Thanks goes out to Jessica Stan for sending this in for review.
This two disc release contains Shiro Sagisu’s soundtrack to Shin Ultraman. …well, crediting it to Sagisu is a little unfair. Literally 22 of the 35 tracks from the first disc are stock from composer Kunio Miyauchi’s work on Ultra Q and Ultraman. That number goes up to 25 if one counts the three tracks where Miyuachi’s themes were reorchestrated.
The second disc, which is bonus material, fares better but still not much in the way of new work. In fact, new might not even be the best phrase, rather unreleased work. As stated in a book by writer/producer Hideaki Anno, the soundtrack for the film leverages music that was previously created but unused for Shin Godzilla (2016) and the Evangelion series. So what direct impact Sagisu had was very limited. Morbidly it feels like something that would be done posthumously, like that Sagisu had passed away and was unable to directly contribute. To be fair, while this might have been done to cut costs it’s more likely the result of COVID-19 delays and a decision to grab off the shelf stuff to avoid complications.
Regardless of reason, the end result feels more like a compilation of Miyuachi’s work with some samples from Sagisu thrown in. It’s not quite as dramatic as what was done for Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), where all but one track was stock, but it’s way closer than I would expect a modern theatrical Japanese film to land.
As one might anticipate, this also means that much of the soundtrack is in mono as opposed to stereo. This creates the inverse of the effect that the Shin Godzilla (2016) soundtrack had. For that film, it was jarring when it would switch from stereo with modern recording techniques to a mono theme from the 1950’s or 1960’s. Here, it’s jarring when it switches from a series of mono recordings from the 1960’s to a full stereo track that just sounds so much more rich. As I’ve noted before, I enjoy when scores resurrect old themes, although not to the degree it’s done here. It’s also preferred when said theme is a new recording, to make it stand out from the original. To be fair, there are three tracks from the main score that are new recordings, along with one that is a stereo rearrangement. The second disc features an additional three unused new recordings, and why they weren’t used in place of the 1967 mono versions is beyond me. Regardless, there is just way too much recycled music here.
So I’ve blabbered a bit about the disappointment around the dynamics of this soundtrack, but how does this release fare as a stand alone listening experience? Well it does have some highlights. The best theme off the set is from Saigsu, and one that was created specifically for this release. It’s “Ultra Q: Alien Mefilas - The Riff Segue”, which is noted as a Miyuachi tribute. It’s a great theme that takes some hints of the Ultra Q main theme and adds not just a level of menace but also a very energetic tone. It's fantastic, and a real travesty that it wasn’t worked into the main film as opposed to created for bonus content. Outside of this, “Early Morning” is okay, although it’s basically a different version of the same theme that was used for the news sequence in Shin Godzilla (2016). “The Invasion of Silence”, while a little too slow, is also nice at moments. The new recorded “Ultra Operation No. 1: Battle” is a great, march-like track but also just reminds someone that it would have been nice had they re-recorded Miyauchi’s work to match this style and have a bit more of an identity related to the new film.
Beyond this, the rest of the highlights are stock music related to Miyauchi. The surfer-like “Ultra Q Theme” is always enjoyable, just an incredibly fun track that I’m glad was included. In fact, I’d say it’s Miyauchi’s best work. The “Science Special Search Party” is also another nice inclusion, having a really great big band march style to it. “Fury of the Red Monster” is also a nice if not short track to build some tension.
Now the best praise one can give this soundtrack is that there isn’t really much in the way of unpleasant tracks. In fact, the only one I would say fits that description is the super short and shrill “The Fiend's True Form”. There are quite a few that are unmemorable, though, largely owed to Saigsu’s work. However, it’s not fair to blame him since many of these themes weren’t planned to be used in the first place and this soundtrack is contending with his scraps, to be blunt.
Overall, I have a lot of criticism for just how heavy this soundtrack is with reused themes. The shift from mono to stereo is disorienting. Still, at the end of the day it’s not a bad stand alone experience, and does contain an incredible theme at the very end around Alien Mefilas.
As a side note, the titles on this release will generally reference the episode they came from and then the original theme. The titles rarely relate to the events in the movie, which is disappointing as at least the Shin Godzilla Music Collection (KICS-3400) included the source alongside an actual track title for the scene in the movie. For the music by Shiro Sagisu, as little of it as there is, these are listed in either English or French. For the French titles, which are tracks 29, 30, 31 and 34 from the first disc and their respective full versions on disc two, those have been translated into English below. For those curious, due to naming conventions, these were probably tracks that were created and unused for Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021). |
