Jack white and a-ha both make absolute sense. Sure the tracks they did are divisive, but I can totally see the rationale for choosing them at the time. And I happen to like TLD a lot
A band I’d add as criminally absent from bond is Queen. They did amazing work on Flash Gordon and Highlander, elevating both movies far beyond what might’ve otherwise been.
The power of Freddie’s vocals, his skill as a lyricist and the sheer intellectual nous of the group to understand what an audience wanted would’ve provided a canon high for bond, imho.
All that ask is that the song be called ‘No Time To Die’. I find it weird that for the last 4 Bond films there’s only been 1 one where the opening theme shared it’s title with the film. Just feels wrong to me. And would the title appearing on screen in sync with the lyrics be too much to ask? Hasn’t happened since 1987!
With tailored visuals it would’ve been far better than TWOTW. But even with that tracks visuals it’s still an improvement on smiths effort.
In hindsight smiths sounds like a desperate attempt to do a ‘Skyfall-alike’. Adele’s tune was so well received that Eon now appear to have been desperate to replicate it as closely as possible.
Radiohead’s version sounds unique and classy by comparison, if a risky in its departure from the trending business model of SF. I hope Eon learn from this, rather than using TWOTW’s commercial success to validate such an unashamedly unambitious rip-off of previous success. Taking risks pays off in the long run and backing the popular choice (smith/white) isn’t a guaranteed win.
Rather than go for sounds/artists based on popularity, go for artistic chops. Eg Muse may seem to be between crests in popularity, but they can produce great, unique tracks. Same goes for Sting!
Unfortunately, no. They are just message board rumors.
Again, Zimmer has a connection to EON now through THE RHYTHM SECTION. So that may be quite obvious for EON to consider him, aside from Zimmer´s golden status in Hollywood.
Edit: By the way, isn’t THE RHYTHM SECTION still slated for a late January release?
NTTD is at the top of my 2020 tree. Wonder Woman 1984 looks good, too. However 2021 is going to be a real extravaganza. The Matrix 4, The Batman, Mission Impossible 7 and Indy 5 (hopefully).
Both were big in the 80s, Sade with “Smooth Operator” and “Is It a Crime?” whose jazziness seemed Bondian.
Kim Wilde, while obscure in America, was the biggest selling female vocalist in Britain. She’s having a bit of a comeback with her “Here Come the Aliens” album and recent live release. Her song, “Bladerunner” off Teases and Dares album, would have been a great title track.
Agree with the posts about Queen, Blondie and garbage’s TWINE song. I even liked Sheryl Crow’s TND though it didn’t fit with the score. I also liked The Living Daylights, but Chrissie Hynde’s two songs were better and timeless, while a-ha’s is dated.
EON seems to prefer the commercial over the artistic, though sometimes that pays off too (Duran Duran, Carly Simon.)
That’d be why we’re approaching the 60th anniversary of the series, so I’m fine with someone keeping a watch on sensible commercial decisions. Even though some of these (step forward Jack & Alicia and Sam) aren’t to my taste, they’ve done a pretty fine job of balancing what is Bond with what is successful.
It is difficult to argue with success when success is the point of the exercise.
They are trying to hit the gravitational centre of a thing called ‘mainstream’ - when just that mainstream is increasingly hard to define in an ever more fractured music business. Traditional radio airplay is no longer a main indicator of popularity; artists are relevant in ever more compartmentalised niches and practically unknown and unheard of outside. Against this backdrop Eon did remarkably well with their choices, regardless what I may think of them.
