In October of 2012, I heard Adele's contribution to the latest 007 picture Skyfall, and I thought the title track of the same name would go on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song, which tuned out to be spot on. So far, I have a perfect 1-1 track record in predicting what will win the Academy Award in music, so I'm going to make another accurate prediction: not only will the theme song to this new James Bond film, Spectre, will not only miss a Best Original Song nomination, but it will also go down as one of the worst 007 tracks in the franchise's storied history.
I hate to do this, because, in general, I do think Sam Smith is a very good singer-songwriter. I love that he goes for a mix of soul, lush melodies and emphasis on production value. I think tracks like "Stay With Me" & "Not The Only One" are solid pop tunes. The problem is that his soft falsetto voice does not mix with the theme of a Bond song; and furthermore, the track comes off as another one of his yearning love ballads. Instead of feeling like Bond's conscious is telling him he's headed for his potential doom, the song comes off as obnoxious to listen to. Say what you will about Madonna's "Die Another Day" and the duet between Jack White & Alicia Keys' "Another Way to Die" (from the films Die Another Day and Quantum of Solace, respectively), but those songs, while terrible, were at least interesting in what they were trying to accomplish, and felt like, on their own, they were listenable, just not Bond songs. "Writing's On the Wall" is just terrible from start to finish.
I hate to do this, because, in general, I do think Sam Smith is a very good singer-songwriter. I love that he goes for a mix of soul, lush melodies and emphasis on production value. I think tracks like "Stay With Me" & "Not The Only One" are solid pop tunes. The problem is that his soft falsetto voice does not mix with the theme of a Bond song; and furthermore, the track comes off as another one of his yearning love ballads. Instead of feeling like Bond's conscious is telling him he's headed for his potential doom, the song comes off as obnoxious to listen to. Say what you will about Madonna's "Die Another Day" and the duet between Jack White & Alicia Keys' "Another Way to Die" (from the films Die Another Day and Quantum of Solace, respectively), but those songs, while terrible, were at least interesting in what they were trying to accomplish, and felt like, on their own, they were listenable, just not Bond songs. "Writing's On the Wall" is just terrible from start to finish.
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