Under the Covers with James Bond - "Die Another Day"
And so we arrive at one of the most divisive title songs in the James Bond canon. "Die Another Day" by Madonna sold well, charted well and remains in a three way tie (with "Goldfinger" and "Skyfall") as the fourth highest charting James Bond themes in the US. Critical reviews of it were sharply divided into "love it or loathe it" categories. If you share the opinion of the latter, the good news is, there are a pair of improvements upon the original which might just change your mind about the song.
Madonna's "Die Another Day" is, to put it nicely, not among my personal favorites of the James Bond theme pieces. It works as a Madonna song for sure, even though there is far too much Auto-Tune, which is too bad because unlike many of today's "singers" who try to emulate her, Madge can in fact, sing. Don't get me wrong. As a child of the 80's I do in fact like Madonna, but this song is better suited to her catalog, not Bond's.
Now, for an example of how a live instrument can counteract the overuse of digital over-production, check out the energy which a guy named Eliot Guilhaumon injects into the song by playing live drums over it.
Insert applause, here. The use of real instrumentation and non-effected vocals in this song is given further gravity by this performance from Mister Bond - A Jazzy Cocktail Of Ice Cold Themes.
However, if you want to hear what is arguably the most Bondian version of "Die Another Day", look no further than the brilliant City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
Leave it to the world's of classical and jazz music to elevate a dubious theme song into something more worthy of association with 007.
The music of James Bond will return in Casino Royale.
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