Jack White, Alicia Keys misfire on new Bond theme

The song: Jack White and Alicia Keys, "Another Way to Die"

The good: It brings a bit of rock 'n' roll bite to the Bond theme and is instantly more memorable than the song Chris Cornell recorded for "Casino Royale."

The bad: Any hooks by the song are provided by riffing on the instantly recognizable Bond theme, not by anything new offered in the song. And Keys, usually a relatively bold, in-your-face R&B singer, seems oddly tamed here, her voice not meshing well with White's yelled warble. In her defense, it's hard to not sound silly when you sing, "Suit 'em up, bang bang!" And there's some odd, out-of-place sudden electronic textures here and there, resulting in an overly-crowded song.

Final thoughts: One of the highest-profile film-related songs of the year, "Another Way to Die" is too firmly entrenched in Bond-lore to have any sort of life outside of the upcoming film, "Quantum of Solace." The first mistake was mimicking an iconic film score with some electric guitars and modern effects, which is always, always, always, always a bad idea (see Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton in "Mission Impossible"). But don't fault White and Keys too much, as tackling a Bond theme has proved to be an insurmountable task for a bevy of pop stars of late. Everyone from Cornell to Madonna to Garbage has seemed to drown under the pressure of having to craft a tune for the franchise, trying too hard to sound modern (see Madonna's "Die Another Day," the music equivalent of soulless CGI effect after CGI effect), or burdening songs with overwrought string arrangements (see Garbage's "The World Is Not Enough").

The promise of White roughing-up the Bond song was intriguing, but by the 15th second of the tune, "Another Way to Die" reveals itself to be little more than hard-rock updating of the James Bond fanfare. It's passable, certainly, and for a brief second it even sounds as if the song might veer into harder, Black Sabbath-like territory. But it soon slinks away into jam-packed busy verses, where orchestral flourishes and trash-can rhythms battle for airtime under the anonymously shouted vocals of Keys and White.

As ignorable action-movie background music, "Another Way to Die" probably works just fine; its bombastic drums are a more than workable sound to some seven-figure, crash-and-bang effects. Yet about halfway through the song, the piece dissolves into a bit of a mess, with out-of-place "whoa-whoas" and a cheesy squiggles of a guitar solo. It's probably easier to stomach in the midst of a fight scene and works just fine in a brief television commercial.

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Photo: Sony Pictures

'Bond' and Coke don't mix for Jack White, but didn't he already drink the Kool-Aid?

Those who want an easy sneak of the new James Bond theme can get a snippet of it via a television ad, where the song has made its debut. The cut, "Another Way to Die," is from this winter's "Quantum of Solace," and was recorded by Jack White and Alicia Keys.

Late last week, the NME had posted a brief news item declaring that White and his management were displeased with the song's placement in the ad. White's people said:

"Jack White was commissioned by Sony Pictures to write a theme song for the James Bond film 'Quantum Of Solace', not for Coca Cola ... Any other use of the song is based on decisions made by others, not by Jack White."

Any chance Sir White got a little confused as to exactly what franchise film he recorded a song for?

Don't get us wrong, there's plenty-o-Bond fans here at 202 W. 1st St., but recording a song for a Bond film isn't all that different from recording a tune for an extended commercial.

To take the cynical stance, the Bond films are a bit like live-action catalogs, a two-plus hour showcase for new cars, watches, gadgets, booze and clothes. According to this 2005 Forbes article, the last Bond film, "Casino Royale," featured six brands with prominent screen time, which was, to be fair, was a bit low for a series that has launched new car campaigns.

While corporate cola jingles may not be as cool as Bond set pieces, White and Keys weren't recording a song for a well-meaning indie film here struggling to find an audience. And besides, based on the brief ad, "Another Way to Die" pretty closely mirrors the Bond score as it is, making it belong more to Bond lore than it does any single artist.