Welcome to a Song Collection double-feature! This time I am looking at the song collections from both of Toei's Tokusatsu series from 1994! In addition to Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, I am also looking at Blue SWAT! Oh boy...! *shakes fist* Forte!!!!...!!!!
For this review, I'll be listening to the Blue SWAT song collection through Super Hero Chronicle Metal Hero Shudaika Sonyuuka Daizenshuu III. I previously took a look at the entire CD series in this woefully incomplete post.
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01. TRUE DREAM (Album Version) / Tatsuya Maeda
I've talked about TRUE DREAM a number of times at this point, but I suppose one more boost of support couldn't hurt.
This is easily one of the greatest Tokusatsu theme songs of all time. I can see how some people out there wouldn't like it, but I love the complete randomness of it all. Does it deserve to be a fight song? No, and I think that may be the only demerit it may be guilty of earning. It's just...such a solid song.
If you want to read more, I wrote a post breaking down the two different versions of this song and even made a quick'n dirty video highlighting the differences.
02. Tabidachi no sain / Tatsuya Maeda
An action song, and an extremely cheesy one at that. The synth tone that they selected is just...bad. The drum machines surely burst into flames once the recording wrapped up. It's similarly bad to a lot of Forte-era Dragonball Z songs, so I can't say it's random. The only saving grace is Maeda's smooth vocals.
03. THEME OF PLATINUM / Ryo Ito
I'm not entirely sure how to size this song up. Gold Platinum's theme song is...moody? Why is this song so tragic sounding? Granted, I don't remember too much about Gold Platinum outside of giving Sho his Hyper Sho ability and drum gun.
Weird character theme song that just kinda drags on for awhile. It isn't bad, just strange.
04. Power Up Blue SWAT ~Aisuru kokoro ga areba~ / Tatsuya Maeda
This isn't the same song as Tabidachi no sain?
Everything I said about that song can be applied here...except I like this one a little more. It's just a little bit more memorable.
05. Jaaku no junrei ~GET THE WAR~ / Tatsuya Maeda
The best of the lot. It's easy to see why this song was chosen to represent Blue SWAT on Toei Metal Hero Karaoke Vol.2. It's the most normal sounding song on this disc--almost as if it were a Janperson Song Collection leftover.
Really, a much-needed breath of fresh air.
06. Yuujo Cho Fighter / Soji Masaki, Yuka Shiratori, Ko Domon
Oof. This could have been a good song. It was *so* close. If they just let Tatsuya Maeda sing it with some fresh lyrics, it could have been a nice follow-up to the previous track. But no... This song is by our series leads. All of them. At once. It's awful.
The worst thing about it is that no particular actor sounds like a terrible singer. They just don't mix in the slightest. I'm just baffled.
07. Heishitachi no kyuusoku / Tatsuya Maeda
I guess this series needed a ballad-ish song. It's alright. Maeda is a versatile singer, so it is a perfectly serviceable song. I'm pretty sure every Tokusatsu series is required to have a ballad...and this one passes the test.
08. HELLO THERE! / Tatsuya Maeda
The strange, strange ending song. While it's generally agreed upon that TRUE DREAM is a classic, this one is a big more divisive. I happen to be fond of this turd. Random piano solo? Yes. Workout montage? You got it! Stock footage of a high dive? I'm there!
Who says the upbeat ending songs have to suck? For the detractors: Let me remind you that the Kabutack ending song is a thing. HELLO THERE! isn't so bad now, is it?
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This song collection is largely pathetic. The two things that it really has going on is TRUE DREAM and Tatsuya Maeda's vocals on the majority of songs. Everything else oscillates between Meh and Feh. The biggest crime of them all is that, including the theme songs, it's only eight friggin' tracks long. Eight! When you have two weird theme songs, you need to have a bunch of normal insert songs to balance it out.
I suppose if we got more songs, there was always a chance we could've gotten more crap. Given how awesome the Music Collection from this series is, I have to say that this song collection has always been an immense disappointment to me.
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Check out my CD Collection for more! In the meantime, I gotta get the sibling post to this ready...
Bye!
-CC
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