Fewer than six weeks to go now until the new James Bond film (it's out here on Halloween, Friday, October 31) and here's our first full look (well, listen) to the new Bond theme song.
White has already been protesting the use of music he's written for the film on an advert for Coke Zero, who have negotiated a multi-million dollar deal tie in with the new movie. But frankly, anyone who's willing to utter the immortal line: "Another ringer with the slick trigger finger for Her Majestee-ee" need have no worries about losing credibility in the eyes of the record-buying public.
I attended a special fan-led interview yesterday with Daniel Craig, Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster and producer Barbara Brocolli, the results of which we'll be posting here on Monday. What surprised me most during the course of the day, during which we also met various members of the Eon production team which has now produced 22 Bonds, was that so many of the people involved in 2006's bold new Bond reinvention, Casino Royale, were the same who had worked on the appalling last Pierce Brosnan outing, Die Another Day.
Eon were brave enough to get rid of the gadgets and the wisecracks for the reboot, and so I can't help wondering why they didn't do away with the traditional theme song at the same time.
Chris Cornell's Casino Royale effort was decidedly shoddy, and this new piece, in my humble opinion, is also pretty by-the-numbers.
I know it's a cliche to harp on about The Dark Knight when commenting on any new blockbuster with a pretension towards classic status these days, but one of the things I loved about Christopher Nolan's Batman reinvention was the excellent instrumental theme music. No Prince, or, far worse, Seal tie-ins for the British director.
Given that the best piece of Bond music by far of the last decade is The Propellerheads and David Arnold's fabulous (instrumental) On Her Majesty's Secret Service, could it be time to do away with the Bond song altogether? Or are you a fan of White and Keys' effort?
