Die Another Day
David Arnold
" Madonna can die any day but David Arnold another time please! "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Bond composer David Arnold has arrived to his third Bond feature, and it seems that the films don't offer the charm nor the thrill they used to bring anymore. So it isn't fair to criticize and compare it with the material that John Barry worked with all his life. There has been much criticism over Die Another Day, and those were either divided to the song or the overall score. Whether people are Bond fans or not, the song by Madonna is simply put sensational garbage.
If she is singing die another day, then I rather wished it was this day since her techno bleeps and stupid voice mixing into techno beats is an insult to everything we heard in the past, from the powerful "Goldfinger" to the more '80 sounding "The Living Daylights". The only decent good thing about that song are the synth violins which appear regularly, and David Arnold could have used that as background score. Yet nothing else since the actual melody of the song is pointless, and Madonna didn't show us what she could have brought instead. Her '80 and mid '90 showed different things like a much more appropriate "Beautiful Stranger" or the brilliant poetic "Frozen". This song is just not what Bond requires. In fact it is quite the opposite and proves how desperate the producers were to get at least a bit of success from the already stupid movie.
The score by Arnold didn't survive the criticism of the fans either, pointing out they weren't fans of the techno and sampled sound. People rather amused themselves with The World is not Enough and Tomorrow never Dies. But I disagree, The World is not Enough was boring from the middle through and Die Another Day brings in fact a much clearer set of ideas, even if they are heard during the electronic accompaniment a bit too frequently.
Forget Madonna, hear a slightly upbeat version of the Bond theme in Paul Oakenfold's version of "James Bond Theme" and move on to Arnold's score. In fact the opening surprised me a lot. "On the Beach" opens with the Bond theme on steroid beats, before moving after several minutes to one of this albums greatest points, a theme. Used as the dark menacing theme for the villain or the evil they create, this theme will show its charm more than enough in the score.
But Arnold's Die Another Day score has even more themes. In fact "Hovercraft Chase" introduces another one. Over the synthetic percussion and beats there's a terrific brass theme after 2.20 which makes all the difference with The World is not Enough. It also appears in track 12.
Furthermore we encounter another theme in "Jinx Jordan". This is the love theme appearing in various tracks. But simply the fact that there are four themes appearing on occasion is simply one big plus point. "Welcome to Cuba" brings even more difference with a frenzied Mambo piece. "Jinx & James" will remind most people of the good old John Barry with a soft love theme version. And whether people simply noticed it or not, there is finally a larger degree of choral music to be heard in a Bond effort. Here it reminds me of Godzilla and Stargate (which is simply a compliment for Die Another Day). The moment where it underscores a scene the best is during "Icarus", giving the danger theme a truly thunderous version.
Naturally Bond isn't without a healthy doses of action music and there are two parts where the synths and beats are over present. At the end of "Laser Fight" and during "Iced Inc". However the frenzied brass playing isn't to be questioned, giving the action music a lot of edge. By the way, "Whiteout" is a terrific action cue that repeats the Bond brass theme, the cool theme of the fourth track or a choral stroke of the danger theme.
The 12 minute "Anatov" has even more up its sleeve. There is quite a bit of thematic quality present here, presenting returning themes from time to time during all the action. The brilliant choral moment during this track is simply put brilliant as well. Overall the 12 minute track shows alone what The World is not Enough lacked in general, an overall sense of thematic structure.
So if you want to attack something, do it to Madonna's Die Any Day song because that it the real insult to the Bond franchise. David Arnold throws much more into the mix here than expected, showing that taste is all what decides an album. The good structured action, four at least interesting themes, moments of choral delight, it is present to give Die Another Day a much more interesting note. It is loud enough to scare off potential listeners but at least there are themes that create a much more cohesive listening experience.
Tracklisting
1. Die Another Day: Madonna * (4.38)
2. James Bond Theme: Bond vs. Oakenfold ** (4.05)
3. On the Beach (2.51)
4. Hovercraft Chase (3.49)
5. Some Kind of Hero? (4.32)
6. Welcome to Cuba (2.07)
7. Jinx Jordan (1.29)
8. Jinx & James (2.04)
9. A Touch of Frost (1.52)
10. Icarus (1.23)
11. Laser Fight (4.35)
12. Whiteout (4.55)
13. Iced Inc. (3.08)
14. Anatov (11.52)
15. Going Down Together (1.35)
* Produced by Madonna & Mirwais Ahmedzai
** Remixed by Paul Oakenfold
Total Length: 55.04
If she is singing die another day, then I rather wished it was this day since her techno bleeps and stupid voice mixing into techno beats is an insult to everything we heard in the past, from the powerful "Goldfinger" to the more '80 sounding "The Living Daylights". The only decent good thing about that song are the synth violins which appear regularly, and David Arnold could have used that as background score. Yet nothing else since the actual melody of the song is pointless, and Madonna didn't show us what she could have brought instead. Her '80 and mid '90 showed different things like a much more appropriate "Beautiful Stranger" or the brilliant poetic "Frozen". This song is just not what Bond requires. In fact it is quite the opposite and proves how desperate the producers were to get at least a bit of success from the already stupid movie.
The score by Arnold didn't survive the criticism of the fans either, pointing out they weren't fans of the techno and sampled sound. People rather amused themselves with The World is not Enough and Tomorrow never Dies. But I disagree, The World is not Enough was boring from the middle through and Die Another Day brings in fact a much clearer set of ideas, even if they are heard during the electronic accompaniment a bit too frequently.
Forget Madonna, hear a slightly upbeat version of the Bond theme in Paul Oakenfold's version of "James Bond Theme" and move on to Arnold's score. In fact the opening surprised me a lot. "On the Beach" opens with the Bond theme on steroid beats, before moving after several minutes to one of this albums greatest points, a theme. Used as the dark menacing theme for the villain or the evil they create, this theme will show its charm more than enough in the score.
But Arnold's Die Another Day score has even more themes. In fact "Hovercraft Chase" introduces another one. Over the synthetic percussion and beats there's a terrific brass theme after 2.20 which makes all the difference with The World is not Enough. It also appears in track 12.
Furthermore we encounter another theme in "Jinx Jordan". This is the love theme appearing in various tracks. But simply the fact that there are four themes appearing on occasion is simply one big plus point. "Welcome to Cuba" brings even more difference with a frenzied Mambo piece. "Jinx & James" will remind most people of the good old John Barry with a soft love theme version. And whether people simply noticed it or not, there is finally a larger degree of choral music to be heard in a Bond effort. Here it reminds me of Godzilla and Stargate (which is simply a compliment for Die Another Day). The moment where it underscores a scene the best is during "Icarus", giving the danger theme a truly thunderous version.
Naturally Bond isn't without a healthy doses of action music and there are two parts where the synths and beats are over present. At the end of "Laser Fight" and during "Iced Inc". However the frenzied brass playing isn't to be questioned, giving the action music a lot of edge. By the way, "Whiteout" is a terrific action cue that repeats the Bond brass theme, the cool theme of the fourth track or a choral stroke of the danger theme.
The 12 minute "Anatov" has even more up its sleeve. There is quite a bit of thematic quality present here, presenting returning themes from time to time during all the action. The brilliant choral moment during this track is simply put brilliant as well. Overall the 12 minute track shows alone what The World is not Enough lacked in general, an overall sense of thematic structure.
So if you want to attack something, do it to Madonna's Die Any Day song because that it the real insult to the Bond franchise. David Arnold throws much more into the mix here than expected, showing that taste is all what decides an album. The good structured action, four at least interesting themes, moments of choral delight, it is present to give Die Another Day a much more interesting note. It is loud enough to scare off potential listeners but at least there are themes that create a much more cohesive listening experience.
Tracklisting
1. Die Another Day: Madonna * (4.38)
2. James Bond Theme: Bond vs. Oakenfold ** (4.05)
3. On the Beach (2.51)
4. Hovercraft Chase (3.49)
5. Some Kind of Hero? (4.32)
6. Welcome to Cuba (2.07)
7. Jinx Jordan (1.29)
8. Jinx & James (2.04)
9. A Touch of Frost (1.52)
10. Icarus (1.23)
11. Laser Fight (4.35)
12. Whiteout (4.55)
13. Iced Inc. (3.08)
14. Anatov (11.52)
15. Going Down Together (1.35)
* Produced by Madonna & Mirwais Ahmedzai
** Remixed by Paul Oakenfold
Total Length: 55.04