Released
under Toshiba's "Futureland" label,
this CD features the score to the 1955 production of
Half Human.
The feature marked the second "monster" score by composer
Masaru Sato that
year, with the first being Godzilla
Raids Again.
Luckily, Sato's talents are much more refined on this
film, as the
composer creates several nice themes for the score.
Chief among them is probably the
"Going Through the Snow" cue, which uses horns to good
effect to give the listener a sense of adventure that
fits well with the mountain expedition that is going
on in the movie. "Death Takes Oba", who is the son of
the titular creature, is another nice theme from Sato.
It does a good job of being a somber cue while still
feeling at home with the rest of the score.
Sadly, despite the merits of some of Sato's themes, the
disc as a whole doesn't make for the greatest stand alone
experience.
The biggest problem are themes like
"Garan Valley", which tend to meander on and on with
minimal orchestration. Cues like this can work well as
natural sounding ambience in a scene, but when removed
from the movie they make for a fairly weak listening
experience.
"Prayer", which is a hymn only track without any instrumentation,
suffers this fate as well.
Although not part of the "real" score, the last track, "MX-1",
deserves mention as well. This cue is simply drum beats,
featuring a very slow pace and mostly the same tune repeated
through out. Unfortunately, this cue goes on and on for
an exasperating seven
minutes and at times feels like more of an endurance
match pitted against one's patience.
Bottom line, the CD has its moments, with a couple of
really nice themes from Sato, but is
overall better relegated to compilations where those
tracks can shine without interference.
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