Eric Serra - 'The music of Goldeneye'

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Comments

  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 7,969
    I love the little bit of music that plays once Bond smashes through the window of the Russian base, but before he smashes through the wall in the tank.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    Apart from the gunbarrel, pre title sequence and tank sequence the score is dire.....reminiscent of a tv movie.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    Still better than Newman's generic mess.
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    By the way, it's blocked in the USA.
  • Division_00Division_00 Atlanta, GA, USA
    Posts: 66
    I like the GoldenEye score. It's peppy, catchy, cute, and reminds me of a video game score. And nobody can forget that N64 game.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited April 2019 Posts: 6,758
    For the music talents here on the boards, I have a request: do you know where I can find the sheet music of the piano piece in Whispering Statues? I’d like to learn to play that piece myself. Thanks.

    Edit: I think that particular part is called Two Faced.
  • Posts: 3,333
    @Gumbold wrote: "I wonder what the older fans thought of the score when they first heard it, and what the reactions were like, because it's nothing like John Barry."

    I can tell you exactly how I felt when I first heard Éric Serra's score at an advanced screening at the Empire Leicester Square for GE back in '95: Let down, disappointed, underwhelmed, displeased, and downright baffled. Sure the GB was okay-ish, but when that abomination titled "Ladies First" first assaulted my ears in the auditorium, my mouth was agape that something so hideous could be used in a Bond movie. After that particular jarring piece of audio garbage, I'm afraid I was highly attuned and sensitive to anything that came afterwards, to the point where I was paying far too much attention to Éric Serra's awful score, more so than the action that it was accompanying on the big screen. Some are of the belief that it sounded fresh back in '95 forgetting that synth scores in their entirety had been around at the start of the Eighties and throughout. It didn't sound fresh. It sounded totally misplaced for a high-quality production that had already set the musical benchmark extremely high. And to cap it all off, we got Éric Serra hammering his final nail into the soundtrack coffin by singing the closing credits with his doleful rendition of "The Experience Of Love". A song that got zero UK radio airplay in '95 and has been largely forgotten by anyone with a modicum of musical taste.
  • Posts: 7,500
    The fact that it reminds you of a video game score is supposed to be a virtue now? Hm...
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited November 2022 Posts: 3,382
    Does anyone heard this sound before?

    I've seen it many times in the iceberg memes and into my curiosity, I've searched it, they called it as the 'The Goldeneye Sound'.

    In this score, you would hear a sound of pipe echo or something like that, then a little tambourine shake sound.



  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited November 2022 Posts: 6,758
    MI6HQ wrote: »
    Does anyone heard this sound before?

    I've seen it many times in the iceberg memes and into my curiosity, I've searched it, they called it as the 'The Goldeneye Sound'.

    In this score, you would hear a sound of pipe echo or something like that, then a little tambourine shake sound.



    I love that sound! One of those little things that gives GE that post-industrial look and feel.

    Now I’ve heard it in other Serra scores too. At the start of this cue from Léon, for instance:


    It also makes a return in the TND videogame (it can be heard from 2:10 onwards):


    Both are also great scores on their own and well-worth checking out (as are all Bond EA game scores and most certainly all Eric Serra scores of course ;) )
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Serra's best works include Léon, The Fifth Element, Le Grand Bleu, La Femme Nikita, and Lucy.

    The GE score is pretty decent too, IMO, though it probably didn't meet my expectations as an early Serra fan at the time.
  • 00Heaven00Heaven Home
    Posts: 573
    I think in terms of a Bond score it's probably up there as the worst for me... I'd love to hear some kind of rescore of goldeneye.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    edited November 2022 Posts: 6,758
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Serra's best works include Léon, The Fifth Element, Le Grand Bleu, La Femme Nikita, and Lucy.

    The GE score is pretty decent too, IMO, though it probably didn't meet my expectations as an early Serra fan at the time.

    I think there’s no other composer I more regularly listen to as Eric Serra (Barry and Arnold being a close second and third because of all the other Bond scores of course), love all of those soundtracks and I own most of them.

    Quite liked the scores for Subway, Jeanne d’Arc and Anna too. Though I think his very best is Nikita, probably my favourite film score of all time.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    edited November 2022 Posts: 1,282
    I love Serra's GE score. It's highly distinctive up to its Gunbarrel music. Once heard, one can instantly tell it's from GoldenEye.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou. I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'.
    Posts: 8,656
    I love Serra's GE score. It's highly distinctive up to its Gunbarrel music. Once heard, one can instantly tell it's from GoldenEye.
    I sort of "second this emotion"... some of this stuff is first-rate, mainly the likes of "Whispering Statues" that are spot-on. Some others, not so much. But Serra's score overall fits to a tee and is unfairly maligned by many. Definitely better than Conti's FYEO attempts and what Hans Zimmer's composing software churned out for NTTD.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    Yes that's a good point, it's much inventive and unique, and atmospheric even I'd say, than the NTTD score. Hearing that sound always brings back memories.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited November 2022 Posts: 23,448
    While I appreciate the positive vibe towards Serra's score, I suddenly find it my duty to defend Zimmer. ;-) You see, I don't think Zimmer merely pushed a few buttons to produce the NTTD score. 'Old' Zimmer might've blown a lot of music out of his electronics, but even he likes to go orchestral these days. I've seen a few of his live performances and he's got quite an impressive lineup of classical instruments on stage. Nowadays he tries to find the best of both worlds; like "symphonic metal", I think Zimmer's blend of orchestral and electronic is a very good thing.

    And even if Zimmer was still the electronics guy, it's somewhat ironic to compare him unfavourably to Serra because of that. After all, Serra also belongs to that school of synth and electronics, much more so than any other Bond composer ever.

    I like both scores, to be honest. And to prove that I'm not here to diss Serra, let me throw in another confession that will really earn me a few kicks in the back: I like The Experience Of Love. There, I said it. And while I'm courting hell, let me take it one step further: I also like Serra's Little Light Of Love, which he composed (and performed) for THE 5TH ELEMENT. I know that TEOL forces many Bond fans to press the STOP button before the end titles roll on GE, or to at least turn off the volume. ;-) I'm not one of them. TEOL is a quiet ballad that takes me back to '95. The vocals aren't the greatest, and when we jump half an octave higher, even I cringe, but I nevertheless can't hear what's so dreadful about the song. It's not exactly a traditional Bond song -- nothing about GE's music is traditional -- but I still enjoy it.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou. I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'.
    Posts: 8,656
    While you failed to stop my disdain for Zimmer, I agree that "The Experience of Love" is quite a nice, and I might say "Sting-type" song. I have never really worried about closing-credits music (except saying that k.d. lang's "Surrender" should definitely have been kept as the TND theme), but yes, TEOL is actually nice. Although I'm not sure that makes it an appropriate song to play at the end of a Bond movie like GE.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    While you failed to stop my disdain for Zimmer, I agree that "The Experience of Love" is quite a nice, and I might say "Sting-type" song. I have never really worried about closing-credits music (except saying that k.d. lang's "Surrender" should definitely have been kept as the TND theme), but yes, TEOL is actually nice. Although I'm not sure that makes it an appropriate song to play at the end of a Bond movie like GE.

    Agreed 100% on K.D. Lang. I know they want "big names" for the opening credits, and Sheryl Crow was a big name in '97, but Surrender has always been my favourite of the two TND songs. In fact, I'd rather have put Moby over the end credits myself. ;-)

    Really, sir, a disdain for Zimmer? ;-) I used to think him the lesser of all working composers, but somewhere after 2004 he started to grow on me again. Doesn't matter. I'm not sure he'll be back for the next Bond film.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,758
    Count me in as an appreciator of TEOL, I really like that song.

    As for Zimmer I never disliked any of his scores, they just lack personality for me. Electronic or orchestral hasn’t got much to do with it I’m afraid, he’s just not for me.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    While I appreciate the positive vibe towards Serra's score, I suddenly find it my duty to defend Zimmer. ;-) You see, I don't think Zimmer merely pushed a few buttons to produce the NTTD score. 'Old' Zimmer might've blown a lot of music out of his electronics, but even he likes to go orchestral these days.

    It's not really about electronic/orchestral, more that he just didn't come up with much that was distinctive for NTTD.
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    While you failed to stop my disdain for Zimmer, I agree that "The Experience of Love" is quite a nice, and I might say "Sting-type" song. I have never really worried about closing-credits music (except saying that k.d. lang's "Surrender" should definitely have been kept as the TND theme), but yes, TEOL is actually nice. Although I'm not sure that makes it an appropriate song to play at the end of a Bond movie like GE.

    Yes I kind of like it too, although it's arguable whether he came up with it for GoldenEye..! :)

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    I'm glad for the TEOL appreciation. I had the impression that the song was generally disliked.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou. I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'.
    edited November 2022 Posts: 8,656
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Really, sir, a disdain for Zimmer? ;-) I used to think him the lesser of all working composers, but somewhere after 2004 he started to grow on me again. Doesn't matter. I'm not sure he'll be back for the next Bond film.
    Really, sir, a disdain. I think he rates far down on the scale of film composers, not just below the deceased greats (say Bernard Herrmann, John Barry, Ennio Morricone and even James Horner) but I've always been thinking that his music has always been arbitrary, synthetic, artificial, and just not up to the job in general...mainly because his computer didn't quite make it. There is nothing that I'd consider really inferior, but most of it is mediocre and average (update!: and what's worst: most of all forgettable!), and someone took a wrong turn by promoting that guy.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Really, sir, a disdain for Zimmer? ;-) I used to think him the lesser of all working composers, but somewhere after 2004 he started to grow on me again. Doesn't matter. I'm not sure he'll be back for the next Bond film.
    Really, sir, a disdain. I think he rates far down on the scale of film composers, not just below the deceased greats (say Bernard Herrmann, John Barry, Ennio Morricone and even James Horner) but I've always been thinking that his music has always been arbitrary, synthetic, artificial, and just not up to the job in general...mainly because his computer didn't quite make it. There is nothing that I'd consider really inferior, but most of it is mediocre amd average (update!: and what's worst: most of all forgettable!), and someone took a wrong turn by promoting that guy.

    I can respect that. Artificial would be an apt way to describe Zimmer's scores. In some cases, though, I think artificial is the way to go. Films like Inception, Interstellar, Blade Runner 2049 and Dune for example benefit from the 'coldness' of Zimmer's music, at least in my opinion.

    But for Bond, I wouldn't mind a different sound next time.

    @mtm
    I agree about the "distinctness" of the NTTD score. In addition to NTTD, I'd say the SP score (which I really like) and SF, as well as TWINE and DAD, failed in that sense too.

    Barry had the gift of being able to compose really distinct scores. Same guy, unique sound each time. Arnold's scores for TND, CR and QOS achieve the same goal IMO.
  • SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria
    edited November 2022 Posts: 1,282
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    I love Serra's GE score. It's highly distinctive up to its Gunbarrel music. Once heard, one can instantly tell it's from GoldenEye.
    I sort of "second this emotion"... some of this stuff is first-rate, mainly the likes of "Whispering Statues" that are spot-on. Some others, not so much. But Serra's score overall fits to a tee and is unfairly maligned by many. Definitely better than Conti's FYEO attempts and what Hans Zimmer's composing software churned out for NTTD.

    Yeah. Serra's GE score is good. Don't know if calling it Avant-Garde would be too much. But it does have that feel. Oh, like Kamen's LTK, I have surprisingly come to love Conti's FYEO. Also, being a Zimmer fan, I love his NTTD score. I know he's capable of doing better, but evidently...with the Oscar win, his heart was clearly more in Dune, that he had to even turn down Nolan's Tenet.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,758
    For those of you who speak French, I thought this was an interesting watch, with ditto observations:

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    I have been keeping the GE soundtrack in heavy rotation all morning while doing some tedious "laptop work". It's interesting to notice how excited this score can get me. I will continue to defend it.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,758
    Great stuff @DarthDimi! Glad to have you on board ;)
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    Great stuff @DarthDimi! Glad to have you on board ;)

    Always have been. I was never overly fond of the score, but it's far from the musical disaster it is sometimes said to be. Not Serra's best, IMO, but somehow perfect for GE.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,371
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I have been keeping the GE soundtrack in heavy rotation all morning while doing some tedious "laptop work". It's interesting to notice how excited this score can get me. I will continue to defend it.

    You and I both! It's not the best the series has to offer but it's not even close to the worst. It's an amazing slice of '90s work and I'll always defend it.
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