James Bond: 007 - Spectre - Part 8

[Tacit Ronin]

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.

All of them barring "Live and Let Die".

In all seriousness, most of the Bond songs barring Bond context was a definite step down for me.

 

[Snakewise]

I was 50/50 on it the first time I listened, but the song sounded quite a bit better to me on the second listen.

 

[Darkness Falls]

i like the theme song

 

[Drizzle]

I'm not gonna **** all over the song, but I'm not crazy about it. It's my least favorite of the Craig Bond songs, because I kind of like "Another Way to Die". I mean, at least it's better than "Die Another Day".

 

[AnneFan]

I don't think it's outright terrible, but I find it average. Nothing spectacular.

I mean, at least it's better than "Die Another Day".

I think DAD is much better than this.

 

[Parker Wayne]

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.

Easy. Something that's not boring as s**t.

 

[The Batman]

Its not bad. It's definitely not an all time classic, but its not bad either.

 

[Parker Wayne]

I love the slower made ballad Bond songs too. But this one feels lifeless.

 

[The Batman]

Yeah, people compared this to the Moore-Era ballads, but "Nobody Does It Better", and "For Your Eyes Only" have a spark to them that this lacks.

 

[Smilodon]

Wow, this was really middle of the road. Like, I bet it'll look pretty cool with the title sequence, but I agree with some others posters here - it's like we're waiting for this big release that never comes.

The instrumentals do sound great though, and I think it could grow on people as time goes by. But for now it's really, really, meh.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Mixed feelings on the theme, I actually kinda like it except for the parts where he inexplicably decided to breathe in some helium, which are really jarring.

 

[Slade W]

Its ok but not great IMO. The last 4 were much better IMO.

 

[NotSoLongAgo]

I've never really liked the bond songs so I'm pretty ok with it

 

[Legendver2]

His falsetto was a bit cringe worthy. It felt like the song was originally a duet between a male and female singer, but they couldn't find a female singer, so they had Sam sing the girl part too in a girl voice.

 

[Dark Raven]

Yeah, people compared this to the Moore-Era ballads, but "Nobody Does It Better", and "For Your Eyes Only" have a spark to them that this lacks.

I liked all of the Moore-era ballads.

Here is a rare demo of Sheena Easton singing For Your Eyes Only with different lyrics:

[YT]FSxTStAfpBY[/YT]

Even the lyrics ended up reworked for this song. The released version has much better lyrics than the original version of it.

 

[Gold Samurai]

One thing I noticed the song doesn't do. It doesn't try to sneak in the iconic bond theme like "You Know my name" or "Skyfall"


For that reason it fails



I've listened to it a few times.

It's not a total bore anymore but i'll say it's OKAY

 

[The Batman]

I liked all of the Moore-era ballads.

Here is a rare demo of Sheena Easton singing For Your Eyes Only with different lyrics:

[YT]FSxTStAfpBY[/YT]

Even the lyrics ended up reworked for this song. The released version has much better lyrics than the original version of it.

Those lyrics were terrible, hahahaha. Thank god they re wrote it.

 

[craigdbfan]

As I said the instrumental for this song is actually quite incredible but the vocal arrangement is the biggest disservice to the song as a whole.

Like some have mentioned, it's not necessarily that Smith is the issue here but rather how he and the rest of the production went about creating this opening theme that is the problem. Lyrics and vocal tone that don't quite empower/enrich the background instrumentals.

 

[Dark Raven]

Well I do think Smith is part of the problem. Vocally he's standing in for James Bond when singing this song. The voice and some of the emotions reflected in the lyrics seem rather incongruous with the cold-hearted assassin personality we associate with Bond. That's why someone with a harder edge to their voice is actually better. Smith is a bit too emo in his delivery and sounds more like he's singing about whether he should risk his heart for love.

That's why I've said it sounds more like a Glee song or something a young woman might be experiencing angst over.

 

[Jason Kane]

It'd be better as a companion song to a instrumental theme tailored as Spectre's main title theme. I know we're past the days of Dr. No, FRWL and OHMSS but attention spans be damned, we need another badass instrumental theme.

I'll take Sam Smith ( & maybe Madonna) over Jack ****ing White as far as least popular Bond themes I can easily revisit

 

[A Necessary Evil]

I don't dislike SS, but I am not a fan, and sadly, my fears were realized. As a song, it isn't bad. But as a Bond song, it sucks ass. How do we go from >Great 007 theme>Average>Great>bad

Damnit.

 

[craigdbfan]

Well I do think Smith is part of the problem. Vocally he's standing in for James Bond when singing this song. The voice and some of the emotions reflected in the lyrics seem rather incongruous with the cold-hearted assassin personality we associate with Bond. That's why someone with a harder edge to their voice is actually better. Smith is a bit too emo in his delivery and sounds more like he's singing about whether he should risk his heart for love.

That's why I've said it sounds more like a Glee song or something a young woman might be experiencing angst over.

He's capable of stronger and more aggressive while not betraying his softer delivery. This is a perfect example and this is what I was expecting in terms of Smith vocals (not the instrumental) but this is far stronger both in the actual words and his overall flow.

 

[StarLord]

His falsetto was a bit cringe worthy.

Yeah, it was a bit too much for me. I had to lower the volume.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Oh, how I missed ya.

The only Craig Bond I truly loved tho.

[YT]Kg5lI6NCBxE[/YT]

 

[craigdbfan]

Chris Cornell did a wonderful job with the theme. I agree that it's pretty damn great in every regard.

The better Bond songs always tend to give subtle allusions to bigger thematic parts of the overall film.