 |
Title |
| Godzilla Soundtrack Perfect
Collection - Box 2 |
| International Title |
| [Box Set] |
| Music By: Various |
| Record Label: Toho
Music |
| |
 |
| Running Time: 305:22 (Total) |
Discs: 6 |
| Release: December 2004 |
CD Number: GB2 |
|
| Comments |
 |
Anthony
Romero |
 |
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This
is the second box set in the Godzilla Soundtrack
Perfect Collection line, which features the soundtracks
to the Godzilla movies from 1965 through 1969. The set
features never before released content, as well as a
few themes and songs which have never appeared on CD
before. The packaging here maintains the general look
of the previous set, with the booklets containing additional
information on the themes and nice production stills
for the movies, although all in black and white.
The same level of quality in the packaging, with each
having its own jewel case and the booklets printed on
thick glossy paper, is maintained for this second set.
Like all of the sets in the line, the music here has
been remastered. Regrettably, Toho Music's efforts in
doing so have not been as fruitful as one would have
hoped for, with scores like the one for
Invasion
of Astro-Monster (1965) being a little mixed
while on the flip side others like
All
Monsters Attack (1969) have never sounded
better.
Overall, the contrast in quality between this set
and previous releases is marginal at best.
Sadly, and I'll be brutally frank in saying so, this
set, and the third for that matter, tend to lack
compared to the others. The biggest problem is that
there is no real "deal breaking" content
that has been added to this set. The first
box
had the luxury of debuting a package that included
both the stereo and mono score to King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) while the fourth
box had
a plethora of material
spread across nine discs, featuring
almost ten hours of music; however, this set doesn't
have much of anything to really boast about.
Personally, I was pleased with some of the new additions,
like the "Pun Pun Pun" song on the disc
for
All
Monsters Attack (1969) and... well, that's
kind of the problem. The new outtakes present are
nice, but they have a habit of sounding too close
to the final pieces to really be noteworthy. The
fact that the bonus disc is merely a compilation
CD, containing material already enclosed in the first
two sets, only adds insult to injury for this box
as a whole.
To be fair, this set isn't overpriced, but only if
you need everything inside. Chances are hardly anyone
is going to care about the last disc in the set,
and if you already own one of the other scores on
CD then the value takes a nose dive since importers
are paying
around $125.
Consequently, it's not surprising to see that this
set has not been selling. Assuming that these are
distributed in roughly numeric order, then less than
600 sets for this box have been sold three years
after it was first debuted. That's
a low number, especially since the limited run was
1,954 units. Those sales are also noticeably worse
than the performance of the first set, which
wasn't very spectacular in the first place. Suffice
to say, despite a limited print run, these sets will
be around for quite some time to come. The positive
aspect of this is that Toho greatly delayed the fourth
box, and is now producing truly fantastic sets that
are worth every penny, meaning that the performance
of the first three boxes sent the right message in
regards to what type of content and effort is needed
to move them off the shelves at their current price
ranges.
To not end on a dismissive note,
if one doesn't own the soundtracks for the five films
included: get this set. If there is an interest
in these scores then by all means this is a
fantastic way to get them all in one fell swoop.
Even if the bonus disc might be kind of a bust, if
one needs all five of these CDs then the price range
is not bad at all given how rare the 1993 Toshiba
releases are today. However, if someone already owns
one or two of these soundtracks then the price definitely
becomes a hard pill to swallow as it's not inexpensive
by any stretch.
It should also be mentioned that all of these sets
are also sold exclusively online at Toho Music's
site or Arksquare.net.
Rating:  |
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