 |
Title |
| Howl's Moving Castle
- Soundtrack |
| International Title |
| Howl's
Moving Castle |
| Music By: Joe
Hisaishi |
| Record Label:
Tokuma Japan Communications |
| |
 |
| Running Time: 69:05 |
Discs: 1 |
| Release: November 2004 |
CD Number: TKCA-72775 |
|
| Comments |
 |
Anthony
Romero |
 |
|
|
When first
watching the feature film, composer Joe
Hisaishi's score ended up leaving a very little impression
on me. It's because of this that I was generally surprised
by how much I enjoyed the soundtrack as a standalone experience,
to the point where I would even state this as being one
of Hisaishi's best offerings.
Through the course of
the disc, there really isn't a bad cue at all. To his
further credit, Hisaishi also does a wonderful job in
making this score unique from most of his previous soundtracks;
something that he excels at with an every growing diverse
body of work. A couple cues here do have shadows of Spirited
Away (2001), like the piano sequences of "Opening:
Merry-Go-Round of Life", but these are few and far
between. The score as a whole is also very vivacious,
particularly the numerous marches such as "The Light
Cavalry's Enthusiasm" and the whimsical "A Stroll
Through the Sky". The "Sulliman's Magic Square
- Return to the Castle" is another theme that stands
out as being particularly great, especially the rather
eerie chanting part of the track. As for the song by Chieko
Baisho, it's well done and pleasant, although at around
seven minutes in length it is a little long and not nearly
as memorable as the two vocal tracks in either Princess
Mononoke (1997) or Spirited
Away (2001).
Overall, the soundtrack is a very
lively one from Hisaishi, and comes with a strong recommendation.
It is unfortunate, though, that unlike the other recent Hayao Miyazaki films this soundtrack is not set for any
kind of immediate soundtrack release in the United States or
other markets outside of Japan and Korea.
Rating:  |
|
| Tracks |
- Opening: Merry-Go-Round of Life
- The Light Cavalry's Enthusiasm
- A Stroll Through the Sky
- Palpitation
- The Witch of the Waste
- Wandering Sophie
- The Magical Door
- The Curse Remains
- Spring Cleaning
- To Star Lake
- A Quiet Feeling
- In the Rain
- Vanity and Friendship
- The 90 Year Old Young Girl
- Sulliman's Magic Square - Return to the Castle
- A Secret Cave
- Moving
- The Flower Garden
- Run!
- It's Love
- Family
- Love of War
- Escape
- Sophie's Castle
- The Boy who Drank Stars
- Ending: The World's Promise - Merry-Go-Round of
Life
By: Chieko Baisho, Composer: Youmi
Kimura
|
|
