Listen: Radiohead's Unused SPECTRE Theme Song

When it comes to James Bond movie theme songs, I was disappointed with Sam Smith's "The Writing's On The Wall." Granted, it's almost impossible for any mortal being to follow Adele's "Skyfall," but Smith's Spectre theme was too quiet and contemplative for my tastes.

Practically every Bond film has unused theme songs left by the wayside as the producers narrow down their final choice, but they often have a few versions to choose from since they can commission multiple artists to write and perform a theme. Such is the case with Spectre, when EON Productions head honchos Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson asked Radiohead for a theme song. They obviously ended up going in a different direction, and normally Radiohead's song would have been left as an obscure piece of trivia that only hardcore fans might have been able to track down.

But on Christmas Day, the band released the full track on Soundcloud for everyone to hear, along with this statement:

Last year we were asked to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre.
Yes we were. It didn’t work out, but became something of our own, which we love very much.
As the year closes we thought you might like to hear it.
Merry Christmas. May the force be with you.

Listen to the song in the player below:

Last year we were asked to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre. Yes we were. It didn’t work out, but became something of our own, which we love very much. As the year closes we thought you might like to hear it. Merry Christmas. May the force be with you.

For me, this song suffers from the same problems as Smith's: it's too quiet, too slow, and doesn't ever kick up to a higher, more energetic level. From an audio perspective, it seems too similar throughout, and there's not even a catchy chorus. In fact, I can't even figure out when the verses end and the chorus begins. A little distinction there would have done this song a lot of good, and I can see why the producers chose to go with Smith's more traditional version. What do you think?

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