Welcome to this installment of my Song Collection review...thing. I was in the beginning phase of writing this duo of posts earlier in May when something happened that made me feel strange about my decision. The new Kamen Rider series for 2019 had it's trademark filed by Toei and the name is...Kamen Rider Zero-One. The fact that started listening the Super-1 Song Collection unprompted was a bizarre coincidence considering how rarely I talk Rider on this site and how rarely I listen to the Super-1 song collection.
Like the Skyrider article before this, I am circling back to my 1996 Kamen Rider Complete Song Collection Series 7 CD for this listen. It's the same deal as before, I skipped over the Super Hero Chronicles release and just stuck with these 90s releases since they have glorious Karaoke versions included.
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01. Kamen Rider Super 1 / Shunsuke Takasugi
Is there a bad Kamen Rider theme song prior to the avex takeover in 2002? No...there really isn't. Some theme songs just aren't up to snuff, though. Super-1's theme song is a good one. It may be a little bit disjointed, but it really isn't a bad theme song. I like the little hints of guitar and the energy is really good. Lead star Shunsuke Takasugi singing the theme song is something that hadn't been done since Kamen Rider V3's theme by Hiroshi Miyauchi. He isn't the strongest singer, but you'd better get used to him if you're going to proceed.
02. Hi o fuke Rider ken / Shunsuke Takasugi
The first ending theme song to the series. It isn't much more than a continuation of the opening theme song. Outside of the "Eh, eh, eh, eh, e-eh" it really doesn't have a distinguishing feature. It isn't bad, at least.
03. Muteki no yuusha Super-1 / Shusuke Takasugi
I really dig this one. While the music doesn't quite escape the grasp of the 70s that Rider composer Shunsuke Kikuchi imposed on all of this soundtracks going well into the 90s, it does sound a little more 80s. The only thing I'm not really fond of here is the kid backing vocals. Meh. Sometimes they work (Solbrain OP is good) but a lot of the time they don't.
04. Kunin Rider eien ni / Ichiro Mizuki
This is the only song from this song collection that anyone seems to remember or care about. While there was never a 9 Rider meet-up, it did get it's very own theme song. I like this one...it's easily Ichiro Mizuki's best contribution to this soundtrack. He even brought Koorogi '73 with him.
05. Five Hand Rock / Shunsuke Takasugi
This song does not rock.
It's no shock that something like Super-1's hand gimmick has it's own theme song, but does it have to be so weak? It's like a bizzaro lame version of Kagayake! 8nin Rider from Skyrider's song collection...and it just goes on and on and on and on and on until all of the damn hands are covered.
06. Yume no nagaremono / Ichiro Mizuki
A ballad. It isn't that bad, even if the music is doing it's damndest to distract at time with the random synth sounds. Getting Mizuki to cover this one probably was the right move since Takasugi probably isn't equipped to do a solo.
07. Hiden sekishin shorinken / Shunsuke Takasugi
I don't know what to make of this song. I like Koorogi '73's backing vocals, but this sloooooow song has no business being on a song collection in the 1980s. 1971? Yes, but not here. It is almost as slow as the Shocker song from the Kamen Rider song collection.
08. Sekai ni hitori / Ichiro Mizuki
A chill song by Ichiro Mizuki, but it doesn't really help maintain (or restart) the momentum of this song collection. It's decent, but it doesn't do much more than just exist.
09. Yuke! Super Machine / Shunsuke Takasugi
I like this one. Outside of the theme songs, this is my favorite of the Takasugi songs. The song is broken up into two halves, one for V Machine and the other for Super-1's second bike, Blue Version. The ban on Takasugi carrying a song on his own is still apparent here as he is joined by the Columbia brat patrol once again.
10. Junior Rider tai no uta / Ichiro Mizuki
I understand the why behind this song, but I don't understand why it replaced the decent ending song that the series had been using for it's first twenty-three episodes. Yes, this is the second ending theme song for the series...and it's a dated borefest. Really, I hate this song. It's a lousy march song. While earlier songs of this ilk had some charm, this just song cold and empty. This type of song had no reason to exist in 1981. Ick.
BONUS 2011 Versions
Just before I finished this post I had a thought: "Wasn't there an updated version of the Super-1 theme songs?". I checked my CD rack and, sure enough, remembered that there was a reason I sprung for the 2011 Complete Song Collection release.
01. Kamen Rider Super-1 [2011ver.] / Shunsuke Takasugi
This is actually pretty fun. Takasugi sings this one on his own and while his voice has lost some of it's luster, he does a really good job thirty years removed from the original. I ESPECIALLY love the henshin break-down. Yeah, the Super-1 henshin sequence is one of my favorite for it's sheer absurdity along with the unmistakable sound effect. Tossing that in here gives the song some extra oomph.
It's certainly better than pretty much any other theme song to come out this decade...
02. Hi o fuke Rider ken [2011ver.] / Shunsuke Takasugi
The music is kinda lame, but I enjoy this cover as well. If they were going to cover either of the ending songs, I'm really glad it was this one.
03. Five Hand Rock [2011ver.] / Shunsuke Takasugi
This is the only one of these anniversary covers that I don't really dig. It's just as boring as the original with worse music. Again, this song does not rock.
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I apologize for the lacking descriptions for a lot of these tracks, but there really isn't a whole lot to say about these songs. This song collection was contemporary with the Taiyo Sentai Sunvulcan song collection, which was fresh and new and progressive to what Tokusatsu songs would become in the 80s. This is just drivel. Composer Shunsuke Kikuchi is fantastic at certain things, but bringing Kamen Rider into the 1980s was not one of those things.
Following up the Skyrider song collection is an unenviable task. There is very little here worthwhile. As far as whole songs go, the opening theme song, first ending song, and Ichiro Mizuki's 9nin Rider song are all good. From there it's just bits and pieces of songs that are good. Yeah, I would skip this one if you are only curious. If you must get this song collection, be sure to scope out the 2011 version of the CD to get those neat covers of the themes...and Five Hand Rock...which, again, does not rock.
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That's all for now. Be sure to check out my write-up on the infinitely better Skyrider song collection that has also posted.
Take care!
-CC
Song Collection: Kamen Rider [Skyrider]
That Heisei Feeling
CD Collection / Music Articles
