Eric Serra appreciation thread
  • MurdockMurdock
    Posts: 2,135
    I Love the entire GE score, A Pleasant Drive in St. Petersburg is my favorite Track in the whole Score. with GoldenEye Overture and Run, Shoot and Jump for 2nd and 3rd. :-bd
  • tommychameleontommychameleon
    Posts: 127
    Goodness me...I think I'll avoid this thread. My heart aches every day for what could have been, if we'd had a Barry/Arnold score for Goldeneye.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007
    Posts: 4,831
    tommychameleon said:

    Goodness me...I think I'll avoid this thread. My heart aches every day for what could have been, if we'd had a Barry/Arnold score for Goldeneye.



    You'd prefer a vastly inferior 'safe-choice' composer like Arnold instead of Serra ? Sorry but Serra is the only non-Barry composer to rivalize Barry himself in the talent and versality departments.
  • MurdockMurdock
    Posts: 2,135
    DaltonCraig007 said:


    You'd prefer a vastly inferior 'safe-choice' composer like Arnold instead of Serra ? Sorry but Serra is the only non-Barry composer to rivalize Barry himself in the talent and versality departments.



    I Wish we had Serra for all of the Brosnan films. :D
  • tommychameleontommychameleon
    Posts: 127
    DaltonCraig007 said:

    tommychameleon said:

    Goodness me...I think I'll avoid this thread. My heart aches every day for what could have been, if we'd had a Barry/Arnold score for Goldeneye.



    You'd prefer a vastly inferior 'safe-choice' composer like Arnold instead of Serra ? Sorry but Serra is the only non-Barry composer to rivalize Barry himself in the talent and versality departments.


    Yep, every single time. It's all a matter of taste at the end of the day but Serra's soundtrack makes me feel ill. I agree Arnold's work isn't a patch on Barry but I really can't stand Serra's attempt at Goldeneye. Those horrible 'Dum Diddy Dum Dum' drums that play the guitar line make me feel sick.

    PS. I wouldn't call Arnold vastly inferior...he's so much better it's insane. What other work has Eric Serra done?
  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    Posts: 2,239
    DaltonCraig007 said:

    BAIN123 said:

    I'm not sure if a lush exotic sound would have worked as well.



    There's the very lush cue during the casino scene, and of course the romantic cue for Natalya, million miles ahead of any romantic music in the Arnold soundtracks.


    I swore I would stay out if this and not be like people who love to voice a negative opinion in appreciation threads, so I will stick to your statement. The romantic themes in this soundtrack may be "technically" better in music theory, but that's nothing but an elitist opinion. In terms of feel and emotional content, Arnold's romantic pieces are a BILLION miles ahead of anything on this soundtrack. The only good music in the GE soundtrack is the theme song, which Serra didn't write. Enough said or I will wind up being who I am not nor ever want to be.
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    Posts: 7,786
    I like Serra but I like Arnold a little bit better, maybe if Serra had done more Bond films I'd like him more.

    But still I like the GE music, the only bit I don't like is the gunbarrel, which I think should've had the proper Bond theme.
  • actonsteveactonsteve
    Posts: 1,315
    SirHenryLeeChaChing said:

    [ The only good music in the GE soundtrack is the theme song, .



    You know thats right. I am not a fan of GE but the Tina Turner song is very good. I remember feeling disappointed that it wasnt incorporated into the film instead of the tiny dum-dadda-dum-dum noise in a tin can we got.

  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    Posts: 2,239
    actonsteve said:

    SirHenryLeeChaChing said:

    [ The only good music in the GE soundtrack is the theme song, .



    You know thats right. I am not a fan of GE but the Tina Turner song is very good. I remember feeling disappointed that it wasnt incorporated into the film instead of the tiny dum-dadda-dum-dum noise in a tin can we got.



    Agreed. I find Serra's work in this film, in a technical sense, very "atonal". It may be different, but to me it does not work. I appreciate what Serra scores in other things he's done much more than in this film, which I feel is easily his worst work and the worst music in the entire series. Legrand has a similar effort for himself in NSNA, but I digress because it's not an official Bond film even with Connery in it and EON owning the rights to it now.

    Just to convince myself that my opinion had merit in terms of the "Bond sound", the terms and style of which to me are the musical standard of the entire series, I dubbed two CD's of my favorite romantic pieces from the series. One I did with all the composers without Serra, and one with. In terms of continuity, Serra's work stands out like a sore thumb whereas Arnold's fits with everyone else. Kamen's work in "Pam" also stands out from the others, but I'm not going to elaborate on him or that piece since he wasn't brought up here, nor am I a defender of DA's action pieces by any means, but in terms of understanding what Barry laid down as far as feeling and emotional content, he gets it a whole lot better than Serra does in this instance.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007
    Posts: 4,831
    tommychameleon said:

    PS. I wouldn't call Arnold vastly inferior



    He *is* vastly inferior. Serra is one of the most talented composers working today. Serra is much, much more trained than Arnold. Even if you like Arnold, you can't deny he is a poor composer. Serra's GE work is the the only non-Barry soundtrack that come close to the Barry soundtracks. Arnold is simply a safe choice, simple by-the-numbers composer next to the genius Serra.
  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    Posts: 2,239
    DaltonCraig007 said:

    tommychameleon said:

    PS. I wouldn't call Arnold vastly inferior



    He *is* vastly inferior. Serra is one of the most talented composers working today. Serra is much, much more trained than Arnold. Even if you like Arnold, you can't deny he is a poor composer. Serra's GE work is the the only non-Barry soundtrack that come close to the Barry soundtracks. Arnold is simply a safe choice, simple by-the-numbers composer next to the genius Serra.


    So you prefer GE to LALD then?

    I think this is a French thing with you. It's French, so it must be better. Truly, I do.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 4,749
    tommychameleon said:

    Goodness me...I think I'll avoid this thread. My heart aches every day for what could have been, if we'd had a Barry/Arnold score for Goldeneye.



    You disappoint me @tommychameleon. After you voiced your love for GE to me I was thinking "he's a decent guy" ;)

    I'm actually listening to the "same passions" track right now. It always calms me down if I'm feeling angry or upset.

    But is Serra's score better than LALD's?

    This may sound controversial but IMO YES!!! (theme song excluded)

    I LISTEN TO SERRA'S SCORE IN MY CAR AND I'M PROUD TO ADMIT THAT :D

    I don't listen to Live & Let Die's
  • tommychameleontommychameleon
    Posts: 127
    DaltonCraig007 said:

    tommychameleon said:

    PS. I wouldn't call Arnold vastly inferior



    He *is* vastly inferior. Serra is one of the most talented composers working today. Serra is much, much more trained than Arnold. Even if you like Arnold, you can't deny he is a poor composer. Serra's GE work is the the only non-Barry soundtrack that come close to the Barry soundtracks. Arnold is simply a safe choice, simple by-the-numbers composer next to the genius Serra.


    He's not, he's much, much better than Serra ;-)

    Being "much, much more trained" doesn't make any difference at all. It's whatever music that comes out of them that's important, not how long they spend training. In my experience, virtuoso, uber technical musicans are f***ing boring to listen to. You give Lennon or McCartney a guitar and 3 chords and they make beautiful art. You give Miles Davis a trumpet and he makes a ****ing awful racket. Just my opinion, obviously ;-)

    Serra's score just doesn't feel like Bond. It's dull, mechanical and really takes away from the movie in my view. Okay, his romantic stuff isn't that bad but we're watching Bond here, it takes a whole lot more than that.

    Tina's track is genuinely awesome and one of my favourite in the series...the fact that Serra had nothing to do with it says it all...and don't even get me started on 'The Experience of Love' *CHOKE*

    BAIN123 said:

    tommychameleon said:

    Goodness me...I think I'll avoid this thread. My heart aches every day for what could have been, if we'd had a Barry/Arnold score for Goldeneye.



    You disappoint me @tommychameleon.


    Haha, you're beginning to sound like Dr. No :-)

  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    Posts: 2,239
    "Experience Of Love" sounds like something right off a Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music record to me, but then you'd have to appreciate their work to make the song work for you. That said, it's probably the least offensive song to my ears on the entire soundtrack other than the title song, which is very Bondian and the only piece on here that identifies the soundtrack as such short of the theme cues.

    :)) I thought Bain was taking dictation from someone else!

    Suffice it to say, the movie is a whole lot better than the music.
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 950
    My favourite piece of music in GE is the tank chase, though that was done by John Altman not Eric Serra.
  • RogueThunderballRogueThunderball
    Posts: 298
    I love the score by Serra. It really suits the film perfectly and I couldn't imagine GE without it. The only miss was the experience of love which was a bit underwhelming.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce
    Posts: 2,198
    DaltonCraig007 said:

    Serra is the only non-Barry composer to rivalize Barry himself



    What?

    Stop getting English wrong!!

    http://www.cosmicpuptees.co.uk/home/wp-content/themes/cosmictheme/images/alan-partridge-stop-getting-bond-wrong-t-shirt.jpg
  • tommychameleontommychameleon
    Posts: 127
    TheWizardOfIce said:

    DaltonCraig007 said:

    Serra is the only non-Barry composer to rivalize Barry himself



    What?

    Stop getting English wrong!!

    http://www.cosmicpuptees.co.uk/home/wp-content/themes/cosmictheme/images/alan-partridge-stop-getting-bond-wrong-t-shirt.jpg


    I need that T shirt.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 4,749
    Experience of Love, as a song on it's own, isn't all that great I'll admit but it's at the end credits so I can put up with it.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce
    Posts: 2,198
    BAIN123 said:

    Experience of Love, as a song on it's own, isn't all that great I'll admit but it's at the end credits so I can put up with it.



    Thats one of the biggest understatements in history.

    One can only assume that the conversation when something along these lines:

    'Sorry Eric the studio has decided to go with Bono and Tina Turner so can we put your epic Bond song on the end credits?'

    At which point Eric gives a big gallic shrug of disgust 'well then you cant use my Bond song then.'

    'But youre contracted to provide an end titles song.'

    'Wait a minute'. Cue 2 mins (at most) of scribbling. 'Here you go'

    'Whats this?'

    'My end title song'

    EON listen to it. 'Eric what the f**k do you call that?'

    'Thats my contract fulfilled. I'm outta here.'

    'B*gger the premiere is tomorrow we'll have to use it'

    Babs turns to MGW at the premiere 'why didnt we just use the Bond theme?'

    Or something like that.

    Its the only rational explanation for why a professional musician writing a song for a Bond film could possibly turn in this pitiful effort. Makes NSNA sound like GF.
  • tommychameleontommychameleon
    Posts: 127
    TheWizardOfIce said:

    BAIN123 said:

    Experience of Love, as a song on it's own, isn't all that great I'll admit but it's at the end credits so I can put up with it.



    Thats one of the biggest understatements in history.

    One can only assume that the conversation when something along these lines:

    'Sorry Eric the studio has decided to go with Bono and Tina Turner so can we put your epic Bond song on the end credits?'

    At which point Eric gives a big gallic shrug of disgust 'well then you cant use my Bond song then.'

    'But youre contracted to provide an end titles song.'

    'Wait a minute'. Cue 2 mins (at most) of scribbling. 'Here you go'

    'Whats this?'

    'My end title song'

    EON listen to it. 'Eric what the f**k do you call that?'

    'Thats my contract fulfilled. I'm outta here.'

    'B*gger the premiere is tomorrow we'll have to use it'

    Babs turns to MGW at the premiere 'why didnt we just use the Bond theme?'

    Or something like that.

    Its the only rational explanation for why a professional musician writing a song for a Bond film could possibly turn in this pitiful effort. Makes NSNA sound like GF.


    Hahah, I think that goes for his entire score actually ;-)
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 4,749
    Gaaa!!! His score isn't that bad. Why do tracks like "Same Passions" and the beach theme relax me so much?
  • saunderssaunders
    Posts: 636
    I can't stand his awfull soundtrack but in the spirit of this thread I'll concede that the artwork on the CD cover of the GE soundtrack was ok!
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 4,749
    Am I the only one that thinks the "jungle theme" suits the scene just fine or that "whispering statues" makes the reunion between Bond and Alec even more effective.

    There's 2 tracks I'm not that keen on. One is "Run, Shoot and Jump" which thankfully isn't in the film and the other is, as Ive mentioned, The Experience of Love.

    The rest are fine (yes! even "Ladies First")

  • GetafixGetafix
    Posts: 3,155
    BAIN123 said:

    I know I'm in the minority here but I've always been rather baffaled at the hate this score gets on these boards. True its not up there with John Barry's work but IMO most of the soundtrack suits the film its attached to perfectly. In fact, as another person also said, I can't imagine GE without it.

    Some of the tracks don't work but most (IMO anyway) do.

    There must be some other people round here who like this rather under-appreciated score.



    I remember sitting through GE and squirming in my seat at how bad the music was - naff tinkly riffs and a total failure to match the mood and atmosphere of each scene. It's not just the worst Bond soundtrack, but one of the worst soundtracks I've heard in any film, ever. David Arnold was a god-send after the disaster that Serra made of GE.

    I can imagine that his 'sound' might work better with a different type of movie, but he was a poor choice for Bond.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 4,749
    Getafix said:

    BAIN123 said:

    I know I'm in the minority here but I've always been rather baffaled at the hate this score gets on these boards. True its not up there with John Barry's work but IMO most of the soundtrack suits the film its attached to perfectly. In fact, as another person also said, I can't imagine GE without it.

    Some of the tracks don't work but most (IMO anyway) do.

    There must be some other people round here who like this rather under-appreciated score.



    I remember sitting through GE and squirming in my seat at how bad the music was - naff tinkly riffs and a total failure to match the mood and atmosphere of each scene. It's not just the worst Bond soundtrack, but one of the worst soundtracks I've heard in any film, ever. David Arnold was a god-send after the disaster that Serra made of GE.

    I can imagine that his 'sound' might work better with a different type of movie, but he was a poor choice for Bond.


    Ok so what about "whispering statues". That doesn't sound somber? I was thinking the other day that the piano part sounds like something they'd play on a Crimewatch reconstruction talking about a murder victim (i.e. it was sad - which is a good thing).

    What about Goldeneye Overture? Doesn't it sound sound cold and metalic, like the backdrop of Soviet Russia.

    Oh yeah David Arnold, the man fickle fanboys like to bitch about also.

    (Note: I don't mind DA either)
  • GetafixGetafix
    Posts: 3,155
    BAIN123 said:

    Getafix said:

    BAIN123 said:

    I know I'm in the minority here but I've always been rather baffaled at the hate this score gets on these boards. True its not up there with John Barry's work but IMO most of the soundtrack suits the film its attached to perfectly. In fact, as another person also said, I can't imagine GE without it.

    Some of the tracks don't work but most (IMO anyway) do.

    There must be some other people round here who like this rather under-appreciated score.



    I remember sitting through GE and squirming in my seat at how bad the music was - naff tinkly riffs and a total failure to match the mood and atmosphere of each scene. It's not just the worst Bond soundtrack, but one of the worst soundtracks I've heard in any film, ever. David Arnold was a god-send after the disaster that Serra made of GE.

    I can imagine that his 'sound' might work better with a different type of movie, but he was a poor choice for Bond.


    Ok so what about "whispering statues". That doesn't sound somber? I was thinking the other day that the piano part sounds like something they'd play on a Crimewatch reconstruction talking about a murder victim (i.e. it was sad - which is a good thing).

    What about Goldeneye Overture? Doesn't it sound sound cold and metalic, like the backdrop of Soviet Russia.

    Oh yeah David Arnold, the man fickle fanboys like to bitch about also.

    (Note: I don't mind DA either)


    I've never had a particular problem with Arnold. In the Brosnan era he was one of the few relatively decent elements in the movies. That said, I'm happy for someone else to be given a go. Arnold never made himself essential to the series, and I think Mendes knows a thing or two about film scores, so I am confident his man will do a good job.
  • BentleyBentley
    Posts: 121
    Fellow Agents,
    I was delighted to discover this thread because I've always been of the opinion that his score for GE was a great reboot and infinitely superior to the bland Arnold work that followed.
    I would have loved to see him do more and am excited that "Skyfall" will be going in a new direction.
    Regards,
    Bentley
  • 007RogerMoore007RogerMoore
    Posts: 1,051
    I like the GE score. Some parts are IMO really good, like "Fatal Weakness", "GE Overture" and "Run, Shoot and Jump". The car chase music, however, is strange to me but still ok. I think that the GE score stands out, as soon as I hear it I think of the movie. And I really think that many parts fit very well with the dark atmosphere of the film. For sure an extremely underrated score, IMO.
  • RogueThunderballRogueThunderball
    Posts: 298
    BAIN123 said:

    Am I the only one that thinks the "jungle theme" suits the scene just fine or that "whispering statues" makes the reunion between Bond and Alec even more effective.

    There's 2 tracks I'm not that keen on. One is "Run, Shoot and Jump" which thankfully isn't in the film and the other is, as Ive mentioned, The Experience of Love.

    The rest are fine (yes! even "Ladies First")



    I couldn't agree more. The whispering statues especially sets the tone for that scene.
Add a Comment