In 2012, Daniel Craig is back for his 3rd performance as James Bond in the spy thriller, Skyfall. The theme for big screen production carries the same name sung by Adele. When this single came out, I instantly liked it. In my opinion, it was the best James Bond theme song to come out in a long while. Within 10 hours of its release, it topped the iTunes chart. Oddly, it fell slightly short on the UK Singles chart peaking #2. In the US, Adele’s song ranked #8 on Billboard Hot 100. The song did reach the music pinnacle in eleven other countries, not to mention Adele took home an Oscar for best original song that year and the first in almost five decades for the James Bond film series.
I was happy to find plenty of material to work with this time, unlike the past few battles. When choosing my contenders I frequently prefer going with the opposite sex and different style of the original artist. I kept this mindset going into picking my two favorite bands.
Turn your attention now to the contenders
First up is Norman Nathan featuring Martin Gerloff. Norman is the vocalist and Martin is on guitar. The guys did individual responsibilities to bring together their music video that was shot in two locations Preikestolen, Langfoss Falls in Norway and Felsenmeer Odenwald in Germany.
The next band started in 2006 in Tele Aviv by vocalist, Ran Yerushalmi and guitarist, Bar Caspi. Soon after, Yoni Menner on guitar joined the new group shaping the sound of the band. The last two members came on in 2010, Priel Horesh on drums and Avihai Levy on bass. The Israeli alternative metal band is Walkways!
Two metal bands with different styles. Which band is your favorite?
I invite you to visit BoTBers with showdowns going on today.
- CAAC (me) 1st
- The Doglady’s Den (Debbie) retired member, active voter
- Jingle Jangle Jungle (Mary) 1st
- Mike’s Ramblings
- STMcC Presents BoTB (Stephen, BoTB Manager)
- StreamPebbles Diedre – WELCOME to the fun! 😉
- The Sound of One Hand Typing (John)
- Tossing It Out (Lee)
*Unless noted, all other participants will present two battles per month on the 1st & 15th
Polls close noon (EST) on Nov 6th!
Tomorrow, I share another installment of my photo memories from our September Maine vacation. Thanks for being apart of this Battle of the Bands. Next week, same time I’ll announce the winner and I hope you return to see if your favorite artist wins in this showdown. X💋X💋, Cathy
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Hi Cathy, I must be losing it! I read this post and was going to come back to vote, but completely forgot! 😮 Both covers were good, but Norman Nathan’s metal version would have had my vote. Sorry to have missed the deadline!
Debbie,
Don’t worry about it. I do the same thing all too often. I figured you would’ve voted for Norman Nathan. Maybe, you catch the next battle showdown. 🙂
Nathan and Gerloff, as it just seemed to fit.
It’s interesting to see how these battles play out. I would’ve not figured you would be one to vote for Nathan and Gerloff which is surprising in a good way. Thanks for joining the fun, my friend!
I’m going with The Walkaways here. I liked their sound better.
Gotcha down for the Walkways, Brian. Thanks for playing along!
Who’s Brian?
Brian is a kitty. His dad is Terry from Brian’s Home. You know, I don’t know what Brian’s hooman mom’s name is. I know she works the blog from time to time, too. 🙂 I’m so horrible with keeping up with people’s real names in Blogosphere. 🙂
I did like the Walkways better but I’ve never heard the original.
Hi, Hello, and Howdy, CAThy! It’s This Me.
This was a goot BOTB contest. I really liked the Norman Nathan version, but when it went over the top with that “demonic” voice bit (which has become ridiculously trite in Heavy Metal) it lost me. Too bad, because I was digging it right nicely up until that point.
I’m voting for WALKWAYS. Oddly, I think I actually liked the Norman Nathan version better, overall. But that put-on devil voice really wrecked a pretty cool and simultaneously dramatic recording, in my wee li’l two-cent opinion.
Rock On, Sister!
~ D-FensDogG
STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Stephen,
I’m not one for “demonic” vocals. The only thing reason I kept them in the showdown is because the overall song is put together well and the deep growl wasn’t as evil sounding as in other songs I’ve heard but I definitely understand where you’re coming from. It took listening to a few times before I decided to use them in this battle. The song would’ve been far better had they left that portion out or sang it in like the rest of the song. Thanks for giving your two-cent opinion and casting your vote for Walkways!
They were both well done, but I prefer Norman’s version. XO
Ellen,
Excellent, a second vote goes to Nathan & Gerloff!
I agree that this is one of the best of the newer Bond themes. Still, I’m not overly excited with it. But I don’t much care for Bond films like I used to. I’m getting old maybe.
I’m not even going to bother rewriting these artists names so I’ll refer to them as the first and second. I didn’t care for the vocals of the first. The second cover was more interesting to me, but not something I’d listen to many times. A mood thing for me I guess.
Give my vote to the second version. They took the song in more interesting directions.
Lee
Lee,
WP held your comment in spam. You didn’t use a link so I have no idea why it did this. The good news I noticed it. I thought for sure the first contender would pull more votes. It’s interesting how you think one way and the battle goes another. Thanks for casting your vote for the Walkways!
Tel Aviv gets my vote. I was all for Nathan until he made his boice sound like the devil and evil sounding. I hate that as it makes me feel very uncomfortable as if evil is truly there. I love this song and it was a great Bond film. I think Live and Let DIE should have won as well as Goldfinger and Thunderball. There are many great Bond tunes. I have the compilation CD which I love.
Birgit,
A third vote for Walkways! I almost didn’t use Nathan & Gerloff because of the deep throaty sound that you’re refer to as ‘evil’. I get that but I liked the cover so I decided to go with it. I’ve heard far eviler sounding metal vocalists that make me run for cover. Thanks for joining the fun, my dear!
Hi Cathy!
Gads, I must have been under a rock when Adele released this! Fantastic song and she’s perfect for it.
As to the battle, I much prefer the Walkways 🙂
Norman and Martin is just a bit too dark – and deep.
Cool battle!
Diedre,
The first band isn’t the kind of artist I listen to but the way they covered Adele’s song seemed to work beautifully. It felt really moody. Thanks for your vote for Walkways!
Norman Nathan featuring Martin Gerloff is my pick. Just a richer sound.
Have a fabulous day and week, Cathy. Love and hugs. ♥
Sandee,
Norman Nathan and Martin Gerloff gets their vote! Thanks for stopping by, my friend.;)
Hi, Cathy!
Happy November, 2022, dear friend! I hope you and DH (and sweet LA) had a splendid Halloween. A special shout-out to my good buddy Foghorn Leghorn!
“Skyfall,” the theme for this round of Battle of the Bonds, is much more to my liking than some of the other songs used in the soundtracks of 007 films in the series. The longer I listened to Adele’s original, the more I liked it, because captures the James Bond feeling and references the original “James Bond Theme” composed by Monty Norman. I agree with you that “Skyfall” was the best James Bond theme to come out in a long while and deserving of the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Turning to your battle, it was easy for me to like Norman & Martin’s version of “Skyfall,” self-described as an “epic metal cover.” Rendering the video in black & white was a good move on their part but, correct me if I’m wrong, we are supposed to listen with “eyes wide shut” and evaluate the performance only on the basis of the audio recording, disregarding the visuals. I was already getting into the N&M version when Norman turned on the harsh vocals in the middle of the song, making me like it even more. Theirs is indeed an “epic metal cover.”
Norman & Martin were a hard act to follow, but Walkways, an alternative metal band based in Tel Aviv, Israel, impressed me even more with their cover of ‘Skyfall.” The conceptual video featuring a continuous tracking “dolly-out” shot of the boys in the band in business suits running down the road with guns blazing is killer – reminiscent of a Sam Peckinpah action film. The above mentioned sequence, presented in slo-mo with the lead singer doing a real time lip sync to the song, is otherworldly. Once again, I realize that I am not supposed to take the video into consideration in determining my vote, but I need to tell you that this mewsic video by Walkways blew me away. The good news is that I also prefer their audio rendition of “Skyfall.” The intense, semi-harsh vocals convey a sense of urgency and fit the acton on the screen perfectly. Give my vote to Walkways!
You picked two very strong contenders for this month’s BOTB, Cathy, and I applaud you. Enjoy the rest of your week and have a happy November, dear friend!
Tom,
It’s hard to keep a music video from swaying you emotionally. My hearing not being what I’d for it to be makes it easier for me to close my eyes or just do something else while I’m listening to music. This truly allows me to not judge the song/artist based on what I hear. Your thoughts on this artist reverberated the kind of reaction I expected but then you switched gears as blowing me away with your decision to go with Walkways. I’m absolutely tickled that I not only found one but two equal contenders for you. Thanks for voicing your opinion and casting your vote for Walkways in this battle round, my friend!