

[MattofSteel]

Very true. By my standards, I should hate Newman's work on Skyfall - and I really, really like almost all the samples. The whole thing's quite fluid. And irrelevant outside of the film, really.

[Harmsway]

Very true. By my standards, I should hate Newman's work on Skyfall - and I really, really like almost all the samples. The whole thing's quite fluid. And irrelevant outside of the film, really.

I don't know about that. Great film scores hold up as compelling music in their own right.

[QOS4EVER]

No one is right or wrong here btw. Music is really one of the most subjective things on the planet.

True that,
But there's always a question of what music suits.As in our Case, However good Newman maybe his tracks are beautifull in an emotional sense something Bond has never been seen as in the last 50 years.He is not perceived as an emotional character .He is the very defintion of suave.The movies are meant to be thrilling,not emotionally dominated proving in that case that Arnold suits.

[MattofSteel]

That they do - but my perspective is, that's a bonus. It's not a composer's job to ensure it holds up on its own. It's their obligation to support the film - if it stands up on its own, then hey, it's amazing. And it's what separates the John Barrys from the Tom Newmans. But I've given up expecting everyone to be as good as Barry.

Very true. By my standards, I should hate Newman's work on Skyfall - and I really, really like almost all the samples. The whole thing's quite fluid. And irrelevant outside of the film, really.

I don't know about that. Great film scores hold up as compelling music in their own right.