Episode 20: James Bond - Part 3

Art of the Score

In Episode 20 we conclude our three-part retrospective of the music of Bond, James Bond. Having already covered the pioneering Bond sound of John Barry and the funk of the Moore era, in our final episode we make it through the emergence of David Arnold as the Bond musical heir apparent, and Thomas Newman’s recent work. Join us as we finally answer the question to end all questions: which is the greatest Bond score of all time, and which is the greatest song? Episode notes: 3:45 – Arnold, David Arnold 7:04 – Tomorrow Never Plays the Fanfare 11:25 – The fanboy composer? 13:05 – Surrender’s presence in the score 19:23 – Arnold’s neo-Barry romance writing 23:48 – The World Is Sort Of Enough 28:00 – Arnold’s muscular action writing – the submarine escape 33:48 – Score Another Way (electronically) in Die Another Day 40:04 – Bond joins the choir 44:25 – Blond, James Blond 50:18 – Parkour percussion 54:10 – You Know My Chord Progression 59:20 – Vesper’s Theme 1:01:28 – Quantum of Solace 1:05:08 – Watery woodwinds at the opera 1:07:40 – DC3s, tempo, chromaticism, and the peak of Arnold’s action music 1:10:48 – Thomas Newman, Bond’s new man 1:12:35 – M’s retiring brass statements 1:16:50 – Bond on a boat 1:19:47 – Severine and Newman’s romantic strings 1:26:45 – A Spectre haunts 007 1:30:10 – The Writing’s On The Train 1:32:08 – At the end: our favourite score, and our favourite song We love to hear from our listeners – get in touch via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and if you like The Art of the Score, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and comment.