What do you think of Adele's "Skyfall" theme?

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

I'm predicting Laz. to tell us in approximately 4 hours that SKYFALL is everything he expected it to be, A bland forgettable, "Bondesque", lifeless, generic, dirge, that rips off John Barry and is yet another similarity to TWINE.

Are you posting this for the benefit of people who have registered with BAB since Lazenby. last posted?

I'm posting it to save Lazenby. having to post it again.

Sharkzenby is here to help.

Largo's Shark wrote:

I'm posting it to save Lazenby. having to post it again.

Do you really think he considers it so much of a chore that he goes out of his way to avoid having to say it?

Fat chance. If anything, he's going to ignore (or choose to ignore) the obvious satire in your post and instead take it as an affirmation that he was right all along.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/On-a-scale-of-one-to-Adele-how-depressed-are-you/224938484220150?fref=ts

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

If anything, he's going to ignore (or choose to ignore) the obvious satire in your post and instead take it as an affirmation that he was right all along.

This sounds strikingly familiar, though not to Lazenby. ;)

Largo's Shark wrote:

I'm predicting Laz. to tell us in approximately 4 hours that SKYFALL is everything he expected it to be, A bland forgettable, "Bondesque", lifeless, generic, dirge, that rips off John Barry and is yet another similarity to TWINE. All of our problems would've been solved if EON had the f*cking balls to hire Mozza, PJ Harvey, The Smashing Pumpkins or Robin. Yadda yadda yadda. SKYFALL will be pure sh**e and you'll all realise come next March.

Signed,

Largo's Lazenby.

"After 5 hours of sleep, I've come to the conclusion that it's a big disappointment. It's alright and Adele does sell it, but it could have been so much more. The vocals don't really go anywhere, and she never has a chance to truly let-rip, as she's proved she can do. The backing vocals are wank (sound like a school assembly - is this the same guy who arranged the wonderful backing vocals in Rolling in the Deep?), the Grade 1 piano recital at the beginning is dull, the songwriters must have been on valium, lyrics are primary school level, and the orchestration too simple. It could have done with a quasi-baroque harpsichord solo (the song's harmonies and bass line remind me somewhat of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor) or some contemporary electronics. It needs an edge and something unpredictable to hold the listener's interest. I feel like I'm always two or three steps ahead of it as it's playing (doesn't help that it's so damn ponderous), whereas I should be the one playing catch-up."

Signed,

Lazenshark.

Harmsway wrote:

This is by far the gloomiest of all Bond songs, and that's kind of the problem. It's just not very dynamic. (And I gotta say this 4:45 version of the song way overstays its welcome.)

The back-up vocals really throw me. They're actually the most unique feature of the song, as far as Bond songs go, but rather than being evocative, they come off as kinda silly. I'd like 'em if they kept to the thinner, more ethereal sound they have when they're first introduced and never segued into the full-on choral sound they get around 2:40.

The backing vocals do at least inject a note of humour - campiness, if you will - into a track that's otherwise desperately po-faced. They remind me of the jokey male choir singing "Nobody Does It Better" at the end of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

I'm predicting Laz. to tell us in approximately 4 hours that SKYFALL is everything he expected it to be, A bland forgettable, "Bondesque", lifeless, generic, dirge, that rips off John Barry and is yet another similarity to TWINE. All of our problems would've been solved if EON had the f*cking balls to hire Mozza, PJ Harvey, The Smashing Pumpkins or Robin. Yadda yadda yadda. SKYFALL will be pure sh**e and you'll all realise come next March.

Signed,

Largo's Lazenby.

"After 5 hours of sleep, I've come to the conclusion that it's a big disappointment. It's alright and Adele does sell it, but it could have been so much more. The vocals don't really go anywhere, and she never has a chance to truly let-rip, as she's proved she can do. The backing vocals are wank (sound like a school assembly - is this the same guy who arranged the wonderful backing vocals in Rolling in the Deep?), the Grade 1 piano recital at the beginning is dull, the songwriters must have been on valium, lyrics are primary school level, and the orchestration too simple. It could have done with a quasi-baroque harpsichord solo (the song's harmonies and bass line remind me somewhat of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor) or some contemporary electronics. It needs an edge and something unpredictable to hold the listener's interest. I feel like I'm always two or three steps ahead of it as it's playing (doesn't help that it's so damn ponderous), whereas I should be the one playing catch-up."

Signed,

Lazenshark.

I really meant that. It's funny what a good rest can do. :)

Loomis wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

This is by far the gloomiest of all Bond songs, and that's kind of the problem. It's just not very dynamic. (And I gotta say this 4:45 version of the song way overstays its welcome.)

The back-up vocals really throw me. They're actually the most unique feature of the song, as far as Bond songs go, but rather than being evocative, they come off as kinda silly. I'd like 'em if they kept to the thinner, more ethereal sound they have when they're first introduced and never segued into the full-on choral sound they get around 2:40.

The backing vocals do at least inject a note of humour - campiness, if you will - into a track that's otherwise desperately po-faced.

Not sure if that's intentional humour, though.

Loomis wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

This is by far the gloomiest of all Bond songs, and that's kind of the problem. It's just not very dynamic. (And I gotta say this 4:45 version of the song way overstays its welcome.)

The back-up vocals really throw me. They're actually the most unique feature of the song, as far as Bond songs go, but rather than being evocative, they come off as kinda silly. I'd like 'em if they kept to the thinner, more ethereal sound they have when they're first introduced and never segued into the full-on choral sound they get around 2:40.

The backing vocals do at least inject a note of humour - campiness, if you will - into a track that's otherwise desperately po-faced. They remind me of the jokey male choir singing "Nobody Does It Better" at the end of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

To be fair, Skyfall is an implicitly if not explicitly depressing title. It's what she had to work with. Would have been mighty strange if she'd come up with something that sounds like Al Jarreau's Mornin'. And now that I think of it, few if any Bond themes are truly light, breezy and happy.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

I'm predicting Laz. to tell us in approximately 4 hours that SKYFALL is everything he expected it to be, A bland forgettable, "Bondesque", lifeless, generic, dirge, that rips off John Barry and is yet another similarity to TWINE. All of our problems would've been solved if EON had the f*cking balls to hire Mozza, PJ Harvey, The Smashing Pumpkins or Robin. Yadda yadda yadda. SKYFALL will be pure sh**e and you'll all realise come next March.

Signed,

Largo's Lazenby.

"After 5 hours of sleep, I've come to the conclusion that it's a big disappointment. It's alright and Adele does sell it, but it could have been so much more. The vocals don't really go anywhere, and she never has a chance to truly let-rip, as she's proved she can do. The backing vocals are wank (sound like a school assembly - is this the same guy who arranged the wonderful backing vocals in Rolling in the Deep?), the Grade 1 piano recital at the beginning is dull, the songwriters must have been on valium, lyrics are primary school level, and the orchestration too simple. It could have done with a quasi-baroque harpsichord solo (the song's harmonies and bass line remind me somewhat of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor) or some contemporary electronics. It needs an edge and something unpredictable to hold the listener's interest. I feel like I'm always two or three steps ahead of it as it's playing (doesn't help that it's so damn ponderous), whereas I should be the one playing catch-up."

Signed,

Lazenshark.

I really meant that. It's funny what a good rest can do. :)

Take another nap and give SF another listen. Perhaps you'll come away with another, happier point of view.

;)

Listless, predictable trash.

Seriously, it sounds like something a ten year old would make on Windows BondThemeMaker.

I'd expect this song to accompany the credits of the Bond film CASINOROYALE was making where he was after access to shoot in the Pentagon and blow stuff up there, but not in the 50th Anniversary movie of an official multimillion pound franchise with the biggest female singer in the world responsible for it.

Ordinary beyond words is about as kind a description I can offer to this dreck.

Oh, and most of what Sharky said on my behalf as well.

Keep accepting mediocrity, then you get mediocrity. You were all warned. Now you have paid the penalty.

We used to be a demanding bunch here, yet we're bending over and taking this? :scratch:

Largo's Shark wrote:

Loomis wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

This is by far the gloomiest of all Bond songs, and that's kind of the problem. It's just not very dynamic. (And I gotta say this 4:45 version of the song way overstays its welcome.)

The back-up vocals really throw me. They're actually the most unique feature of the song, as far as Bond songs go, but rather than being evocative, they come off as kinda silly. I'd like 'em if they kept to the thinner, more ethereal sound they have when they're first introduced and never segued into the full-on choral sound they get around 2:40.

The backing vocals do at least inject a note of humour - campiness, if you will - into a track that's otherwise desperately po-faced.

Not sure if that's intentional humour, though.

It probably isn't, but when it comes to the Craig Bond films we have no choice but to take our humour where we find it.

Lazenby. wrote:

Keep accepting mediocrity, then you get mediocrity. You were all warned. Now you have paid the penalty.

We used to be a demanding bunch here, yet we're bending over and taking this? :scratch:

Trying to keep our opinions in line like some ringmaster of doom isn't doing you any favours, Laz. The only ones who are getting f*cked in the arse here are the majority of posters in this thread, who happen to like this song, yet apparently they're just a bunch of complacent sheep who'll take anything EON gives them.

Throw around all the hyperbole you want, but it's nowhere that bad. Like LTK it's very flawed, but it has its merits. I doubt that view will be changing any time soon.

Then point out it's merits, Sharky. Because this is a half-hearted, phoned-in, predictable box-ticker of the worst kind, IMO.

Will this mean you'll start yearning for the Brosnan films, Lazenby.? :)

Lazenby. wrote:

Then point out it's merits, Sharky. Because this is a half-hearted, phoned-in, predictable box-ticker of the worst kind, IMO.

Fine. It has a soul to it, unlike TWINE, GE and various other Bond-by-numbers songs, a palpable atmosphere (which the last couple have lacked), a beautiful middle 8, a haunting opening chord (which Barry didn't patent BTW - Herrmann used it too), a ballsy drum groove, and Adele gives a solid performance. That alone places it above a swathe of Bond themes, even if it doesn't reach the top 10.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Lazenby. wrote:

Keep accepting mediocrity, then you get mediocrity. You were all warned. Now you have paid the penalty.

We used to be a demanding bunch here, yet we're bending over and taking this? :scratch:

Trying to keep our opinions in line like some ringmaster of doom isn't doing you any favours, Laz. The only ones who are getting f*cked in the arse here are the majority of posters in this thread, who happen to like this song, yet apparently they're just a bunch of complacent sheep who'll take anything EON gives them.

Throw around all the hyperbole you want, but it's nowhere that bad. Like LTK it's very flawed, but it has its merits. I doubt that view will be changing any time soon.

Ringmaster of Doom--I like that.

As to the merits, there are plenty.

Adele's vocals are among the very best in Bond music history.

The song starts in a minimalist fashion and builds to a sonically dense, powerful and dramatic crescendo, precisely the way a piece of this stripe should.

Despite lacking any prominent hooks, Skyfall stays with you. I've only listened to the song once, and yet the song repeats itself in my mind. It has je ne sais quois.

Skyfall sounds like a prototypical Bond song without resembling any other Bond song in the canon. That is no mean feat.

Skyfall gets points for what it is not. Unlike AWTD, it eschews the hip and trendy ethno-babble. Unlike YKMN (which I like), it foregoes the grunge. Unlike TND, it's vocalist leaves aside the undisciplined caterwauling and oversinging that has been all the rage with female vocalists from the 90s on.

Given time and further listens, I could come up with much more.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Adele's vocals are among the very best in Bond music history.

I have to disagree strongly with this. The backing track is okay, some typical Bond touches, but the vocal line is flat, dull and lifeless. There's no power, no passion, and no feeling at all. It's very lazy singing, lacking any effort, as though she's not even trying.

Fair enough, I don't like Adele. I don't like people who can't pick a note and stick with it. I hate unnecessary warbling, because it's usually a cover for weak vocals. Hitting a note and holding it steady is a hell of a lot more difficult than wandering vaguely around the note and giving it the odd flick rather than hitting the damn thing properly.

As for how this one ranks, well it's not as bad as Sheryl Crow and Madonna, but that's not much of compliment, because they were utter utter sh**e. This is just utter sh**e.

As for the lyrics, were they written by a 10 year old? The rhyming is so blatantly obvious, it's painful. It's almost like it's been done as a piss-take.

In short, it's weak, pointless, tuneless, lacking in any passion, power or musicality.

And that's pulling my punches.

You tell 'em Rave.

It's led to a discussion at home involving putting all the themes in order of crapness. Die Another Die 'wins', followed by Tomorrow Never Dies, followed by Skyfall. It's made third worst Bond theme.

Bond themes need belting, powerful voices. Voices filled with sex and passion and revenge, and jealousy and... and... ball-breaking high notes at the end. With muted trumpets.

Ravenstone wrote:

Bond themes need belting, powerful voices. Voices filled with sex and passion and revenge, and jealousy and... and... ball-breaking high notes at the end. With muted trumpets.

No they don't.

Ravenstone wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Adele's vocals are among the very best in Bond music history.

I have to disagree strongly with this. The backing track is okay, some typical Bond touches, but the vocal line is flat, dull and lifeless. There's no power, no passion, and no feeling at all. It's very lazy singing, lacking any effort, as though she's not even trying.

Fair enough, I don't like Adele. I don't like people who can't pick a note and stick with it. I hate unnecessary warbling, because it's usually a cover for weak vocals. Hitting a note and holding it steady is a hell of a lot more difficult than wandering vaguely around the note and giving it the odd flick rather than hitting the damn thing properly.

As for how this one ranks, well it's not as bad as Sheryl Crow and Madonna, but that's not much of compliment, because they were utter utter sh**e. This is just utter sh**e.

As for the lyrics, were they written by a 10 year old? The rhyming is so blatantly obvious, it's painful. It's almost like it's been done as a piss-take.

In short, it's weak, pointless, tuneless, lacking in any passion, power or musicality.

And that's pulling my punches.

We're apparently not listening to the same song.

Unlike Crow, N. Sinatra, White/Keys, and Easton--to name a few--Adele hits every bleeding note dead on. Yes, she warbles a bit, but it's to a purpose and isn't overdone. This is inflection with discipline, not the vocal masturbation the has dominated female singing the last 20 years.

And there is passion (and soul, as LS previously pointed out) aplenty in this tune. More so than in any Bond tune of recent vintage.

As to the rhyming, I'm curious--just what constitutes an "unobvious" rhyme? As a bit of a poet myself, I'll be most interested in your answer.

I personally rank it as very good, certainly better than the awful 'Another Way to Die' (although that would be a darn good title for a Bond film I must say).

My first thaught:

Nice Bond sound
No Skyfall scream
Confirmation
Long track

Respect there try to make a more instrumental score suport by Adele whyle normaly it be other way around. Already with demo i think there make instrumental one for the end credits and now i realy think there should. The track feel long and when time past this can going to be a problem. The lyrics give a lot of information,something you mabey know/feels when you like/understand QOS or saw the Skyfall teaser. Iam confirmd in my expections on those elements it wil contune where QOS start with.
I don't know what i must think about those extra background voices. Mabey a bit disapointed there is no Skyfall! scream at the end.

I also think that the version under the maintitle's mabey go or should end after 3.18. The theme at that time sound it can fate out every moment and is very beautifull.

I liked that video with all the orange fire, some clouds and stars who is made under the song. That and the song made think that i like to see a LALD or Thunderball releated maintitle whyle i first i have big doubts or i whant see that in the case of LALD and don't wanna see something like there did with Thunderball.