There's already threads for the best of the Bond songs; this is the thread for the lame, the weak, the "please turn that song off or I'll go pull the plug on the stereo" ones.
Personally, "All Time High" is the one to beat. Somehow I have this song programmed into my head along with the smell of cheap burritos, so either one brings up the other, and neither is a fun experience, believe me.
I'm unfamiliar, though, with the ones that came after Barry took a powder, so there might be real competition.
Die Another Day. Hands down. All Time High, Never Say Never Again, Man With the Golden Gun-bad songs, but at least the tunes can be enjoyed sans-lyrics in the score proper most of the time. Die Another Day doesn't have that going for it. Also, not a fan of Nobody Does it Better. I think it's just Carly Simon though.
Lamest for me is a threeway tie between "Die Another Day" by Madonna, "The World Is Not Enough" by Garbage (one of the most appropriately-titled bands of all time), and . . . the duet between Jack White and Alicia Keys for Quantum of Solace. I can't even remember the actual name of the song.
And horribly rude to boot! I like how the brass goes for broke, but....I don't know if it's the lyrics, or Lulu, or that weird 70's guitar, but none of it gels.
My least favorite is Tomorrow Never Dies. Horrible song and probably the most out of tune singing ever. It's time to dump the flavor of the month singers for someone who can really sing. As the years go by the songs get worse. Louder and louder and louder. No finesse or real melody writing.
My least favorite is Tomorrow Never Dies. Horrible song and probably the most out of tune singing ever. It's time to dump the flavor of the month singers for someone who can really sing. As the years go by the songs get worse. Louder and louder and louder. No finesse or real melody writing.
I agree though the K.D. Lang Tomorrow Never Dies song is one of my favorites.
I don't care what anyone says, I love Madonna's "Die Another Day". As for worst, it was "Licence To Kill" until the truly awful warbling of "Another Way To Day" came along.
Die Another Day by a mile, followed by GoldenEye (which might have been better with someone else than Tina Turner though, who was well beyond her career peak at that time. The moment her nagging voice comes in the song is dead).
I like some of the decidedly-less-than-brilliant Bond tunes because they're a pop music time capsule of sorts. But some are so bad (imho) that they're not even qualifying for that.
My "worst Bond songs" list (no particular order):
DIE ANOTHER DAY, Madonna (might actually be the worst title song ever/yet) ALL TIME HIGH, Rita Coolidge (wasn't a Bonnie Tyler tune in the cards?) SKYFALL, Adele (pretty damn bad, almost ruins the surprisingly trippy title sequence)
I know that Lulu's The Man with the Golden Gun is weak but it is good tongue-in-cheek fun and fits the film (as well as the score) very well.
Whilst the music to Live and Let Die is okay ... and George Martin's work on the score helps a great deal, I still find Paul McCartney's vocal truly awful ... but that doesn't make it the Lame-est.
The lack of co-hesion re: title songs for Tomorrow Never Dies, Licence to Kill, Die Another Day, GoldenEye, and, to a lesser extent (thanks to David Arnold), Quantum of Solace make these the prime contenders.
The appalling lyric and vocals, and even the music, of Another Way to Die make this the worst song in the 50 year history and the money people behind the decision to go for the popular vote, should be ashamed of themselves. But then they aren't in the business to provide entertainment for the JB007 fans ... just to create money from spin-off merchandising.
As to the criticism re: All Time High ... as the last of the truly great JB007 title songs I can't agree. Rita Coolidge is not a favourite singer of mine but I love that song (albeit I wish an alternative version had concluded the score).
Personally, "All Time High" is the one to beat. Somehow I have this song programmed into my head along with the smell of cheap burritos, so either one brings up the other, and neither is a fun experience, believe me.
The problem with that song isn't that it's horrible, but that it's unremarkable. It's just there, doing nothing for me, either positive or negative.
It's the only one of the John Barry ones that doesn't even feel like a Bond song.
Die Another Day. It's like they didn't even write lyrics for that one but instead picked words from a hat and decided to repeat them over and over.
In fact, I have to wonder if Madonna was writing a theme for Analyze That (which opened two weeks later) but instead submitted it to the wrong studio (due to the repeating of the words "analyze this").
