For many, vinyl is the way to go for pure listening enjoyment. Descriptions such as “warm” and “pure” come to mind when talking to those who prefer this medium. For fans of vinyl, Mondo has begun releasing various Godzilla and Toho soundtracks.

NOTE: I won’t addressing the sound quality for these releases just yet as I currently do not have the proper set up. Instead, I’ll be showing off the creativity inside each release. With each release, Mondo adds cool gimmicks like colored vinyl and sound chips to play a roar when opening up the gatefold which adds to the overall experience.

 

The Return of Godzilla Soundtrack

The artwork by artist Henry Abrams for this release is outstanding. Godzilla looks (although not film accurate but the Abrams’ interpretation) awesome and quite detailed. The red mixed with the black when combined with the highly detailed buildings is an eye catching front cover. The back of the cover has Godzilla’s very detailed tail and just at the end of it, the boat “Yahata Maru Number 5” which is a great little touch. While there’s quite a bit of music on the release, there are tracks omitted like “The Enormous Shadow (M2)” and “The Urban Center Inferno (M37)”. My guess is that you can only cram so many tracks on vinyl, so some omissions will have to be made. Although, previous releases such as the King Brothers release only had 29 tracks and the FutureLand release had 55 tracks and the Godzilla Perfect Box set has 63. So, this one is in the middle, which is great because the soundtrack is currently a little hard to find.

The record itself is a really cool transparent blue color meant to emulate Godzilla’s atomic breath. If you look closely, you’ll see various shades of blue in the vinyl, it’s a sight to see for sure. Finally, the record comes with a “slip band” (for lack of better term) with a small bit of history on the film and more information on how the record would sound on an appropriate home system. This release went out of print pretty quick so the prices range from $40-$100 or so brand new. As with anything Godzilla related nowadays, you have to act fast since it’s a “here today, gone tomorrow” sort of situation.

As an added bonus, here’s a link to an interview with the film’s composer Reijiro Koroku from last year’s Kaiju Masterclass online event in which he discusses scoring the film:

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**

 

 

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Soundtrack

With a beautiful cover by Wes Benscoter, the release of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (which has 39 tracks, matching with CD 1 of the soundtrack from the Godzilla Perfect Box entry) comes with a special gimmick. When you open up the gatefold, there’s a hidden soundchip which plays Destoroyah’s roar. Well, not on mine because I got a dud. What’s really cool in the center of the gatefold is the brilliant artwork of Destoroyah, looking very menacing. In the left corner is Burning Godzilla who I feel doesn’t need to be in the painting. He looks cool, but it seems like he was just thrown in. For the rest of the artwork, Godzilla looks great on the cover with his eyes glowing and the steam rising from his body looks awesome. The addition of the Oxygen Destroyer on the back looks great as well where it looks like it’s sinking to the ocean floor right after it was dropped by Dr. Serizawa. It’s a cool callback to the original film. The “slip band” has the usual factoids about the film, but there’s a strange addition in the text where it states “…what better way to go out with than to have the ‘King of the Monsters’ explode, which happens in GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH.” Outside of a simulation in the film, this did not happen. It’s a weird thing to include in the film’s factoids.

And now for the record itself: it’s beautiful. Meant to emulate Destoroyah’s beam, the pink is striking with waves of purple mixed it. Also for sale is an “Eco Vinyl” version, which is the same release but the record is made up of recycled vinyl bit to form a new record.

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**

 

 

Matango Soundtrack

First off, the art by Rockin Jelly Bean on this release is fantastic. I love the mix of pink, yellow, black, and green. The cover art for Matango looks great and the back art of Kumi Mizuno is amazing. The inside of the packaging is filled with Matango heads in pink art which is nice.

As an added bonus-and for some reason I get the feeling that it’s to compensate for shorting the customer out on a gatefold on this release (or maybe it was just to be creative), is the addition of three stickers. The stickers consist of the Matango logo, Death Waltz logo, and what looks to be the full artwork from the packaging. It’s nice to see the full, unencumbered image.

The vinyl itself looks great. I like the mix of blue and yellow on side one and how it looks very psychedelic with the burst of yellow in the center and the fade into blue. Bits of blue and yellow are mixed in near the end of the record. The other side looks nearly the same but yellow is swapped out with orange.

Now, onto a gripe which I hope will be fixed in the future and that is for a higher quality record sleeve to protect the vinyl. What’s included is ok with protective material to keep the record safe but I more prefer something like what Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab makes.

Overall, the packaging on this release is fantastic and I like the addition of the stickers as an added bonus.

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**

 

 

Rebirth of Mothra II Soundtrack

The gate fold on these has a metallic shine and it really makes the artwork by Florian Bertmer pop. I like how Rainbow Mothra looks on the cover of “Rebirth of Mothra 2” and I’m a big fan of how detailed the underwater ruins art looks. Inside, art representing Aqua Mothra in Dagahra’s blood stream looks pretty cool. The vinyl itself is rather plain in the sense that it’s one solid, yet transparent light blue and what I think is supposed to simulate the wings, a section of yellow mixed with green with black and orange strips. It looks ok, just nothing mind blowing.

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**

 

 

Rebirth of Mothra III Soundtrack

The front gatefold design is a mixed bag. The art is once again done by Florian Bertmer. Mothra is more on the cutesier/cartoony side this time around which I’m not a fan of. Grand King Ghidorah however, looks great. I really like the dark purple color they gave him in contrast with Mothra Leo’s color scheme. The inside of the gatefold has some great art as well. The metallic overlay seems to have dimmed the art a little bit but overall, it’s an exciting piece where Mothra Leo faces off against Grand King Ghidorah in close quarters combat. Mothra Leo is shown from the back here and the true showcase of the piece is Grand King Ghidorah, biting Mothra Leo’s wings and looking very menacing. Also, pay particular attention to the detailed scales on Mothra Leo’s wings. They look pretty awesome.

For the record, it’s made of up a clear, whitish translucent vinyl with two portions of the record made to look like Mothra Leo’s wings. They’re a nice mix of blue with white, black, and orange paint stripes. I like it quite a bit.

Overall, there’s a lot to like with the Rebirth of Mothra 2 and Rebirth of Mothra 3 vinyl releases from Mondo, While I wish the art was better in spots, these are a couple of cool releases which are very easily recommended to pick up!

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**

 

 

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II Soundtrack

One of the standouts of Mondo’s Godzilla vinyl releases is Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 2. The release comes in a green slipcase with a “2” cutout with clear text with the film’s title which you can only read when the light hits right. I’d have preferred something a little more solid as opposed to this choice as it doesn’t add anything to the overall packaging.

The artwork is spectacular. I’ve never been much of a fan of the MechaGodzilla 1993 design but it looks great here and very menacing standing over Godzilla. Godzilla looks nice but the arm positions look weird. The right arm is up in a dramatic pose but the left arms is just relaxed is at his side. It’s strange looking. On the back there’s some really cool looking art of the Garuda in the middle of the track listing.

The records themselves look cool with record #1 being a mix of orange splatter paint and a translucent black/grey which looks ok. The real centerpiece of the set is record #2 with it’s mix of blue and a white ring around the edge of the edge of the record. Side C of this set (record #2 side one), has the last part of the soundtrack on it. On the other side, Side D, there are no grooves for music. So, what did Mondo do? They printed awesome artwork depicting Godzilla facing off against MechaGodzilla. It looks pretty awesome and I love how menacing Godzilla looks!

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**

 

 

Godzilla vs. Mothra Soundtrack

This set seems like it was designed to be a sort of “upper class” release. The gatefold is of a thicker cardboard to give it some weight so it feels like you’ve got something of higher quality. Even the sleeves that the vinyl’s come in are of higher quality.

The cover artwork is detailed and very eye catching against the grey background. Inside the gatefold, the artwork is stellar with some of the film’s human cast staring at Mothra’s giant egg. The color and shading look great here against the grey background. Up in the sky, and probably because he just had to be thrown in, is Battra in his adult form and he looks great. The outer part of both vinyl sleeves have the same art of the Cosmos with one a reddish brown background and the other grey. It looks ok and keeps with the color scheme of the outside of the gatefold.

For the vinyl’s, the, from what I can surmise, is each of them representing both Godzilla and Mothra. The Godzilla vinyl is a deep, translucent blue with bits of white mixed in to emulate his nuclear breath.

Mothra’s vinyl is orange with her artwork from the back of the gatefold on side D (where there is no music). While it looks cool, I’d have preferred an original design rather than just copying and pasting the artwork. It’s a pretty interesting set overall and I appreciate the amount of care going into this release with the heavier stock for the gatefold and the plastic sleeves as it elevates it above the previous releases and just FEELS more expensive.

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**

 

 

Rodan Soundtrack

This release hands down has some of the coolest art I’ve ever seen. The cover features Rodan looking menacing with what I assume are light trails streaming from his eyes while inside his form are key elements of the film. The Meganulon, the mine, Rodan’s egg, the village, Mt. Aso are all featured here. Inside the gatefold…wow. The art here is BEAUTIFUL, which shows the film’s climax with one Rodan hovering above the smoke from Mt. Aso while the second Rodan is enveloped in a red spotlight near the opening of the volcano. The mix of red/black/grey looks great and really captures the somber mood at the end of the film.

The vinyl itself is ok. It’s eye catching with its mix of white/orange/ light blue but it seems like it would fit Mothra release instead. Overall, the packaging on this release is phenomenal and that alone is worth the purchase!

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**

 

 

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Soundtrack

Kow Otani’s score comes to Mondo’s vinyl release in the form of a 3 sided set. The cover artwork here is really cool with Godzilla pinning Baragon on the ground with his foot. Open up the gatefold and you see the full art with Mothra larvae watching from the distance. Granted she wasn’t in the film during this fight but she did appear earlier in the film and I get the feeling that the artist, Wes Benscoter, just wanted to have her in there. I really like the style as well with the use of dark blue/white for Godzilla’s scales in contrast with Baragon’s light brown scales. Mothra herself looks great and the entire piece has a classic look to it.

Inside the gatefold, the art is very dramatic and colorful with Godzilla biting down on one of King Ghidorah’s necks while Mothra approaches from behind The colors are vibrant here, really bringing the scene of a colossal battle happening in middle of a burning city. The monsters all look great with great detail. I particularly like how menacing Godzilla looks as he bites down on King Ghidorah.

For the vinyl’s, it’s a little varied this time around. Side A is a mixture of red and orange while Side B is purple with a hint of orange. The purple I’m assuming is meant to represent the purplish color of the suit used for Baragon in the film. Side C continues that color in the middle of the vinyl while the outside has a light orange color mixed in. Side D is where the action is however with a silhouette of Godzilla mixed in with red and orange. It looks awesome. It’s the same art from the cover but it really works here.

**Click the preview images in the gallery below for larger versions.**