Top 5 Tracks of David Arnold's Scores (1997-2008)

As with the Barry thread, the top five tracks for each Arnold release. Again, the official releases (including the recent expanded's for TWINE and DAD). I know there's some for TND, CR but as far as I know they're bootleg.

EDIT- I didn't make it clear which is my fault that it's top 5 tracks PER score. Make it a little more interesting

I can't do 5. There are too many.

Aye, I'll be working on mine soon. Occurs to me I'm not really on board with QOS so that'll be fun.

As yet TND hasn't been given the expanded treatment.

Tomorrow Never Dies

1. All in a Day's Work
2. White Knight
3. Paris & Bond
4. Company Car
5. Kowloon Bay

mentions to A Tricky Spot for 007 and Helicopter Ride

The World Is Not Enough

1. Come in 007, Your Time is Up
2. Caviar Factory
3. Going Down/The Bunker
4. Sub Gets It
5. Gunbarrel

The expanded helps the above immensely

Die Another Day

1. Whiteout
2. How Do You Intend to Kill Me Now, Mr Bond?
3. On the Beach (Extended Version)
4. Ice Palace Car Chase
5. Vanish/ Bond Goes to Iceland

Casino Royale

1. The End of an Aston Martin
2. Vesper
3. City of Lovers
4. The Name's Bond, James Bond
5. Miami International

here's where it gets interesting...

Quantum of Solace

1. Night at the Opera


honestly couldn't say, I've listened to it a couple of times to form an opinion but nothing sits. QOS seems to be a touch bland but I'll listen again and try.

I find QOS's score much more appealing than CR. There's a lot more flavour and character to the music.

Doing 5 per film helps immensely.

Tomorrow Never Dies (and neither do the options!)
1. Searching for Wai Lin (cheating here but it's the definitive sound of TND in my opinion)
2. Paris and Bond
3. Helicopter Ride
4. Backseat Driver
5. Hamburg Break In

The World Is Not Enough (and neither are five options)
1. Body Double
2. Come In 007, Your Time Is Up
3. Elektra's Theme
4. Welcome to Baku
5. Access Denied

Die Another Day
1. Kiss of Life
2. A Touch of Frost
3. Wheelchair Access (Alternative)
4. Welcome to Cuba
5. The Vanish

Quantum of Solace
1. Night At The Opera
2. Talamone
3. No Interest In Dominic Greene
4. I Never Left
5. Pursuit at Port Au Prince

Need to come back to CR06. Fail to think of the cues/song titles... I just don't listen to it.

Sound choices for TND and TWINE.

Arnold had his best period in the Brosnan years.

Likewise, sir! I almost picked Kowloon Bay and All In A Day's Work myself - well, Wai Lin's theme features in that so I sort of did anyway. Good to see some love for Caviar Factory. I really dig the exotic flavour in the opening bars and of course the new rendition of the Bond theme.

Can't say I see the appeal of Miami International, which perhaps singlehandedly epitomises what's wrong with CR's score - all wrapped in one bloated, generic track of musical accents and frankly, just noise.

Indeed, Arnold's best work is in his Brosnan years because the films embraced the sense of colour, vitality and sex. I guess his scores needed to reflect the films he's composing for so naturally there's a step down with his Craig-era efforts. That said, there's something quite ominous and stylised about his QOS score and I still gladly listen to that. The likes of Talamone and Bond in Haiti still showcase his biggest strength with transitional/travelogue cues.

I was a little bit off on my choice of Miami Intnl as I couldn't think of something. At 12mins something it's a hefty track to sit through. City of Lovers has a certain feel, Vesper does to a point but sometimes it sounds a derivative of Paris & Bond.

Arnold might well have done two of the Craig films (unlike other Bond's, Craig's era is neatly split up to NTTD between two) but he's the sound of Brosnan.

Rate thing are going I can't honestly see Arnold returning to Bond. He might not want to for all we know but the way Bond's are in terms of years coming out, there's no way.

I don't hear how Vesper/City of Lovers is derivative of Paris and Bond... They don't have the heart or soul of that track. I will say, as a side note, City of Lovers is certainly a marked improvement on Vesper, which captures that grand entrance into Venice. Vesper's Theme is certainly too sanitised and lacks the complexity behind Vesper's character (well, Vesper from the book at least. In the film she's jerked around to suit a plot contrivance at any given moment).

If I was to do this for Casino Royale, I might go:

1. Aston Montenegro
2. City of Lovers
3. Solange
4. Second half of Blunt Instrument? Don't know what the fuck is happening in that first minute.

Yes, I'd say Arnold's definitive years are the Brosnan era. It's a shame but sadly I think you're right. I doubt Arnold will return. Babs seems intent on getting Oscar winning composers even if they are suited to the series.

I think Arnold would love to - prior to Zimmer's announcement, someone asked him on Twitter if he's scoring NTTD. I believe he said of course he would if asked but he hadn't been.

To my untrained ear it sounds faintly similar to Paris & Bond but not as striking as that track. City of Lovers indeed expands upon Vesper and sounds better. Probably helps it's a longer track -think City of Lovers is a good 3min40 something to Vesper's 1m50 odd.

Clean forgot about Aston Montenegro.

There might yet be hope for Arnold to return. Otherwise see if he does any other films. Not sure if he's done many since QOS.

TND
Bike chase-specifically the entrance of the JB theme at "Who's driving?"
Hamburg Break In-Searching Gupta's Office
Searching for Wai Lin
Hamburg Break Out
Company Car

TWINE
Welcome to Baku
Pipeline
Come in 007 Your Time is Up
Torture Queen
Christmas in Turkey

DAD
Kiss of Life
Hovercraft Chase
Welcome to Cuba/Fast Car
Peaceful Fountains of Desire
Wheelchair Access

Fantastic choices HGTB! Not a fan of Body Double? I'm glad there's a little love for Pipeline. It sustains such an air of mystery and danger that escalates as the track progresses. It would probably be in my top 5 were it not for the brilliant other tracks that resonate more for me. I also almost put Remember Pleasure in there instead of Access Denied... Something like that should have been Vesper's theme, especially from the 1.23 minute mark. Complex and enigmatic yet soulful, not clinical like what we ended up with.



C'mon, HGTB, give CR and QOS a go! I dare you!

Seems only fair you try QOS Boots, if I'm going to.

TND

Hamburg Break In
Hamburg Break Out
Backseat Driver


TWINE

Come in 007, Your Time is Up
Elektra's Theme
Christmas in Turkey


DAD

The Masseuse Appears
Streets of Havana
Island Clinic Shootout
Bond vs Zao
Diamond Seduction


CR

African Rundown
Blunt Instrument
Vesper
City of Lovers
The Name is Bond... James Bond

QOS

Inside Man
No Interest in Dominic Greene
Night at the Opera
Field Trip
I Never Left

Elektra's Theme in DAD? Is that from a deleted scene with Bond using the virtual reality goggles?

Bond vs Zao is the track when Bond revives Jinx, right? If so, that's an excellent track!

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Elektra's Theme in DAD? Is that from a deleted scene with Bond using the virtual reality goggles?

My list was somewhat rushed, but since you pointed it out I was able to add another track to DAD.  

Quote :

Bond vs Zao is the track when Bond revives Jinx, right? If so, that's an excellent track!

It's the track before that, specifically during the car chase on the ice. Granted, the track names I'm using are from an older copy. I haven't bought the officially released Arnold extended soundtracks.

Regarding when Arnold's best period was, his two soundtracks I listen to the most are DAD and QOS, whereas I think TND/TWINE/CR are mostly forgettable, so I don't exactly think he had a "prime" era. However, I will say that I do think Arnold was much more suitable for Brosnan's era because his pastiche approach rather fitted well with a pastiche Bond. I actually wish for CR Arnold had been left behind like Vic Armstrong, Bruce Feirstein, John Cleese, and others were. He always felt like a leftover from different era and that the Craig films demanded a new sound from the very start. To his credit, Arnold did try to go for a new sound, but I still think as a composer he has a lot of flaws like his tendency to overwrite for scenes like when Bond is looking for Vesper in Venice after discovering she stole the money. It's so loud and obnoxious, it should have been more quiet, intimate, and dreadful but Arnold's gonna Arnold with all those loud blaring instruments.

Ironically, I like the title song for CR more than any of his other titles, which I assume has to do with Chris Cornell having a lot more creative control than all the other artists Arnold collaborated with. He's one of the few artists credited as a co-producer of the song, whereas most artists are just songbirds working for the composer. Cornell wasn't going to belt out Don Black lyrics, that's for sure.

MP wrote:

It's the track before that, specifically during the car chase on the ice. Granted, the track names I'm using are from an older copy. I haven't bought the officially released Arnold extended soundtracks.

Ah, Iced Inc.

MP wrote:

Regarding when Arnold's best period was, his two soundtracks I listen to the most are DAD and QOS, whereas I think TND/TWINE/CR are mostly forgettable, so I don't exactly think he had a "prime" era. However, I will say that I do think Arnold was much more suitable for Brosnan's era because his pastiche approach rather fitted well with a pastiche Bond. I actually wish for CR Arnold had been left behind like Vic Armstrong, Bruce Feirstein, John Cleese, and others were. He always felt like a leftover from different era and that the Craig films demanded a new sound from the very start. To his credit, Arnold did try to go for a new sound, but I still think as a composer he has a lot of flaws like his tendency to overwrite for scenes like when Bond is looking for Vesper in Venice after discovering she stole the money. It's so loud and obnoxious, it should have been more quiet, intimate, and dreadful but Arnold's gonna Arnold with all those loud blaring instruments.

Arnold is the least of CR's problems. He was composing for the anaemic, soulless Bond that was inherent in the script and Eon's casting of the leading man. I agree it's his most forgettable score but he was matching the film he was working for. His new approach to scoring QOS - at Forster's suggestion - allowed perhaps for renewed inspiration. The integration of location I suppose helped inform that - an element lost in CR06.

MP wrote:

However, I will say that I do think Arnold was much more suitable for Brosnan's era because his pastiche approach rather fitted well with a pastiche Bond.

I won't dignify this idea with a response.

I need to listen to the later scores again as I've only done it once. I really can't stand the CR06 score as it's a weird mix of soulless and obvious grabs for Bondian elements to color the overall thing as a "bond score". I do recall QoS having a better score.

As for YKMN, I've always loved Cornell as a vocalist but still feel like it was a straight ahead song that is shoehorned into being a "Bond theme". Remove the tempo slowdowns and breakdowns then do a straight ahead mix without the horns and you have a song that would have charted pretty high in 2006 anyway.

hegottheboot wrote:

As for YKMN, I've always loved Cornell as a vocalist but still feel like it was a straight ahead song that is shoehorned into being a "Bond theme". Remove the tempo slowdowns and breakdowns then do a straight ahead mix without the horns and you have a song that would have charted pretty high in 2006 anyway.

I do prefer his single version rather than the one that Arnold mixed for the film.

Yeah, the single version has stuff like the snippet of feedback just before the first chorus.

Don't think I've heard a non-Arnold mix. I have to say I actually prefer the version with the key change (probably a fan edit of the track?) in the You Know My Name Bond tribute video.

I don't think the Arnold mix has ever had an official release, as it can only be heard on the film. The official music video also used the single version.

I had forgotten about that. I usually focus on the single v film mixes for GE-TND-TWINE. GE has the much better edit for the film but the actual mixes on TND and TWINE sound much better on the singles than the film. I think most of the criticisms of the TND vocal are because the film mix has it so naked and exposed whereas the stereo mix on all other releases sound much better. TWINE sounds too open and dull in the film mix but sounds better in the stereo mix.

Got around to digging out QOS. Here goes nothing.

no particular order

1. Night at the Opera
2. Camille's Story
3. Oil Fields
4. The Dead Don't Care About Vengeance
5. I Never Left


I don't know what it is lads, but it doesn't register on my mind much as I listen to it. I'm not saying it's a horrifically bad score but parts are better than the sum. Time to Get Out seems to have part of Fall of a House in Venice in it or a sound similar.

I don't mind Camille's Story, actually. It's a bit on the nose when paired with the visuals of the locals catching the last drops of water, but in isolation the Latin guitar is solid.