Alive in the Superunknown #9 - Skyfall by Adele

Just last week, pop legend Adele won the Golden Globe award for best original song with her track 'Skyfall' - the theme to the James Bond film of the same name. Now, I haven't seen the film 'Skyfall' (I know, I know, it's apparently a really good film. I just haven't got around to seeing it yet...), so I can't comment on the song in relation to the plot or production of the film, but I've been listening to it nonstop for several months now so I'm in a very good position to review it as a standalone song!

James Bond films always have had legendary, award-winning soundtracks. Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name', which featured on 'Casino Royale', won a Satellite Award and a World Soundtrack Award, and was nominated for a Grammy. Shirley Bassey's songs 'Diamonds are Forever' and 'Goldfinger' have gone down in music history, with the latter being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. Adele's song is no different - in fact, I'd go as far as to say that 'Skyfall' is not just on par with other James Bond themes - it entirely surpasses its predecessors. 

Here's a breakdown of just what makes this song so awesome...

Atmosphere: 'Skyfall' creates an atmosphere that just screams 'James Bond' - it sounds suave, sophisticated and mysterious just like 007 himself! Melodically, it shares some similarities with past Bond themes, especially 'Goldfinger' and 'You Know My Name', and this means that if you were living in a cave and somehow didn't know that 'Skyfall' is the new Bond theme, you'd be able to identify it as part of the series from its sound alone.

Lyrics: The lyrics of 'Skyfall' can be summed up in one word: Epic. With such phrases as "This is the end / Hold your breath and count to ten / Feel the earth move and then / Hear my heart burst again / For this is the end.", Adele brings to mind chilling images and creates powerful emotions which make listening to this track a real experience.

Production: Adele's voice sounds absolutely beautiful on this track, and it's not just down to her personal talent - the mixing and production of the song is second-to-none. Nowadays, so many producers overdo their effects, but 'Skyfall' proves that a song doesn't need heavy autotune and excessive synthesizers in order to be a hit. Adele's voice sounds real, and it contains a class of raw, human emotion that is too often destroyed by computer effects in the songs of many other singers.

Instrumentation: Another remarkable feature of 'Skyfall' is the use of traditional, orchestral instruments (especially strings and brass), and the blending of these sounds with relatively new musical technologies (electric guitars, percussion and electric bass, for example). Just as the production of Adele's singing adds to the emotion and the overall honest feel of the track, the use of real instruments, not computer imitations, is what makes this song sound as fantastic and as long-lasting as it does.

'Skyfall' isn't a throwaway, 15-minutes-of-fame pop track. It's an unforgettable masterpiece, and a song which I feel will be remembered for many years to come, even when the hype surrounding the film itself has died down. 
                 Adele: Your track is golden. It deserves its Golden Globe.