First,
thanks goes to Jessica Stan for sending this in for
review!
Something about this release just clicked with me, and I'm not normally a big fan of music from the Lupin the 3rd series. However, this collection of mostly songs from the franchise is an interesting and lively collection of work. While it doesn't quite reach what I consider "iPod worthy", it's an interesting collection of music with an enticing design and presentation.
First, the concept for this CD is to collect many of the early record singles created for the Lupin series. Tracks one through thirteen cover content from these single records, both from the TV shows and three of the films. Eight of these tracks are lyric based, and while most aren't winners, they are interesting, especially for those familiar with the "karaoke" version of themes like the "Zenigata March" or the "Lupin Ondo". The exception to this is of course the always soothing and fantastic "The Treasure of the Flame" by Bobby from Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), which is the extended record version. That also leads to the five non-vocal tracks, which are all pretty nice, from the always classic "Lupin the 3rd '80" to another great track from Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), "Mysterious Journey", which is greatly expanded upon from the version heard in the movie.
The second half of the disc is a bit different, featuring TV size versions of the songs and themes or "Eyecatchs", which are bumpers that are played before and after commercial breaks on the TV show. The audio quality on these is generally good, except for
"Lupin the 3rd's Theme (TV Size)" and "Lupin the 3rd Love Theme (TV Size)" both of which have pretty wretched audio quality. It's pretty clear that both were recorded from a second grade source, far from masters but almost like a low grade tape copy (think VHS). Finally, the disc ends with a new "1992" remix from Yuji Ohno. It's not great, but something different.
Now what makes this disc shine is it's presentation. Opening up the booklet, you will find the covers and back covers to all of the included record singles. It's a great trip down memory lane, getting to look at the single art and see how the presentation on these has changed over the years. It does, however, bring up a question on
Naoko Kawai's "Fly Me To Love" from Lupin the 3rd: The Gold of Babylon (1985) that is mentioned on the single, which was also missing on that film's soundtrack release as well.
Overall, not a fantastic release in terms of content, but Columbia has produced a promising package thanks to their attention to detail with the booklet and some of the more lively tracks included.
Rating:  |
|
