Thomas Newman will score SKYFALL

trevanian wrote:

I'm just hoping that is a code designation for Mallory, like the old Avengers (sad 1 degree of separation there from the late 90s feature film catastrophe of the same name.)

That would open up some potential for hilarity. "Your code-name is ... 'Mother'?" / "They're assigned alphabetically."

Actually, it kind of reminds me of Matthew Reilly's Shane Schofield series. There's a character in there who takes care of the hero and is named 'Mother' - but it's short for 'Motherfucker'.

Anyway, the other alternative is that the scene where the "Mother" track plays involves the Bond family graveyard somehow.

First listen to Newman's SKYFALL.

Contemporary, funky, original, bold, fresh, lyrical and beautiful .F*cking loving it. Hope Laz will too.

Whoa. Biggest departure from the established "Bond sound" since Eric Serra.

Not sure I love it, but I really dig that "Severine" cue.

I like how sparing the orchestration is. Reminds me of Barry in that way. Though its swagger and edge remind me of Serra.

I prefer a stronger emphasis on melody than is present in these cues. But at least it is a change of pace. And, of course, the rest of the score may serve up stuff not suggested in these tracks. The bit of the score we heard in the CAT clip was pretty different than this material.

Harmsway wrote:

I prefer a stronger emphasis on melody than is present in these cues.

I found the Severine cue pretty melodic and lyrical, if not exactly hummable. Reminded me of Alex North's heartbreaking use of muted strings.

Fuck yes!

Largo's Shark wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

I prefer a stronger emphasis on melody than is present in these cues.

I found the Severine cue pretty melodic and lyrical, if not exactly hummable. Reminded me of Alex North's heartbreaking use of muted strings.

That cue is lovely. I was commenting more on the other two cues.

Harmsway wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

I prefer a stronger emphasis on melody than is present in these cues.

I found the Severine cue pretty melodic and lyrical, if not exactly hummable. Reminded me of Alex North's heartbreaking use of muted strings.

That cue is lovely. I was commenting more on the other two cues.

Oh right. I still think New Digs has a curious , kinda bluesy melody in the strings when the cue resumes at 1:26.

This is not a dig at Newman per se, but the ability to write memorable melodies is a lost art. I don't know if today's songwriters/composers simply cannot do it, or if they choose not to.

I think it's more of a stylistic choice.

Largo's Shark wrote:

First listen to Newman's SKYFALL.

Contemporary, funky, original, bold, fresh, lyrical and beautiful .F*cking loving it. Hope Laz will too.

Awesome. Something fresh, at last. :)

"Severine" is the most Bondian piece. The third track is the least enjoyable, in my opinion. Reminds me of a knock-off Bourne track.

I'm dying to hear this entire score.

Control wrote:

The third track is the least enjoyable, in my opinion. Reminds me of a knock-off Bourne track.

John Powell-lite is still preferable to most of Arnold's action/suspense filler, IMO.

I really dig it. It's definitely fresh and certainly bold, especially after listening to Arnold put the music for the series on autopilot for 15 years.

To me, it sounds like a combination of Serra's "Goldeneye", Zimmer's "Inception" and another Newman score, "Road to Perdition". My only uncertainty right now is how it meshes with the song, which is definitely more of a classic Bond sound, when the score so far is not.

I like it. The first cue reminds me of one of the cues from WALL-E.

Fuck, I'm loving it. Absolutely loving it.

Suck on those lemons, David Arnold.

Sounding pretty awesome, very relieved that David Arnolds clusterF*** over orchestration hasn't been adopted.

I'm not so mad about "The Moors", TBH. Not enough going on to hold my interest, apart from the insistent 16th note rhythm, though I'll guess it'll be drowned out by shotgun blasts, explosions and what-have-you in the film.

Eric Serra's music (and not just for GoldenEye) was my first thought too after hearing this. New Digs and Severine are instantly likeable tracks. Can't say the same for Moors, but hopefully it'll go along well with the intense visuals.

And that track list definitely looks out of chronological order, like many other Bond score albums.

I'm neither bowled over nor repulsed. I'm just eager to hear how it works in the film. It's good for a Bond composer to not try to ape Barry, so I'm glad he's not doing that. I hope it serves the film well.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Control wrote:

The third track is the least enjoyable, in my opinion. Reminds me of a knock-off Bourne track.

John Powell-lite is still preferable to most of Arnold's action/suspense filler, IMO.

Yep.

Speaking of Powell, I need to revisit the Bourne films. I hadn't seen them since QOS came out.

I don't know what happened with Arnold, because I liked his riffs on SHAFT and early Bond [TND] and his HOT FUZZ score is a ton of fun too. It's like he just became processed sound instead of music after awhile.

Am really surprised at how unBondlike it sounds, but it is a good sound that would work with drama. As for action, we'll see how the mix goes. Since it isn't melodic, I'm thinking it won't be a foot-tapping thing, more of the Nolan type scoring (which works for him, but it is the only reason I think Nolan and Bond aren't a good match, because Bond needs melody.) Then again the Craig era is only sporadically Bond-like.

I dunno how the action tracks will sound. That bit in the clip we had definitely sounded like an Arnold action cue, wailing brass on the Bond theme and all.

FWIW, I think that "Severine" cue is one of the loveliest we've had in a Bond score in quite some time. Beautiful harmonies.

Harmsway wrote:

I dunno how the action tracks will sound. That bit in the clip we had definitely sounded like an Arnold action cue, wailing brass on the Bond theme and all.

I'm starting to wonder if that was merely a temp track, guess we'll wait and hear.