Bond BGM Marathon on Cinemagic now

[acroyear]

So I'm getting to compare each composer's style on how they approach action themes, suspense, and naturally, how they play with the original motif from all those years ago.  During the 70s they kept this knack of trying to go with "pop" composers (George "Fifth Beatle" Martin for Live and Let Die, Bill "Rocky" Conti for For Your Eyes Only), and after each, the next director would go "what the hell" and go back to the great John Barry.

And that, of course, means I can also hear Barry's development over the 25 years he was working on Bond films, noting how often what he did for Bond was similar to other movies he was doing at the time.  E.g., his Moonraker themes are in many ways an extension of his work for Disney's The Black Hole.

There is one exception to the composer switch: Michael Kamen's work on License to Kill is astounding.

I need to listen more deeply to David Arnold's work during the Brosnan era.

Comments

[thatliardiego.livejournal.com]

Have you heard any of the work from the latest Bond, "Casino Royale?"

I don't know who the composer was, but I think he did a great job orchestrating the brass -- there's some serious variations on suspense in it.

I'm still pissed that you can't get the version of "You Know My Name" with all the orchestral horns in it -- it's not on the CD or on iTunes...

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

David Arnold did Casino Royale, too. I haven't heard much of the score as the "songs tend to get more airplay at the time that I normally listen to Cinemagic. Maybe they'll finish up with it today. His work on Tomorrow Never Dies is quite good.

About David Arnold And Bond

[rennfoole.livejournal.com]

David Arnold has truly brought a classic jazz flavor back to the Bond soundtracks. This man is the true successor to John Barry's legacy. The scores are retro without sounding old. And, they certainly evoke BOND in every musical note. Especially noteworthy is his first Bond score for "Tomorrow Never Dies" (there is an extended CD with a more complete score available). Be sure to listen to the end title song. It's the song that Arnold wrote to be the theme of the movie and it really outperforms the Sheryl Crow title song. It's musical signature creeps into many of the other pieces used to score the film...as Barry used to do in the earlier films.

And, as mentioned above, "Casino Royale" is amazing! If Barry won't score Bond anymore (from what I heard he thinks he has nothing new to bring to it) then David Arnold is the man!!!

Re: About David Arnold And Bond

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Arnold has definitely been the one guy who has been willing to build on what Barry did, rather than do their own thing like most of the other Bond composers have done. (Eric Serra, who did Goldeneye, has to be the oddest choice for a Bond composer. He seems to be the opposite of what you want.)

And, as mentioned above, "Casino Royale" is amazing! If Barry won't score Bond anymore (from what I heard he thinks he has nothing new to bring to it) then David Arnold is the man!!!

Brad Bird said that he wanted Barry to do the score for "The Incredibles", but Barry didn't want to go back to that style, which is why they ended up going with Michael Giacchino, who did a good imitation of Barry's Bond style.