Die Another Day (song)
Following the release of the previous Bond single, "The World Is Not Enough", MGM wanted a high-profile artist for the theme of Die Another Day, and Madonna was their choice.An electroclash and dance-pop number, "Die Another Day" is a mixture of strings and interpolating electronic swirls, and stuttered editing on Madonna's voice, cutting the main signal on the chorus."Die Another Day" received mixed responses from music critics; one group of reviewers favored its departure from traditional Bond soundtracks, while the other panned its production and called it uninteresting."Die Another Day" topped the charts in Canada, Italy, Panama, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Uruguay; and reached the top-ten in a number of countries worldwide.After the September 11 attacks, Madonna was in an introspective mood and started writing songs for her next studio album, American Life, with producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï.Recording started in late 2001 but was put on hold as Madonna shot for her film Swept Away in Malta, and also starred in the West End play Up For Grabs.[2] Madonna was their first choice, since she had been successful with soundtrack singles in the US, most recently with "Beautiful Stranger" (1999) from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me which was a top-twenty hit and earned her a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media."[2] By mid-February 2002 sources from the film set revealed that negotiations were under process for Madonna to sing the title song and make a cameo appearance in Die Another Day.Being a departure from the normal title sequence of the previous Bond films, Madonna faced difficulty in making the song blend with the theme of Die Another Day.[6] She told an interviewer from Genre magazine that the lyrics were about "destroying your ego, and it's juxtaposing the metaphor of, you know, the fight against good and bad, and it's set inside the whole universe of Bond".Once the song structure was finished, MGM sent Colombier in Los Angeles a rough edit of the opening sequence of the film, while Ahmadzaï sent him a longer version of the demo.[3] Ahmadzaï, who was already mixing and recording the other tracks for American Life, explained that the process "was often laborious but with a less-is-more philosophy that is reflected in the music's sparse arrangements."Sterling Clover from The Village Voice explained that the ending recalled the snare drums and bass usage in songs of the microhouse genre, describing it as "cacophony of harmonic fragments".Author Lucy O'Brien wrote in her biography, Madonna: Like an Icon, that the techno composition and the stuttering vocals made it "an almost anti-Bond theme".[11] James Hannaham from Spin was positive in his review, writing that it is a "brilliant, melodramatic song, that sounds like a stoic response to a world gone mad.Music, Dan Gennoe felt that since the songs in American Life mostly gave prominence to style over substance, "Die Another Day" as a result had become one-dimensional.[18] Stylus Magazine's Ed Howard described the song as "a great slice-and-dice hit of fucked-up electroclash", in an otherwise negative review for American Life.[19] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine considered it "forward-thinking" and believed that the record was added to American Life's track list to ensure that the album would not be devoid of a hit song.[20] In August 2018, the same author placed it at number 51 on his ranking of the singer's singles, calling it "innovative, frustratingly anticlimactic —the aural equivalent of edging— and, perhaps fittingly, the last in Madonna's long string of soundtrack hits"."[15] Chuck Taylor from Billboard was positive in his response, saying that the electronic effects rendered Madonna's vocals as non-discernible but the composition was forward thinking from Music (2000), her eighth studio album.[23] Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly criticized the song as a "flat James Bond tune" adding that it failed to become a "Madonna classic".[33] In a 2006 MORI poll for the Channel 4 TV show James Bond's Greatest Hits, the song was voted the ninth best out of 22, but also came in as an "overwhelming number one" favorite among those under the age of 24.[63] In an interview with Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, Ole Sanders from Traktor recalled that in May 2002 Madonna sent them a handwritten letter, along with a demo version of "Die Another Day".[78] Initial reports by The Observer suggested that Madonna would perform "Die Another Day" in front of Queen Elizabeth II at the premiere of the film in London's Royal Albert Hall, but it did not happen."[83] Towards the end of the performance, Madonna's dancers tied the singer on an electric chair and as it was raised high above the stage, she started singing "Lament" from Evita.[86] Madonna's DJ Enferno remixed the song and the performance ended with the singer falling down on the ground in the video, as she emerged from beneath the stage while jump-roping.[87] Paul Schrodt from Slant Magazine felt that the video emphasized the singer's "already-muscular arms", adding that "[u]nlike your run-of-the-mill diva, Madonna is willing to get dirty for her art, and she sometimes gets lost in her backup dancers' routine, though she's quick to remind the audience, 'I'm still the one in control'".[88] Ben Kaplan from Canada.com noted that "Die Another Day", along with the performances of "4 Minutes" and "La Isla Bonita" are re-imagined as "parts of larger medleys, with Madonna giving shout-outs to techno, flamenco and old-school R&B influences".[89] This performance was included on the Sticky & Sweet Tour live CD and DVD release, recorded during Madonna's shows in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December 2008.[91] After finishing the performance of "Human Nature", Madonna wears a coat and as the opening music of "Die Another Day" starts, she wields a gun and launches into "Beautiful Killer".
Die Another Day (disambiguation)SingleMadonnaDie Another DayStudioOlympicElectroclashdance-popindustrial popWarner Bros.Songwriter(s)Michel ColombierMirwais AhmadzaïProducer(s)What It Feels Like for a GirlAmerican LifeJames Bond themeThe World Is Not EnoughYou Know My NameYouTubeJames Bondfilm of the same nameMaverick RecordsCelebrationstuttered editingmusic criticsGolden Globe AwardBest Original SongGrammy AwardsBest Dance RecordingBest Short Form Music VideoBillboard Hot 100music videoJudaismRe-Invention World TourSticky & Sweet TourThe Celebration TourSeptember 11 attacksSwept AwayWest EndUp For GrabsMetro-Goldwyn-MayerJames Bond filmLee Tamahorisoundtrack singlealternative rockGarbageBeautiful StrangerGrammy AwardBest Song Written for Visual MediaHollywood.comMTV NewsDon't Tell Medemo tracksJames Bond musicexecutive producerMichael G. WilsonSigmund Freudgreatest hitssong structurestringmixingrecordingstringsGeoff FosterFrozenOlympic Studiosintermediatefading outThe Village Voicemicrohousecommon timeE majorLucy O'BrienJames HannahamYahoo! MusicStylus MagazineSlant MagazineedgingBillboardThe A.V. ClubStephen ThompsonEntertainment WeeklyManohla DargisLos Angeles TimesJoe MorgensternThe Wall Street JournalVarietyTodd McCarthyThe GuardianJude RogersA. O. ScottThe New York TimesGolden GlobeThe Hands That Built AmericaGangs of New York46th Annual Grammy AwardsKylie MinogueCome into My WorldJohnny CashGolden Raspberry AwardWorst Original SongChannel 4Rock musicNeil McCormickThe Daily TelegraphRolling StoneMainstream Top 40Adult Top 40Hot 100 AirplayHot Dance Music/Club PlayThe BeatlesElvis PresleyHot 100 SinglesDuran DuranA View to KillAretha FranklinNielsen SoundScanCanadian Singles ChartMusic CanadaAustralian Singles ChartAustralian Recording Industry AssociationRIANZ Singles ChartUK Singles ChartDJ SammyBryan Adams