 |
Title |
| Earth Destruction
Directive: Godzilla vs. Gigan |
| International Title |
| Godzilla
vs. Gigan |
| Music By: Akira
Ifukube |
| Record Label:
Toshiba EMI (Futureland) |
| |
|
| Running Time: 77:56 |
Discs: 1 |
| Release: December 1993 |
CD Number: TYCY-5356 |
|
| Comments |
 |
Anthony
Romero |
 |
|
|
Godzilla
vs. Gigan is a controversial "score"
amongst soundtrack buffs. To be frank, outside of
Susumu Ishikawa's "Godzilla March", there
is really nothing new to this soundtrack. As a cost
cutting procedure, Toho decided to utilize their large
library of Akira
Ifukube scores for this 1972 feature. The ending
result is a soundtrack made mostly of stock genre
themes, but a few outside sources such as Will
to Conquer (1970) slip in. Consequently, this
whole approach has caused some to cry fowl and dismiss
the soundtrack. However, despite what might sound
like a lazy and disappointing approach, this disc
actually ends up being an excellent stand alone listening
experience. The soundtrack acts like a "best
of" for Ifukube and, to be frank, actually works
well to keep the listener satisfied from start to
finish.
To give credit where it's due, the creation of this
"score" is not simply repeating these themes,
but also creatively editing them together. In total,
this soundtrack borrows music from 11 different sources
that, coincidentally, span over an 11 year period
from 1959 to 1970. Of these films, only three are
ones already in the Godzilla series, which include
Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964), Ghidorah,
the Three-Headed Monster (1964), and Destroy
All Monsters (1968). The rest are a mixture
of science fiction productions, with the exceptions
of The Big Boss
(1959), Will
to Conquer (1970), and the music composed
for the Mitsubishi
Pavilion (1970) at Expo '70. The strength
of this is the way that the themes are compiled, creating
not only a diverse list of music but also the way
they are edited to either extend their runtimes or
to compile several different cues together. The result,
with the exception of the awkward sounding "Godzilla
on Monster Island", is often imaginative and
pleasing to listen to.
With such a large body of work being sampled, it's
not surprising that it's hard to really pick a few
tracks to hail as the best on this CD. Themes like
the "Main Title", either version, and the
"Fierce Battle Between the Four Giant Monsters"
are hallmarks. Overall, the tracks utilizing Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964) and Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (1965), especially "The Chairman
of the Construction Committee", tend to be the
strongest offerings. However, themes like "The
Space Monsters Attack Tokyo" and "Vicious
Attack of the Space Monsters" deserve nods as
well. The latter is especially nice, as the cue shifts
from the Rodan theme to King Ghidorah's at just the
right moment to really add a sense of energy to the
transition. Again, the strength of this score is simply
that it's enjoyable through out, without a slow point.
The new music on this release, the "Godzilla
March" and "Defeat Gigan", might be
a select taste though. Sung by Susumu Ishikawa, the songs, while far from excellent,
are enjoyable for what they are. A few might get a
kick out of the "Defeat Gigan" song, a record
only release, which also mentions Hedorah alongside
Gigan and King Ghidorah.
Now, in terms of this CD in particular, its worth
noting that Toshiba actually ordered it according
to the original planned "score" for the
movie. This means the content from the Mitsubishi
Pavilion (1970), which was a late addition,
is absent outside of the bonus tracks. Why this was
done on Toshiba's part is unknown. It's especially
odd as the disc doesn't include the original edit
for "The Giant Earth Monsters' Counterattack",
which was left off because the disc simply doesn't
have enough room for it, it's that filled with music.
All in all, it's an interesting choice on Toshiba's
behalf, but one that is generally unpopular and for
good reason, since many would rather hear the score
in the order it was presented in the movie. On that
note, it's also interesting that the Mitsubishi
Pavilion (1970) content came so close to not
being used at all, since for many it's what they associate
the most with this soundtrack as so few are familiar
with the Expo '70 attraction. For those interested,
the later Godzilla Perfect Collection release (G-012)
places the cues in the correct order as they appeared
in the film, although leaves off the two alternate
edits, "Main Title" and "The Tower
Destruction Operation", found here.
In terms of the bonus tracks, there is the previously
mentioned "Defeat Gigan" record track and
the inclusion of the actual themes that were used
for the "Main Title" and the climax. On
top of this, there is also the record version of the
"Godzilla March", which plays the full song,
and one that is edited as it appears in the movie,
the latter of which is fairly pointless since the
ending is already present and this is more or less
a repeated track. After this comes one last theme
which is an alternate "Ending", taken from
Destroy
All Monsters (1968), that was supposed to
be utilized for the International market releases
of the movie in place of the Japanese song the "Godzilla
March". As far as I know, though, no prints of
the movie, including Toho's own international dubbing,
ever decided to utilize this instead of the original
vocal song.
On a final note, the booklet included with this release
is probably of particular interest as well, as it
does a breakdown of where each cue comes from. Oddly
enough, the list also makes references to cues beyond
M25, which could have been what the music was going
to be like before the Mitsubishi
Pavilion (1970) content was substituted. For
those curious, the music that was likely going to
be used for the final battle was originally M23 from
Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964) along with M16 and M27
from Destroy
All Monsters (1968). Sadly, the original version
of the final battle has never been released on CD.
Granted, it's not a huge loss since the themes that
comprise it are readily available amongst their original
scores, but it still would have been nice to see how
they had planned to edit the three themes together.
As a side note, the booklet seems to incorrectly list
the Will
to Conquer (1970) cue as being used for M2,
which is not present and seems to be referencing M3
which has no citation.
Overall, it's hard to really rate this score. For
me, this was not only one of the first Godzilla soundtracks
I ever purchased, but also remains one of my favorites
even after having the soundtrack for more than a decade.
It deserves the flack it gets for being comprised
of stock music, but at the same time is such a wonderful
collection of themes that it's hard for me not to
give it a strong recommendation, even to those who
own most of the soundtracks that Godzilla vs. Gigan
borrowed from. Now, for those trying to decide between
picking up this release and the Godzilla Perfect Collection
CD (G-012), go for
the latter. It's missing the alternate takes, but
at the same time the Perfect Collection CD has the
score in the correct order, contains the original
The Big Boss
(1959) theme used for the intro, the "Godzilla
March" in karaoke, and also the original Mitsubishi
Pavilion (1970) themes.
Rating:  |
|
| Tracks |
- Main Title (M1) [The
Big Boss (M12) - Mothra
vs. Godzilla (M20) - Battle
in Outer Space (M2)]
- Construction of Children's Land (M3) [Will
to Conquer (M4)]
- Monster Island I (M4) [Destroy
All Monsters (M3)]
- The Girl and the Tape (M5) [Atragon
(M5)]
- The Chairman of the Construction Committee (M6)
[Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (M1)]
- The Park at Night (M6A) [The
Big Boss (M15B)]
- Midnight at the Godzilla Tower (M7) [Atragon
(M11)]
- Monster Island II (M7A) [Destroy
All Monsters (M3)]
- Godzilla on Monster Island (M8-1) [Destroy
All Monsters (M3)]
- The Older Brother's Whereabouts (M8-2) [Latitude
Zero (M21)]
- Background Check (M9) [Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (M21)]
- The Accident One Year Ago (M11) [Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (M6)]
- The Defense Corps Mobilize I (M12-1) [Destroy
All Monsters (M20)]
- Anguirus Repelled (M12-2) [Destroy
All Monsters (M10)]
- The Cigarette with the Built-in Transmitter
(M13) [Atragon
(M5)]
- The Assassination Group Attacks (M14) [Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (M19)]
- The Signal to Space (M15) [Battle
in Outer Space (M1)]
- The Rescue Operation Begins (M16) [Battle
in Outer Space (M2)]
- Infiltrating Godzilla Tower (M17) [Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (M19)]
- The Race from Universe M (M18) [Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (M26)]
- The Invader's Invitation (M19) [Ghidorah,
the Three-Headed Monster (M6)]
- The Defense Corps Mobilize II (M20) [Destroy
All Monsters (M28)]
- The Space Monsters Attack Tokyo (M21) [Destroy
All Monsters (M25/M26) - King
Kong Escapes (M17)]
- Fierce Battle Between the Four Giant Monsters
(M22) [Mothra
vs. Godzilla (M14/M23)]
- Strategy to Escape Godzilla Tower (M22A) [Mothra
vs. Godzilla (M20)]
- Earth Monsters vs. Space Monsters (M23) [Ghidorah,
the Three-Headed Monster (M19)]
- Vicious Attack of the Space Monsters (M24) [Ghidorah,
the Three-Headed Monster (M11/M15)]
- The Tower Destruction Operation (M25) [Frankenstein
vs. Baragon (M11)]
- Ending · Godzilla March
By: Susumu Ishikawa, Composer:
Kunio Miyauchi
Bonus Tracks
- The Tower Destruction Operation [Mitsubishi
Pavilion (M2)]
- The Earth Monsters' Counterattack [Mitsubishi
Pavilion (M3)]
- Ending (For International Market) [Destroy
All Monsters (M29)]
- Main Title (New Edit) [The
Big Boss (M12) - Mothra
vs. Godzilla (M20) - Mitsubishi
Pavilion (M3)]
- Godzilla March (Used Material)
By: Susumu Ishikawa, Composer:
Kunio Miyauchi
- Godzilla March (Record Version)
By: Susumu Ishikawa, Composer:
Kunio Miyauchi
- Defeat Gigan (Record Version)
By: Susumu Ishikawa, Composer:
Kunio Miyauchi
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