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Comments
I agree... that is controvercial!
I love Sheryl Crow's music, but her contribution is ponderous, clunky and utterly forgettable (IMO). The only good thing I can say about it, is that it's better than Madonna's putrid attempt in DAD.
On the other hand AWTD is more catchy than NGAG to my ears and full of tawdry drama, so I can understand why it could be chosen over the more restrained Bassey number (restrained by Bassey standards anyway)
As with "Octopussy" no-one was brave enough to face up to the challenge of working the phrase "Quantum of Solace" into the lyrics...
I can definitely understand why both main songs were picked over these ones. I think ultimately both feel 'bigger' and more appropriate for the opening of a movie. I really don't think either Surrender or Nothing Good About Goodbye are ultimately very good songs though.
I'll also say this - Crow's Tomorrow Never Dies isn't that far off of Adele's Skyfall in my opinion. It's a very atmospheric and lyrically interesting song (and honestly, musically, more creative than Surrender). And for all its flaws AWTD gives QOS that Bondian rock song they wanted. NGAG would have been all wrong.
Has anyone ever seen George Lazenby's contribution to the Hitchcock Half Hour reboot in the 80s? Where he played a sort of version of James Bond and even got a knock off Shirley Bassey esque theme song?
Honestly, that theme song at 0:35 is basically half a step away from both Surrender and Nothing Good About Goodbye for me. I genuinely can't unhear it - the strange cliched wordiness and underwhelming chorus (and generic Bondian chords that seem like they've been copy pasted from other themes).
I agree, Surrender especially is just too much of a pastiche. I enjoy it, but I think the film might actually have been taken less seriously if it had been the main theme, it would have seemed like the Bond series eating itself to some extent. It's like putting the Life of Brian song on the opening of a Bond film! :)
Crow's song is a more original number.
I do like the verse melody to Surrender being used in the score of the film though, it works very well there. I think the verse is more successful than the chorus.
If I had to pick one to be the main theme, I'd probably go for No Good About Goodbye. It's a more interesting song and has grown on me a lot recently. I still prefer AWTD though.
The one I would absolutely take over the chosen one in a heartbeat is Radiohead's Spectre. I keep meaning to find a fanedit which adds it in actually.
It wasn't chosen over NGAG, NGAG wasn't written until after the movie.
AWTD is awful, perhaps only Madonna's effort was worse. The London Music Works/Prague Philharmonic editions of both make them sound quite a bit better, but that doesn't change the fact that the vocals of AWTD make it a weird.
No Good about Goodbye is far better than AWTD, and probably better than at least two of Bassey's Bond efforts. And also, I feel would help Quantum of Solace distinguish itself a bit more from being a "Casino Royale II" with general audiences. Of course, this being in the main titles may impact the decision for Skyfall, which is a much better song in turn...
Both are used excellently in the films, but I think I'll go for No Good About Goodbye. If "I Will Return" fully existed, I'd probably choose that however.
I said "could" not "was"
In another timeline / continuity / multiverse... (perhaps the same one where Craig-Bond didn't die in NTTD?)
In the case of TND, just hearing what's already there in the film score, and thinking in terms of musical cohesion, since Surrender is extensively quoted and TND the song isn't quoted at all, it would've been better for Surrender to take its place as the title song (though it must still be said that, as it is, the film benefits from having a quieter title song after the balls-to-the-wall pre-title sequence). From a point of view of the feel of each song, both seem to capture different aspects of the film and its story. Surrender is about the villain's plan and its bombastic style reflects the movie's classic vibe (TND coming after GE is to some degree similar to Sp coming after Sf) and sense of larger-than-life spectacle. TND the song is more introspective and appears to deal with the heartbreak and loss of Bond and Paris' relationship. I can see either song working just as well as the title song in its own way. From a point of view of musical preference, I love both songs and only give a slight edge to Surrender.
In the case of QoS, once again, just hearing what's already there in the film score, and thinking in terms of musical cohesion, both songs could plausibly have been the title song, since both are quoted in the score, though as it is, NGAB is heard more, and in my mind, more distinctively, so it would've been preferrable for it to be the title song (not possible since it didn't exist until later). From a point of view of the feel of each song, I feel NGAB beats AWTD by a large margin. QoS is a high energy film, a speeding bullet wheezing by, but that energy is fundamentally melancholic. AWTD doesn't really capture that. It is a continuation of the style of YKMN, which isn't something to be rejected outright (this is, as I said, an energetic picture), but crucially, I think the song should've had an element of sorrow in it, which I feel it only barely has. NGAB has that quality in spades. From a point of view of musical preference, I much prefer NGAB to AWTD. NGAB is to me a great song. AWTD is good but the vocals, which I find annoying in places, let it down. If it weren't for that, it would still be under NGAB, but much closer.
I don't really care about changing things in these movies, they are what they are, but if I had to make a change, I'd have NGAB as the title song of QoS.
Great post!