As a James Bond fan, I looked forward to the soundtrack of each movie...but somehow when David Arnold took over from John Barry, and despite his attempt to carry on the John Barry tradition with his own ideas, Arnold's music has never satisfied me (obviously, John Barry did it better)....and Die Another Day is another disappointment.Once again, the song is not written by the composer of the music, so one hallmarks of the Bond films, which is the melody of the theme song used in the film (especially when Bond is with one of his paramours) to make it one coherent whole, is thrown out the window. Listen any of the pre-Arnold soundtracks. Just one note and you can tell which movie it's from. Well, at least "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "The World Is Not Enough" follow this somewhat, but "Die Another Day" have NOTHING to unify it, no recurrent themes, and bascially sounds like a re-hash of his two previous efforts, "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "The World Is Not Enough". The only recurrent theme used is the James Bond theme which he uses and relies on too much. There are two many moments where the music seems to about to veer into the theme Arnold wrote for the Thame River chase in "TWINE" but switch into another note at the last minute.
What about Madonna's song? it is okay, unusual for a Bond theme, but at least Arnold could have incorporate it into his score....Track 6, Welcome to Cuba, seems to be a perfect place for it. Track 14, "Autonov" is the only place it seems to use Madonna's song for the music, but I think that was just a coincidence that it sounded like the song.
Some tracks have backup vocals on it like "Welcome to Baku" in "TWINE". That is really unnecessary.
The really neat thing about the soundtrack, ironically is not the music at all, but the extra features it has for your home PC. You get to see Madonna's really graphic video, which did NOT incorporate any scenes from the movie (the TWINE DvD ruined Garbage's original non movie scenes video), a nice gallery of infamous Bond women, posters and so on.
The last track of the soundtrack was "Going Down Together".
How fitting.
When Arnold was hired to score 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, after the abysmal euro-pop score from Eric Serra for GoldenEye, he created a new Bond sound that harkened back to the glory days of John Barry, whilst updating the sound and giving it his own trademark. For Tomorrow Never Dies he created an orchestra heavy score that featured only brief moments of techo, almost solely in the collaboration with the Propellerheads in "Backseat Driver", used in the BMW chase.Arnold was called back to score the 19th Bond, "The World Is Not Enough". Once again he employed a full "Bond" orchestra, and used a number of more unusual oriental instruments to connect the score to the relevant spot on the world culturally. For The World Is Not Enough, Arnold began to experiment more with electronic techno and advanced spatial mixing. If you have the TWINE album, "Come In 007, You're Time Is Up" and "Submarine" are very good examples of this.
With "Die Another Day", Arnold updates this sound increasingly, and has created a very contempary, if slightly controversial Bond score. The increased use of drum loops, techno and digital sample work very well here, and the Bond sound crashes into the 21st century with style.
The album is headed up by Madonna's single "Die Another Day". Think of this what you will, but it is undeniable that it brings the "Bond ballad" into the new millennium, and is a very catchy tune even as a non-Bond theme.
Second on the disc is Paul Oakenfold's new remix of the James Bond Theme. Oakenfold, who recently scored Sworfish (starring Halle Berry) with composer Christopher Young gives the Bond theme a welcome new "zing". Unlike Moby's 1997 rendition, this tune keeps the Bond theme in its entirety, and is a far more groovy tune, fantastically mixed by Oakenfold.
We are then taken to the score. The first track "On The Beach" will be a joy to hear more Bond fans, as this features the Gunbarrel music often missing from soundtrack albums. It is certainly different, and is very guitar "wah, wah" heavy, like Lalo Schrifrin's Dirty Harry scores. After two minutes of scene setting by this track, we are taken to:
"Hovercraft Chase", which is and immensely exciting piece of Bond score. Undercut by an orchestra going mad, a brilliant techo section, and some very impressive mixing effects, this track pretty much sets the scene for the rest of the album.
"Some Kind Of Hero" is a very echo heavy atmospheric track, and fits the grittier tone of this film well. Once again, the orchestra is ably backed up by the techo section, but fortunately, it is used well and never begins to sound like noise.
"Welcome To Cuba" made my jaw hit the floor when I first heard it. It may seem quite possibly the most un-Bond piece of music ever written, but if you imagine the setting in Cuba, I can imagine it fitting very well. It does sound a little like the "Sex And The City" theme, which can't be bad really.
"Jinx Jordan" and "Jinx & James" are both more mellow pieces, that bring the romantic element of the film together. The themes are a brief welcome break from techno-heaven, and show how talented Arnold is as a composer.
"A Touch Of Frost" is a very good piece. Starting out as what seems like a romantic cue quickly transforms into a heartbeat - like slow techno track, that sounds like it comes from a section where Bond is spying and trying not to get caught.
"Icarus" is a spine-chillingly fantastic track. Arnold employs the use of a choir for the first time in a Bond score since Moonraker (1979). The track is brief but highly evocative, and the choir give it a kind of "Omen-esque" quality that is fantastically chilling.
"Laser Fight" is another expertly crafted track. A non techno section builds up suspense for a minute or so, and then explodes into a synth of techno batteries and orchestral swells. The pace is kept constantly till the track ends at 4:35.
"Whiteout" is yet another great techno track. The sample kicks up from the outset, and the horn and bass section of the orchestra really flexes its muscles. The piece harkens back to "Hovercraft Chase", and I can imagine it sounding fanstastic in the film. The track also brings back the choir to amazing effect against the techno loops.
"Iced Inc." is a more drum 'n bass orientated track. The horn section of the orchestra once again is out in full force, as some very bassy techno sample handles the pace of the track. Listen for similarities from the horn section to "Tomorrow Never Dies" track "White Knight".
Finally, after this excitement, we are taken to the penultimate track, "Antonov". At almost 12 minutes in length, it covers almost the entire ending. The effective four barred piano sample from "Pipeline" in The World Is Not Enough is used again, and despite many reviews have cited this as Arnold ripping himself off, it brings back musical continuity and works very well against the more subdued techo section. The track flips alternatively between techno and orchestra, and then combines the two, in a great pattern that slightly mimics "Submarine" in The World Is Not Enough.
For the obvious 'Bond getting the girl at the end' scene, Arnold uses Jinx's theme from earlier to create a fun and soft track that closes the film nicely. Once again, there are thematic hints from The World Is Not Enough's final track "Christmas In Turkey" ... all good stuff!
Arnold has proved himself a very capable composer, and has given the Bond franchise new life musically, and perhaps you will find this score too techno heavy, but Bond must change with the times, as must the score.
One minor complaint is Warner Bros release. Including only about 45 minutes score from the reported 106 minutes that Arnold wrote for Die Another Day, it seems a slight shame WB coulnd't have discarded the "added bonus material - which belongs on the DVD really" on the disc and given us more score. Surely the purpose of a soundtrack is just that, the music from the film. Chapter III records released the updated Tomorrow Never Dies score in 1999, and hopefully a similar effort will be made with the remaining score from the film as soon as possible!
Well done David Arnold, look forward to Bond 21!
