Quantum of Solace - The Soundtrack

While it is still a little over 15 hours until I get to finally see the latest Bond movie, that doesn't mean I haven't already been able to get a good taste of what the movie holds in store. In this case I am refering to the Quantum of Solace soundtrack CD which I picked up a couple of days ago.

In a Bond movie there are several important elements that work together to make each movie unique while reamining a part of the whole. 1 of those key elements is the soundtrack. From the start much of the success was due to the presence of John Barry. His John Barry Seven performed the James Bond Theme for Dr. No. (According to sources he actually wrote the iconic theme but because of the contractual requirements Monty Norman was given the composer's credit.) He bcame the official composer with From Russia With Love. With 2 exceptions he continued to be the Bond composer. His last Bond movie was The Living Daylights. Beginning with Tommorrow Never Dies n 1997, David Arnold has taken over the task of composing the soundtrack for the Bond movies. He has proven to be a worthy successor to John Barry.

I will handle the title song seperately as it was written by Jack White.

From the start of the album I was hooked. I have heard the movie refered to as "high octane". That is definitely true of the soundtrack. Since I haven't seen the movie yet, I can't say it was flawlessly matched up to the action,. But I can say that if the music is any clue, it gave me a high standard for what to expect in the movie.

Interestingly enough, while the soundtrack is clearly contemporary, there were some portions of a couple thems that harkened back to the Barry themes of the 60s. In some ways this soundtrack had echos of the entire gamut of Bond movies. There were the usual points where the Bond Theme & 007 were worked in. That is a given. That having been said, David Arnold doesn't merely rehash what has gone before, he puts his own mark on the music.

In the old days of vinyl, there was a limit to what could be put on the soundtrack. In those days, about all you got was the title song & the major themes. & while I still think vinyl has a sonund that no CD can match, the good thing about a CD is you can include much more, including the short throw aways that are used for cut-aways, scene changes & the like.

With Bond movies you can end up about anywhere in the world. In this case, it includes Haiti, Austria, Italy & South America, Bolivia in particular. The soundtrack music needs to suggest the locale without seeming forced or artificial. The cuts on the CD promise to sound natural for the countries they are supposed to convey.

Another big factor is the quality of the orchestra performing the music. Here again, I wans't disappointed. I can't speak a lot on the technical aspects. All I can say is that whatever they did, it works on CD. & I expect it will in the movie as well.

Now for the title song. Unlike Casino Royale, the the title song is included on the album. From what I understand, a lot of that can be laid at the feet of Chris Cornell & how he felt its inclusion would affect the single sales. Sony has to take some of the blame for not standing up to him.

Wisely, the opted not to title it Quantum of Solace. For many Bond movies sharing a name works. Other times, like with The Spy Who Loved Me & Octopussy they wisely opted for a different song title. (Although for Spy, the title was worked in as a line in the song.) While using the movie title could have with this one, I think it was better to go with another title. White did work the word solace into the lyrics however. But not in an obvious way.

In this case the song was titled Another Way to Die. It was written by Jack White & performed by him & Alicia Keys. This is the 1st time a title song was done by a duet. The two voices work well with each other.

I have to say that I think the last really great Bond title song was GoldenEye. & while most of them since then have been OK, none of them have been great. & while this doesn't quite reach the greatness level, it is the best of the recent titles. There are points where you see the potential for that greatness. & that is a bit fustrating because it just falls short of what it could be. I have to be honest here, I am not sure if the only reason I feel it falls short is that, while I like the music, there is 1 part that I didn't like.

The song is, sort of, a cynical look look at the life of a secret agent & his requirement to kill. In fact you could say it is a musical bio of what Bond's life is like. In that sense, this is what really works best about the song, the story it tells. As I already noted, it is the style at some points that just doesn't appeal to me.

Keyes & White work well with each other as I said. Their voices blend & compliment each other. But, & this is the part where I think it causes the song to fall short, at about 2:50 into the song, White plays some riffs on his guitar that Keys tries to echo with her voice. It is more annoying than anything. If that section had been left out, I think the song would have been much better. That aside, I wouldn't mind if they did another project together.

I also liked the video (see below) they made. It takes very little from the movie & is more like a live performance. There are some very interesting special effects.

The soundtrack is a must for any serious Bond fan. However, anyone who enjoys a well done instrumental soundtrack will like this as well. David Arnold did not disappoint me with his work on this album. I see that he is currently listed as the composer for the next Narnia movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). It will be interesting to see how well he does on that. Hopefully, it won't prevent him from working on the next Bond movie which is also scheduled for 2010. It shouldn't, but sometimes these things do conflict.

(I think you can guess what 1 of my upcoming posts will be about.)

Another Way to Die