Die Another Day
David Arnold has done what he has done on his two previous James Bond movie scores, "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "The World Is Not Enough": he has brought the James Bond Theme up to date, but has still kept it in its roots of the sound of the original movies (preferably the John Barry scores). Now, this score isn't perfect. For one thing, the CD could have a bit more music on it. I mean, 54 minutes doesn't exactly cut it when TWINE had close to 69 minutes on it. While the title song, "Die Another Day" is not used in the score, it is a song that you can say is a Bond song. The good makes up for the bad, though, as the James Bond Theme is used a whole lot more than previous movies, which honors the fact that the Bond franchise turns 40 this year. The techno loops and fast paced action of the tracks also helps propel the film forward even farther that what it can go. "Welcome To Cuba" is an example of a track that can make you dance or hum without having to watch the movie. The Paul Oakenfold remix "Bond vs. Oakenfold" is not up to that of Moby's from a few years ago, but it is a good track to listen to. For the 20th Bond movie, the Die Another Day soundtrack is missing only one thing: more music. ...
Maddona ruins this
I know that there are huge fans of Maddona's music out there, but I am not one of them. The title song for Bond films used to be something that you could hum, whistle or sing to, this one is not. Well I don't buy Bond CD's for the title song I buy it for the score tracks that follow. Continuing what he did for TWINE, David Arnold works with the techno and orchestra together. There are some nice tracks here that are aggressive. I have noticed that there was a lack of a theme for the movie. Tomorrow Never Dies had a theme that was based off of Arnolds song Surrender sung by KD Lang at the end of the film. TWINE had a theme as well, but Die Another Day lacked one or it just wasn't consistantly used. One thing we did here a lot of in the movie was the James Bond theme which was neat. Hey anybody remember the old 007 theme by John Barry. I for one would like to hear that resurrected with a modern twist in the next Bond movie.
Wanna Be
David Arnold is nowhere near as good as John Barry. I know John Barry recommended him to the Broccoli clan, but do they listen to the music? Have they tried playing it against Barry's? Please, please... there are other great composers out there I'm sure! Start looking! And do so in non-predictable fashion: No "names" unless they can back it up with a good score!
Dave Arnold - Pretender to the Throne
Am I alone in thinking that Dave Arnold is nothing more than a poor imitation of the maestro of the spy movie genre, John Barry? - and a very poor one at that! His score's lack any semblance of the style and sophistication we have come to expect - nay demand from the Bond franchise over the past 40 years, (with the possible exceptions of messrs Norman and Serra). Don't get me wrong, I am not against Mr. Arnolds music "per say", - his reworkings of the Bond classics on "Shaken and Stirred", were an entertaining new slant on some familiar themes. But that is all they were, new slants, no more important to the world of Bond music than say, Geoff Love's or Count Basie's interpretations were in the sixties and early seventies, (those Bondophiles amongst you who are over the age of thirty five, will know the albums of which I speak). Granted, there are a few occassions when he hits the nail on the head with his Bond albums, but these times are, at there core, nothing more than thinly disquised reworkings of familiar Barry themes. To emulate a maestro with your own style is flattering. To "create" virtual copies of there music is plagerism. Of course, this album will still be a sucess. True Bond fans will want to add it to their collection simply because it is a Bond album - myself included. As far as I can see, there is only one way to describe your Bond outings Mr. Arnold, and that is to paraphrase Mr. Bond himself from The Spy Who Loved Me" and The Living Daylights - "There's a useful four letter word, and your, (or at least your music is), full of it!
Why you should buy this nifty CD....
Bray all you want about the direction the Bond music is taking, because really it is only trying to keep up with a franchise that is itself charging ahead into the future of action movies. And personally, I can dig it...I don't listen to mainstream "song" music, but I can say that Madonna's title song is quite listenable, despite worldwide tenderizing... It, also, is only trying to support the very cutting edge Bond movie credits.. It may not be traditional.. but neither was the film. I found it to be quite enjoyable, as the nifty strings were loud enough to outweigh the slashing electronic beats. The only thing the song really needs is some better lyrics, but for someone who doesn't even listen to music with lyrics, this is a minor complaint.
Oakenfold's take on the James Bond theme is rather unremarkable... I think it just takes up space better suited for more of Arnold's score
And onto the score itself. I havent heard THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH YET, but this is certainly a departure from TOMORROW NEVER DIES. The score opens with David Arnold's VERY NIFTY gunbarrel music, which has classic brass that subsides and lets the very groovy, cutting-edge electronic noises come into play... you can practically see Brosnan walking while the reflections dance around the gunbarrel. This track subsides into passable suspense before THE HOVERCRAFT CHASE, a neat little action track that has some neat Bond orchestra intertwining with techno-thrashing that is sometimes pretty dull but other times exciting. Overall... a great opener.
SOME KIND OF HERO is a very dark, almost totally orchestral track that is tense and moody and culminates in a very subdued statement of the quieter parts of the Bond theme.
I clump the next three tracks, WELCOME TO CUBA, JINX JORDAN, JAMES AND JINX together because they are essentially one idea. WELCOME TO CUBA is a fun little change of pace, with some almost goofy Cuban-flavored music. Fun, but unremarkable, and the next two JINX tracks serve their purposes in the film and no more.
The score then falls into a subdued but tense spy rhythm to accompany Bond's sneaking about in Iceland, and introduces the soaring vocals that signal the presence and power of ICARUS, a deadly satellite.
LASER FIGHT bridges this music into a steady stream of rollicking action music. WHITEOUT is a great cue that lets the orchestra state the prominent notes with the electronica fading into a great supporting role. ICED INC. is the electronic counterpart of WHITEOUT, and more than ones it degenerates into screeching techno mishmash.
ANTONOV is the CD's showcase, a sprawling 12-minute track that starts out with some groovy spy underscore and ICARUS carnage before becoming the exciting orchestral finale for the film's climax. I especially dig the relentless grit of synthesizers supporting the bombastic (ah... good old Arnold bombast) horns at 9:20 into the track.
To Madonna haters and those who declare the newer Bond flicks as disgraces to the series, I can see how this score will leave you in the dust and hating every second. But for those who like their action a bit more edgy than most, this soundtrack will be your ticket, as it was mine. Almost a 4 star effort, but if you liked the film, I reccomend you check this out!
James Bond has never been cooler - and neither has a soundtrack in the action hero's series of blockbuster films. The title is track by Madonna, who has a cameo in the movie. Along with a score by one-time Bjork collaborator David Arnold, it also features the classic James Bond Theme remixed by cutting edge dance master Paul Oakenfold. The CD is also enhanced with Madonna's 'Die Another Day' music video, the making of the video segment, Bond bonus extras, women of Bond gallery and more. Warner Bros. 2002.
