When it became clear Eric Serra's GoldenEye score was not
the direction the series wanted to take, and after EON negotiations
with John Barry fell through for Tomorrow Never Dies, David
Arnold was welcomed into the Bond family.
Not many jobs in music come with 35 years of history and
a world-wide audience of millions ready to pounce on your
work. But pressures aside, David Arnold brought a truly
modern sound to TND while still maintaining the traditional
elements such as the orchestral pieces and a rich decadence
which seems unique to Bond soundtracks.
The World Is Not Enough headed more towards the techno
style that was cautiously introduced in TND, although the
traditional elements were still there, this experience was
a bolder statement to enforce Bond's contemporary status.
As with TND, TWINE used the melody from it's original end
titles song within the main score to great affect, although
sadly with TWINE this will be lost to people who have not
heard the soundtrack CD through as Scott Walker's "Only
Myself To Blame" was cut from the film in place of
a techno 007 theme remix.
Arnold's score for "Die Another Day" builds upon
the style "Tomorrow Never Dies" beautifully, with
the techno and electronic elements more profound and revelling
in confidence.
The traditional Barry-esque elements are here in spades
too, with haunting strings, sassy brass and motifs which
interweave between tracks (especially Jinx's melody).
The score sets out to stun with an up-tempo gunbarrel that
will truly stands out in the series when the last 40 years
are looked back upon, and then heads full throttle into
the teaser sequence.
TWINE's boat chase, "Come in 007, your time is up",
pushed the bar high for fast paced Bond chases, and the
score for the hovercraft sequence does not disappoint.
The slower and romantic scenes of the film are also well
looked after, with the other end of Arnold's high contrast
range of styles used to full effect.
The score for the climax of the film utilises several motifs
from TWINE to great effect, the rolling piano from "Pipeline"
being the most prominent.
Some people may criticise this as recycling, but the elements
are used in a new context and add to the feeling that this
is a special entry in the series.
Finally a clever tribute to You Only Live Twice takes us
out of the movie, and our of the best score David Arnold
has produced for Bond.
Verdict
"Die Another Day" builds upon the fantastic sweeping
sounds of "Tomorrow Never Dies" and complements
them beautifully with a higher contrast of electronica that
dominated "The World Is Not Enough".
Five years working on Bond, and a lifetime as a fan, has
brought together a fabulous blend by David Arnold, and delivered
the best soundtrack of the modern day films.
David Arnold's Score: 5/5
Madonna's Title Theme: 2/5
Paul Oakenfold's Remix: 3/5
Full OST Facts & Figures
Bonus Features
The limitations of a CD sadly restrict the amount of space
given to Arnold's score, but is used quite effectively with
an interesting "Making Of" Madonna footage and
and alternative music videos for "Bond Vs. Oakenfold".
Beware you are requested to sign-up an email address when
viewing extras online.
Bonus Elements: 4/5
Buy
The "Die Another Day" Official Soundtrack is
released on November 18th 2002 and can be ordered through
MI6 Shop today:
MI6
Shop Price: £9.99 |
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01 Die Another Day - 4:37
A controversial theme that works better on screen than alone
as a song. The black sheep of the twenty themes in the series.
02 Bond Vs Oakenfold - 4:02
With Moby's remixing of the famous theme now five years
old, Paul Oakenfold fold tries his hand - but fails to better
it with a by-the-numbers remix of the TWINE end credits
music.
03 On The Beach - 2:50
A fantastic up-tempo gunbarrel piece leads into a slow and
steady build up of anticipation to the fast paced action
ahead.
04 Hovercraft Chase - 3:48
Punchy percussion kicks off the main teaser action with
all the classic Arnold chase music elements in abundance
- including some clever reversing of samples and tumbling
strings. The quintessential 007 guitar riff is underlined
magnificently by double timed percussion which melds into
the spectacular brassy finale.
05 Some Kind Of Hero? - 4:31
Military drums and oriental twangs lead into a haunting
orchestral section, which successfully builds a sense of
danger and uncertainty.
6. Welcome To Cuba - 2:06
What sounds initially like the most out of place piece of
scoring ever, somehow works when the piano, sassy brass
and Latino percussion form a sound that is still Bondian.
07 Jinx Jordan - 1:28
A slightly indistinct romantic motif for Jinx is introduced,
and later reprised.
08. Jinx And James - 2:03
Utilising the Jinx motif, the love scene is complemented
with a slight feeling of You Only Live Twice's rich strings.
09 A Touch Of Frost - 1:50
A familiar feel lurks within this romance piece, occasionally
punched with beaty spydom.
10 Icarus - 1:21
The electronic elements return to lead into a sinister
build up to the weapon's unveiling. The controversial introduction
of a choir to a Bond soundtrack works brilliantly in highlighting
the magnificence of Icarus.
11 Laser Fight - 4:35
A steady build up to the fight brings back the deep TND
style brass and military percussion, before techno breaks
loose.
12 Whiteout - 4:54
Deep brass introduces us to a new motif which will return
later, as the ever-clever sampling leads to the lull before
the storm: more choir chanting, spinning strings and a full
on blast of the 007 theme before returning to the opening
motif.
13 Iced Inc - 3:07
More sampling and high-paced electonica lead into a prominent
reprise of the Whiteout motif, sassy brass and a segment
of 007 to create the best track of the album.
14 Antonov - 11:50
A monster of a track that encompasses almost every part
of the soundtrack's spectrum. The most surprising element
is the reprise of the tumbling piano from TWINE's "Pipeline",
which works better in this context than it's use the previous
film.
15 Going Down Together - 1:32
You Only Live Twice? You would be forgiven for being fooled
in to that assumption, before the track sweeps into the
final romantic embrace between Bond and Jinx, with more
than a few echoes of TWINE's "Christmas In Turkey"
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