Inkwolf
03-24-2007, 02:02 PM
Wow, as a bit of a soundtrack collector, I was pretty interested in the so-called 50 Greatest Soundtracks list. While I saw many I know were good or important, I also saw a lot of things I never heard of. And no offense to Toy Story, but how the heck did that get on there while they missed such prominent soundtracks as Danny Elfman's Edward Scissorhands, and James Horner's Willow? Those two scores changed the sound of Hollywood: EVERYONE was copying them! In fact, while Elfman gets a pat on the head for rewriting the Psycho soundtrack for a remake, there's no soundtrack by Horner or Elfman listed (pretty pathetic for the two biggest film composers of the 90's.) Jerry Goldsmith didn't make the cut either, and though John William's Star Wars is listed at #3, the commentary doesn't even talk about the soundtrack itself, it talks about John Williams' OTHER soundtracks: in short, it's more of a general John Williams Homage than it's about the actual Star Wars soundtrack.
Bah. These guys are out to lunch.
But, in order to say something positive:
Here are some of my favorite animation soundtracks, in no particular order:
Chicken Run
Wonderful score, by turns humorous, touching and tense, with a lot of imaginitive instrumentation.
Triplets of Belleville
Totally off the wall!
Lion King
The songs are good, and the score even more beautiful.
Shrek (score)
Lots of fun to listen to, and includes such vocal delights as Fiona's duet with the bird, and 'Welcome to DuLoc."
The Little Mermaid
Good songs, good score.
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
I am evil. Very evil. This is my favorite musical. Unfortunately, the CD soundtrack is half-filled with crappy stuff that was not in the movie, while the 'Little Boy, you're going to hell" song is absent.
TV shows are harder to credit. There are several series where I would watch the opening credits for every single episode just because I like the music and/or animation for it.
Cool TV stuff
Animaniacs
They're zany to the max, there's baloney in their slacks, and to top it off, it's crammed with original songs and music parodies. 'Les Miseranimals' with Rita and Runt was a high point.
.Hack//sign
I hate the theme song, but their whole soundtrack is full of cool, otherworldly, new-ageyness. Track 2, The World is my favorite. Eerie voices followed by celtic-sounding violins.
Fruits Basket
Okay, so it's one of my favorite animes, but I still like the music for itself, as well as because it's part of the show. The theme song is sweet and sets the tone perfectly, and many of the internal songs/themes are equally enjoyable. Serenade is another excellent song, and many of the background themes are excellent.
Talespin opening
Honestly, you just wanna sing along with the theme song. Especially if you have it on stereo with headphones, and the monkeys are coming in at different ears. :p
Paranoia Agent opening
Scenes of destruction, laughing people, and a songs about pigeons in the park yodelled to a deafening, crashing electric-orchestral background. It's insane. It's awesome.
Tsukikage Ran opening
A beautiful Japanese enka ballad is sung, as we see scenes of a woman strolling through idyllic rural scenery and slashing vast numbers of bad guys. I want a katana!
Ranma 1/2 season 1 opening
A bouncy J-pop tune plays while the running cycles of various characters from various angles appear on the screen. Must be the animator wanna-be in me that can't get enough of watching this.
Azumanga Daioh opening
An insane, nonsensical song with nutty scenes of insane, nonsensical characters. Cool!
Kodocha season 2 opening
(Season 1 in the US has been released with the Season 2 opening...as I understand, there was some sort of licensing issue with the original season 1 song.) A high-energy tune with groups of characters line-dancing in various settings. It'll make you want to figure out the steps todance along. In fact, at one of my anime events, a group pf girls got up and tried to follow along. Wish I'd had a video camera!
Anyway, what animation soundtracks and themes do you guys like?
Bah. These guys are out to lunch.
But, in order to say something positive:
Here are some of my favorite animation soundtracks, in no particular order:
Chicken Run
Wonderful score, by turns humorous, touching and tense, with a lot of imaginitive instrumentation.
Triplets of Belleville
Totally off the wall!
Lion King
The songs are good, and the score even more beautiful.
Shrek (score)
Lots of fun to listen to, and includes such vocal delights as Fiona's duet with the bird, and 'Welcome to DuLoc."
The Little Mermaid
Good songs, good score.
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
I am evil. Very evil. This is my favorite musical. Unfortunately, the CD soundtrack is half-filled with crappy stuff that was not in the movie, while the 'Little Boy, you're going to hell" song is absent.
TV shows are harder to credit. There are several series where I would watch the opening credits for every single episode just because I like the music and/or animation for it.
Cool TV stuff
Animaniacs
They're zany to the max, there's baloney in their slacks, and to top it off, it's crammed with original songs and music parodies. 'Les Miseranimals' with Rita and Runt was a high point.
.Hack//sign
I hate the theme song, but their whole soundtrack is full of cool, otherworldly, new-ageyness. Track 2, The World is my favorite. Eerie voices followed by celtic-sounding violins.
Fruits Basket
Okay, so it's one of my favorite animes, but I still like the music for itself, as well as because it's part of the show. The theme song is sweet and sets the tone perfectly, and many of the internal songs/themes are equally enjoyable. Serenade is another excellent song, and many of the background themes are excellent.
Talespin opening
Honestly, you just wanna sing along with the theme song. Especially if you have it on stereo with headphones, and the monkeys are coming in at different ears. :p
Paranoia Agent opening
Scenes of destruction, laughing people, and a songs about pigeons in the park yodelled to a deafening, crashing electric-orchestral background. It's insane. It's awesome.
Tsukikage Ran opening
A beautiful Japanese enka ballad is sung, as we see scenes of a woman strolling through idyllic rural scenery and slashing vast numbers of bad guys. I want a katana!
Ranma 1/2 season 1 opening
A bouncy J-pop tune plays while the running cycles of various characters from various angles appear on the screen. Must be the animator wanna-be in me that can't get enough of watching this.
Azumanga Daioh opening
An insane, nonsensical song with nutty scenes of insane, nonsensical characters. Cool!
Kodocha season 2 opening
(Season 1 in the US has been released with the Season 2 opening...as I understand, there was some sort of licensing issue with the original season 1 song.) A high-energy tune with groups of characters line-dancing in various settings. It'll make you want to figure out the steps todance along. In fact, at one of my anime events, a group pf girls got up and tried to follow along. Wish I'd had a video camera!
Anyway, what animation soundtracks and themes do you guys like?