Released
right after its lead signer, Fukuyama Masaharu, struck
it big for the first time, this two disc soundtrack set
is more than eager to capitalize on Masaharu's fame. In
fact, beyond the obi strip (the piece of thick paper that
adorns the edge of the CD case), it makes no other mention
of it being a soundtrack at all, or to the 1995 film it
is based on save a small glimpse of the movie's logo on
the back of the booklet. The rest of the rather thick
insert book includes more information on artist Masaharu
and his "all star friends", each of whom contribute
in some form to the contents of the second disc in this
set, although Masaharu did all of the compositions.
The dilemma BMG has with this release though, despite
what impression they try to create, is that Masaharu only
did two songs for the movie. So how does one make sure
that those who purchased his albums will also take interest
in this? The answer? Give those two songs their own disc,
which also includes karaoke versions but only amounts
to a miniscule 22 minutes regardless. In a sense, this
does give the illusion that more of his vocal work is
present, as the "instrumental" tracks are all
subjected to the second disc. In a bid to stretch out
the vocal tracks as much as possible, though, the company
also had Ray Ohara remix Masaharu's songs. The best part
of these has to be the titles, which seem to be a random
selection of English words, such as the ever classic "African
Ambient Startrek Techno Refresh Mix".
As for the music itself, it's not bad, although not memorable
either. The "instrumental" stuff is sadly very
forgettable, due solely to the fact that its all re-recorded
"karaoke" versions of Masaharu's work and just
doesn't stand up as well as a fresh orchestrated piece
would. As for the songs, they aren't bad, and Masaharu
deserves credit for being able to stretch a song out for
nearly seven minutes without it getting boring. Oddly,
I found that I liked the remix for "Love" and
"Message" by Ray Ohara the most.
Overall, if one likes Masaharu's work, this might be a
decent set to pick up. I really flip-flopped on the score
too, but decided on a low "2" due to the amount
of repetition here brought on by five different versions
of "Love" and three versions each of "Message"
and "Rain on Main Street", while I was also
disappointed in the presentation as at 68 minutes total
this could have fit on a single disc easily, without any
reason to place the content on two except to jack up the
price. The rating might be a little low I will admit,
as Ohara's remix for "Love" is especially nice,
but I could really only see this set appealing to people
who are already fans of Masaharu.
Rating:  |
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