The original Gojira 1954 score

[therealmccoy]

Godzilla comes to Tokyo Bay is my favorite. I could listen to that over and over

Probably one of my favorite pieces out of that movie as well. I wish they had done the same thing with GRA. G's appearance in that flick was accompanied by some cool music, but it wasn't as long, and in the original you can barely hear it. Therefore it was not as emotionally appealing as in Gojira.

[Tapkaara]

For those interested in the original 1954 score, I have just completed a blog post about it here:

http://akiraifukube.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... ojira.html

It includes rare information and very rare photos of the original handwritten Gojira manuscript by Ifukube.

[tymon]

^Interesting stuff, thanks!

[Tapkaara]

^Interesting stuff, thanks!

It's always fun to have a little extra background into the things we love!

[Tapkaara]

For those interested in the original 1954 score, I have just completed a blog post about it here:

http://akiraifukube.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... ojira.html

It includes rare information and very rare photos of the original handwritten Gojira manuscript by Ifukube.

VERY cool!

Thanks! And what's really cool is how rare the manuscript is. More on-set photos, storyboards and pages from the original script from Gojira have been seen over the years, much more than anything from the musical or sound effects end. In fact, I believe this is the first time images from Ifukube's manuscript have been seen outside of Japan.

When everyone, Ifukube included, were putting all of this stuff together, the could not imagine what a huge impact it would have.

[RogueShuffler]

I have always loved Gojira's music. A metal cover would be heavy as whale balls

[Tamura]

A metal cover would be heavy as whale balls

http://nicksherman.com/music.html

[tymon]

^

In some ways I feel that many monster / horror themes were the first heavy metal songs, predating Black Sabbath, etc, by decades

Totally agree. The use of dark sounding chromatics and tri-tones in these films are so damn heavy at times...I think watching so many Godzilla films with Ifukube scores as a child may have influenced me being a metal-head (and overall fan of dark, epic music) later on. I'm on my Blackberry right now so I can't listen, but I'll check out his covers next time I get on a PC.

I'm working on a couple metal covers myself (A 54 Medley and a GMK/Mothra vs. Godzilla hybrid). Wrist tendintis may have stripped my ability to play guitar consistently/play live, but I can still record in small intervals, dammit!

[RogueShuffler]

A metal cover would be heavy as whale balls

http://nicksherman.com/music.html

Wow that does sound like Black Sabbath. Pretty good but honestly it could probably be done a lil better.

[kpa]

For those interested in the original 1954 score, I have just completed a blog post about it here:

http://akiraifukube.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... ojira.html

It includes rare information and very rare photos of the original handwritten Gojira manuscript by Ifukube.

Excellent report, Tapkaara!

If you don't mind a minor correction, the English spelling 'Godzilla' came from Toho, not the American distributors of the first film. Toho used that spelling when promoting the film overseas in 1955, and the Japanese version was shown as GODZILLA in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo that same year. In September 1955, Toho and Edmund Goldman signed the contract granting Goldman US distribution rights to the "motion picture GODZILLA". So that name being used by Toho long before the rights were sold in the US and the film was Americanized into GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS.

[Tapkaara]

For those interested in the original 1954 score, I have just completed a blog post about it here:

http://akiraifukube.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... ojira.html

It includes rare information and very rare photos of the original handwritten Gojira manuscript by Ifukube.

Excellent report, Tapkaara!

If you don't mind a minor correction, the English spelling 'Godzilla' came from Toho, not the American distributors of the first film. Toho used that spelling when promoting the film overseas in 1955, and the Japanese version was shown as GODZILLA in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo that same year. In September 1955, Toho and Edmund Goldman signed the contract granting Goldman US distribution rights to the "motion picture GODZILLA". So that name being used by Toho long before the rights were sold in the US and the film was Americanized into GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS.

Yikes, this was brought up so long ago...and here I am just now replying.

Thank you for your information on this. I was certain the moniker "Godzilla" was a creation on the American side, not the Japanese side. I'll look into it further and update the blog post accordingly.

Regarding the Ifukube/metal connections, I have encountered many a metal-head who admires Ifukube. I suppose this makes sense to me. Ifukube is rhythmic, percussive and modal, which often endows his sound with a sort of ancientness or darkness. His music sounds big and it's that sense of bigness that gets metal fans all excited.

[junkerde]

loved the end theme in the ocean

[Tapkaara]

loved the end theme in the ocean

I think if you took a poll, the music at the end of the film "Godzila on the Ocean Floor" would, I'm sure, come out on top as thye most popular cue from that film. It's my favorite part, too.

[Space Hunter M]

I'm almost positive the score was accidentally recorded in a slightly higher pitch. I lowered it by about 2%, and most of Ifukube's compositions sound much more natural. The original trailer for Rodan recycles some tracks from Godzilla, which are also slowed down by 2%.

[Tapkaara]

I'm almost positive the score was accidentally recorded in a slightly higher pitch. I lowered it by about 2%, and most of Ifukube's compositions sound much more natural. The original trailer for Rodan recycles some tracks from Godzilla, which are also slowed down by 2%.

This is interesting...what exactly do you base this on? In other words, why did you first suspect this?

[Space Hunter M]

Just comparing the Main Title march to other renditions. Pitch-wise, it's really the oddball of the lot. There's some definite distortion going on.