James Bond: 007 - Spectre - Part 8

[Dark Raven]

Atrocious, as expected.

Get someone with a beautiful voice and talent... like Perfume Genius, Sufjan Stevens, Sharon Van Etten, Regina Spektor, so many possibilities. And, where is my damn Radiohead-Bond song EON... seriously?

I wanted Regina Spektor for Spectre. I think she would've done a better job.

They should've tried several submissions from different people instead of insisting on Sam Smith and settling for this just because he wrote it.

And not only is it a bland song but it's a very bland, generic title as well. We should've had a rockier, more aggressive song entitled Spectre, which is far catchier and foreboding.

 

[craigdbfan]

Listening to it again and judging it for what it is, I can appreciate how it's more low key and intimate and sad as a polar opposite of Skyfall which was triumphant sounding and just got you pumped. This is a little more in line with the Roger Moore era of Bond songs, namely Nobody Does it Better which you wouldn't associate in a Bond film on its own. Especially following something like Live And Let Die.

It's at least better than Another Way to Die. It's somewhat catchy but damn is it noisy.

Well said. All Time High and For Your Eyes Only also had that sensual feel.

The difference between the ones we've mentioned all have some kind of "up/cheery" moment throughout them while this one kind of stays in that same dreary wavelength. I need to listen to it more to get a good feel.

I'll say this much I think the instrumental is absolutely fantastic but could have been serviced much better in the vocal arrangement department. No doubt about that.

 

[#root]

...I kinda like it . And I don't even like Sam Smith . I get why everyone thinks it's a bore, but I thought it was a decent tune .

 

[Doctor Jones]

Well said. All Time High and For Your Eyes Only also had that sensual feel.

The difference between the ones we've mentioned all have some kind of "up/cheery" moment throughout them while this one kind of stays in that same dreary wavelength. I need to listen to it more to get a good feel.

I'll say this much I think the instrumental is absolutely fantastic but could have been serviced much better in the vocal arrangement department. No doubt about that.

I totally see the argument around here. Goldeneye from Tina Turner is one of those Bond songs I'm not fond of. It is more low key and cool sounding than most Bond songs. One could say it's just boring like how people feel about this song. But I don't fault it for being more low key.

Just because this might be the first one that doesn't have a more lively way about it, doesn't mean it doesn't fit as a Bond song. They should be whatever it wants.

Not all Bond songs need to sound like they pop and are uppity for me. As long as they make sense of the film. Whether you personally like them or not is up to you, but I appreciate Smith and co. doing their own thing. Also what Smith said about putting himself in Bond's shoes and creating something more intimate. It works for Bond's character. If you look at the whole run of Bond songs, they're pretty varied.

The most popular are the more lively songs, but Nobody Does it Better is pretty acclaimed and like you say is pretty sensual and would fit a romantic film all the same. Oh, and people also like OHMSS theme which has no vocals and I think it's pretty standard.

 

[Dark Raven]

Even if someone can come up with a decent or good song in 20 minutes doesn't mean you should use that one. I've come up with decent songs quickly as well but they're not necessarily in line with exactly what I'm trying to convey if I'm working to a specific idea. Sometimes you just have to put the song you came up with aside for another time and spend longer working on something that fits the idea you're working towards.

It sounds like he just went with a stream of consciousness method and just began singing anything. But if it had been prescribed that the song has to be called Spectre, then he'd have brainstormed ideas around that title and built a theme on that. Maybe he thought that he couldn't find anything to rhyme with Spectre, but that's just lazy. He could've included the title in a place in the chorus or even verse without it needing to rhyme.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I could totally see The XX doing a Bond theme. Infinity has a very cool and sleek sound about it. And they're one of the few male/female duets that work and isn't cheesy and lovey dovey.

 

[-Arya-]

Not a fan of Stan Smith's high pitched vocals, but the instrumental aspect is spot on for Bond. Perhaps it will flow better with the opening credits. I will say it is definitely a step down from "You know my name" and "Skyfall" and slightly above "Another way to Die".

 

[antsman41]

I could totally see The XX doing a Bond theme. Infinity has a very cool and sleek sound about it. And they're one of the few male/female duets that work and isn't cheesy and lovey dovey.

Have you heard the new Low album, theres a duet on there that might be the finest duet I've heard in my whole life.

 

[killface]

Got a "The World is not Enough" vibe a few times when I heard the song

 

[Chesterfield]

A better version in HQ .mp3 format. Feel free to download:
http://picosong.com/Syaq

 

[Sawyer]

Call me crazy, but I really don't think this was bad. At least not as bad as some of you are making it sound. It didn't really blow me away either, mind you, but the same could be said for the first time I listened to Adele's song and I eventually came to love it.

 

[Golgo-13]

The pre-credit sequence better be so spectacular that we jump out of our seats, therefore this slow song serves as a way of calming us down….the title sequence better be great too.

I like Sam's voice, but the music is just awful. Whoever signed off on this needs to have their ears..and head examined…

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Babs?

 

[Boom]

*Shrug*

I like the song itself. Maybe a bit slow for a James Bond theme, but can't really complain about it.

 

[rashad]

Song is fine to me.

 

[The Shape]

Yeah, it's really not that bad.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Looks like typical internet overreaction. The Bond fandom at MI6 are fine with it.

 

[Sawyer]

I honestly question what some of the people here were expecting, because as soon as I heard it, it was pretty much exactly what I had assumed a Sam Smith Bond song would sound like.

 

[Marvolo]

Looks like typical internet overreaction. The Bond fandom at MI6 are fine with it.

Yeah, it couldn't possibly be that the song is an awful boring song. IDK about y'all,but when I go to see a Bond movie I don't want to listen to a grown man pine away about some puppy love in his best imitation of a prepubescent boy's voice.

This is the first Bond theme that's actually bored me. It has the energy of a corpse. It's DOA.

And of course MI6 is fine with it. They are a main hub of the fandom. They are TheForce.net of the Bond fandom and are going to be biased about the theme. Regardless tho, if everyone in the world loved this song I'd still dislike it.

Hopefully the version that's over the credits will be a shortened more instrumental version.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

I think it would be wise to withhold final judgement until we've seen it with the title credits and in the context of the pre-title sequence. Context matters.

 

[Soapy]

I honestly question what some of the people here were expecting, because as soon as I heard it, it was pretty much exactly what I had assumed a Sam Smith Bond song would sound like.

I didn't know what to expect because I've literally never heard of Sam Smith until like a week ago. I can tell you however I definitely wasn't expecting something that makes me want to curl up in bed and take a nap.

 

[green]

I think it would be wise to withhold final judgement until we've seen it with the title credits and in the context of the pre-title sequence. Context matters.

Eh, I don't necessarily agree. Name me one Bond song that wasn't that great that was made better by the context of the opening credits.

 

[Soapy]

I think it would be wise to withhold final judgement until we've seen it with the title credits and in the context of the pre-title sequence. Context matters.

Nah. This was released as a single, completely divorced from any film or visual elements and can be judged as such.

 

[antonydelfini]

Yikes. I actually like it.

 

[vanson]

i think the main titles sequence is already cut but they still could make it instrumental