Song Review - Adele "Skyfall"

The long-awaited premiere of the title song to the upcoming James Bond film, Skyfall has arrived, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of James Bond on October 5th (now designated Global James Bond Day). Long time James Bond aficionados will likely be very pleased with the song. Have a listen.

Ears only, 007.



"Skyfall" fits perfectly within the pantheon of James Bond title songs, with its lush arrangements, torch song sentiment and restrained use of Monty Norman's instantly recognizable "James Bond Theme" melody. The song is a back-to-basics approach for the filmmakers, and speaking as a hard core Bond fan, a very welcome one at that. The song is "real"; analogous to in-lens over CGI methods of special effects in terms of "real". There is no Auto-tune here, nor any Dubstep wub wubs, which would have been inappropriate to the point of absurdity in the world of James Bond music.

"Skyfall" immediately evokes aural imagery of Bond songs performed by Shirley Bassey (Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever), Nancy Sinatra (You Only Live Twice) and even more recent songs from Sheryl Crow (Tomorrow Never Dies) and Garbage (The World Is Not Enough). It is instantly recognizable as a James Bond title song in the classic sense, and that is where it succeeds.

Some might disagree with this, especially since the Daniel Craig iteration of James Bond is a reboot of the franchise, set in a grittier, more believable film world, which began with the heaviest and loudest Bond title song ever (Chris Cornell's killer "You Know My Name"). However, and despite all the apocrypha surrounding its non-recording, I strongly believe that had Amy Winehouse's song for Quantum of Solace come to fruition, it would have been in a similar vein or at least spirit to "Skyfall".

Frankly, Adele's performance and the song itself is beautiful. There is soul behind the vocals, live instrumentation and nary a trace of artifice. It is a classy piece of music which can and will exist on its own, outside the context of the film. Will it storm the singles charts as some Bond titles have done? In the UK it seems quite likely, given Adele's current popularity and penchant for Bond music to perform well, with nine of the ten most recent Bond songs charting within the Top 12. In the US, it is harder to say. Only five of the last ten James Bond title pieces have even charted here, granted that does include Duran Duran's #1 hit "A View to A Kill" and Madonna's "Die Another Day" which peaked at #8. You should expect to hear "Skyfall" performed during next year's Academy Awards and it wouldn't be a surprise if it won for Best Original Song.

And even if it doesn't become a hit pop single or win any awards, Adele and Paul Epworth's "Skyfall" is a perfect piece of music for the 23rd James Bond film. All that remains to be seen is what visuals are crafted to go along with it on screen, when Skyfall opens on November 9th.

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