Love or hate Bill Conti's For Your Eyes Only score?
Matt S
Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,610MI6 Agent
I both love and hate the FYEO score.
Things I love:
- Title theme holds up very well
- Title theme used well throughout the score
- Bond theme not overused, but it's used in the right moments
- Music fits the on-screen action very well
- One of the most epic gunbarrels (though it doesn't need the cowbell)
- Runaway is a fantastic track that feels like a proper piece of music but still fits the action
- Ski...Shoot...Jump is a very creative track
Things I hate:
- The music sometimes makes the film feel more lighthearted than I think it should feel. John Barry used serious music throughout MR to make a silly film feel a little less silly, and FYEO could have used that as well.
- Doesn't have a Bond sound or a spy sound
- Makes the film feel dated. If Barry was able to score the film, the film would without a doubt hold up better than any of Moore's other Bond films.
Though the music sounds dated, that doesn't by any means make it bad music. It's just bad in the context of the film. Overall, I absolutely love the music but I think it holds back the film. What are your thoughts?
Things I love:
- Title theme holds up very well
- Title theme used well throughout the score
- Bond theme not overused, but it's used in the right moments
- Music fits the on-screen action very well
- One of the most epic gunbarrels (though it doesn't need the cowbell)
- Runaway is a fantastic track that feels like a proper piece of music but still fits the action
- Ski...Shoot...Jump is a very creative track
Things I hate:
- The music sometimes makes the film feel more lighthearted than I think it should feel. John Barry used serious music throughout MR to make a silly film feel a little less silly, and FYEO could have used that as well.
- Doesn't have a Bond sound or a spy sound
- Makes the film feel dated. If Barry was able to score the film, the film would without a doubt hold up better than any of Moore's other Bond films.
Though the music sounds dated, that doesn't by any means make it bad music. It's just bad in the context of the film. Overall, I absolutely love the music but I think it holds back the film. What are your thoughts?
Visit my blog, Bond Suits
Comments
And this hasn't changed since the first time that I've seen the movie in the cinema back in 1981!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
That makes three of us -{
Yikes ... I will be wearing green trainers next
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
There are some disco bits and synthie bits now and then, but the score is much better than often repeated here on the board.
Everyone stating that it has not aged well, I suggest to put it in the player and think again.
FYEO with the Fluegelhorn solo by Derek Watkins - if you don't like that you must have a heart of stone!
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Runaway and Submarine.
It's mostly the action cues in the first half that are the problem, like A Drive in the Country, Melina's Revenge (the part that is Bond's revenge against Blofeld) and Runaway. I love all these tracks, especially Runaway, but even in the parts of the soundtrack that hold up well, I still really want to hear Barry's music in the film. Barry wrote some of his best scores between MR and OP, like Somewhere in Time, Body Heat and especially Raise the Titanic. I think it was his best few years, which makes the lack of a Barry score in FYEO even more disappointing.
I re-listened to the soundtrack in entirety on the way to work this morning and right from the get-go, including the title song, you can hear Bill Conti's talent for putting together that true feeling cinematic sound.
What's great:
- The lushness of the soundtrack and blend of electronic and full orchestra - particularly the brass notes.
- Usage of Bond theme within A Drive in the Country, Submarine, Gunbarrel, Melina's Revenge - Conti has used the Bond theme in one of the most creative and excellent sounding ways out of all the non-Barry composers.
- The suspense created in Gonzales Takes a Dive, St. Cyril's, Ski Shoot Jump, Run Them Down, The Climb.
- Espionage cues when Bond is in Italy.
- Instrumental versions of the title theme when Bond is in Corfu.
- Title song is a great Bond song and fits the film perfectly - it's also an excellent song when not in context of Bond too.
What's no so great:
- Same as Matt S said at the top of this thread - sometimes the tone is a little too lighthearted.
- Overuse of percussion at times.
- Ending of Runaway could've been toned down a bit, in the film it doesn't totally match the pictures, again makes it lighthearted.
FYEO would be my favourite non-Barry/Arnold Bond soundtrack.
"Better make that two."
A Gent in Training.... A blog about my continuing efforts to be improve myself, be a better person, and lead a good life. It incorporates such far flung topics as fitness, self defense, music, style, food and drink, and personal philosophy.
Agent In Training
Is that in "The PM Gets the Bird"?
"Better make that two."
Yes, that is a really beautiful piece.
To me that track (while it is a little cliched like a Kenny G piece), highlights the quality of Conti's score.
It has that heavily produced album sound that appeared in the 1980s that to me is similar to Julio Iglesias' 1100 Bel Air Place.
"Better make that two."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
One that springs to mind, which I think is very creative, is the piece used when Rog is trying to get away from the bad dudes and gets in the lift with the skiers. He looks genuinely scared when the door re-opens.
The music used for tne climb is very suspenseful and the gunbarrel with cowbell is absolutely stonking. Stonking? Yes, stonking!
Oh, and Ski, Shoot, Jump is just perfect.
In fact, I am just listening to the score now and the title song is one of the best ever!
"You forgot the first rule of Mass Media Elliot! Give the people what they want!!!"
"I never miss..."
"Time to face gravity!"
The mix between the love theme and the theme for the government is brilliantly done - the drums and brass instruments. Then what tops it off is the brilliant blend into the title song - very seamless.
IMO, Conti's soundtrack is one of the most polished and cinematic scores from all of Bond. Not saying it's better than Barry/Arnold - it just has an excellent different sound.
"Better make that two."
1. Dalton 2. Moore 3. Connery 4. Lazenby 5. Craig 6. Brosnan
" I don't listen to hip hop!"
Hard for me to picture the Citroen chase without A Drive In The Country. I imagine Barry might have created something along the lines of He's Dangerous, or possibly kept the majority of the scene music-less until a pivotal moment for it to kick in a'la the Mustang chase in DAF. Or, it might have been the scene to include a rendition of The James Bond Theme for this particular film.
The gunbarrel I love!!! It's a traditional gunbarrel with Conti's own flair. In other words, he didn't change music cues like Arnold in TND or Hamlisch in TSWLM. I think it's great!
I'm pretty sure John Barry would have scored the Citroen chase with the light-sounding Bond theme he used in the Moore films, just as he did the gondola chase in MR and the car on the train tracks chase in OP. He would have saved a new action cue for the ski chase where we hear Runaway, or used the Bond theme there. He would have written a romantic theme for the occasions when Conti uses the FYEO theme, and its easy to imagine what that would have sounded like. It's easy to know what to expect Barry, and by this time he got lazy with some of his scores. I love the (over)use of the Bond theme in MR and OP, but it's lazy. TLD shows how to use the Bond theme alongside new cues. The biggest upside to Conti scoring FYEO instead of Barry is that we got something completely fresh. Barry could have done just more of the same with FYEO, though I appreciate all of Barry's later works despite this.
I think everyone loves the FYEO gunbarrel. It has such power, and it sounds more cool than it sounds dated.
I disagree that his work came across as lazy. My only observation is that because the themes weren't as jazzy as they were in the 60s that perhaps they become less iconic.
TMWTGG IMO would be his most underrated work, it's stunning. Especially listening to some of the extended tracks that have been stripped out of the film (on YouTube).
Moonraker features Barry's deepest work, Flight Into Space IMO is up there with the greatest pieces of soundtrack in any film. It highlights Barry's talent to switch from a jazz composer, to a great film composer. It perfectly captures the mood, expanse and style of the film - and outer space themed composing.
OP is probably Barry's flattest score, it isn't deep or dark, and it isn't overly light. It does feature an incredible love theme, in particular the track That's my little Octopussy which IMO is the most romantic Bond music that Barry has made. The score reflects an eastern theme without being overly cliched (elements of YOLT/TMWTGG are guilty of this) and maintains a serious Cold War feel.
AVTAK and TLD begin bringing in a bit of experimentation (guitar and bass) and give the scores a bit more edge than his previous three. IMO TLD is his best work and a great soundtrack to end Bond on.
"Better make that two."
I agree with all your points. The laziness I'm referring to is in comparison to the other scores he was doing at those times, not in comparison to other Bond works. Overall, Barry's works had become more and more similar to each other. His Bond works feature the most creativity of the era, though if it weren't for differing instrumentation we'd hear even more similarity in his works.