Welcome back to my series of reviews on Tokusatsu series song collections. This time around I am taking a listen to a song collection that I've been avoiding for some time. I've alluded to my thoughts on these songs in both my Goggle V and Machineman song collection reviews. In my previous, and somewhat completely unrelated post about a garbage Netflix toy documentary, I even mention the series proper in passing.
It's time to talk about Chodenshi Bioman songs I guess.
For this post I'll be listening to my copy of the Chodenshi Bioman Complete Song Collection from 1996. I briefly talked about that disc here in the past.
------------------------
01. Chodenshi Bioman / Takayuki Miyauchi
100% Overrated.
I know a lot of people hold this series theme song near and dear for nostalgic reasons
I should back up a bit. This is the first Super Sentai outing for the now legendary Takayuki Miyauchi. He handles the theme songs and a handful of additional songs in this collection. His singing is perfectly serviceable on this track and all of the following tracks, but the music just doesn't match his style...at all. Miyauchi has a powerful voice...a voice that really shined during his stint as the resident Metal Hero songster between 1990 and 1992.
This theme song...with it's middling pace, uninspired bassline, and goddamn xylophone are a horrible waste of a Super Sentai theme song. Think of the Dynaman theme song...think of the Changeman theme song. This mundane slab of nothing is like watching a competitive snail race.
I know I previously railed on the xylophone being the worst part of this song, but then I remembered a far superior theme song from just a year prior that had everything the Bioman theme song has and does it 100% better. Yes, I'm talking about Aura Dunbine Battler's Dunbine tobu by the brilliant MIO (MIQ these days). I really want you to dissect both songs. The forceful singer, the xylophone, the bassline. EVERYTHING is better in Dunbine tobu and yet the songs are incredibly friggin similar.
I better stop talking about MIQ. Everytime I do, I get bummed out about her lack of Tokusatsu songs outside of her lone Gekiranger jam...and a cover of Sharivan's Danger Melody...
02. Oretachi Bioman / Takayuki Miyauchi, Koorogi '73
Kicking this thing off with...an incredibly boring song. Again, Miyauchi does his best with what he has, but this isn't his type of song. The best thing I can say about it is that this is the perfect amount of Koorogi '73 that any song should have. You know...background singers.
03. Sexual Lady / Maki Ishido
This song gets a lot of love for reasons that are beyond me. It's appearance in Gaoranger vs Super Sentai probably has something to do with it.
The engrishy title aside, this song isn't particularly fun. Maki Ishido isn't a great singer, either. The fact that I know her from nothing else probably speaks to that.
I guess the only other thing this song has to offer is this choice random engrish lyric: You are rhythmical dancer. Well.....yeah. Aren't dancers typically following a rhythm? You are interpretive dancer.
04. Blue Togetherness / Takayuki Miyauchi
Ahhh. Another overrated gem from Gaoranger vs Super Sentai.
I genuinely prefer the BGM version of this song over the vocal version. I should probably explain. The Bioman music collection features some modified versions of the vocal songs on a level that I don't think any other series reaches. Sometimes you'll hear lashings of songs in the BGM. Series composer Tatsumi Yano takes solid chunks of his songs and works them into the BGM. It's odd and, in pretty much every case, the BGM version is better.
05. Oozora kakete! / Koorogi '73, Japan Echo Singers
What the hell is this song?
It's certainly fun and peppy, but it isn't very good. Before I start this song collection project I had fond memories of Koorogi '73. Now that I've reviewed several song collections that have appearances by them, I'm beginning to question my assessment. Their suckitude far outweighs their decency.
I appreciate this song's liveliness in an otherwise bland song collection so far, but there is a very good reason why I skip this one often.
06. Colorful Bioman / Takayuki Miyauchi, Koorogi '73, Japan Echo Singers
Ugh.
The way this song farts along just makes me want to snooze. That's damn near impossible, though, seeing as the synth is set at it's most shrill setting. The contents of this song are a stark reminder that Super Sentai is children's programming. Colors...and numbers...! At four and a half minutes, this song goes on longer than it would take to get shot and bleed out. Guess which one is more preferable...
...the song of course, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck.
07. Yumemiru Peebo / Yoshiko Ota, Columbia Yurikago-kai
UGH.
OK, so this is the song that people seem to bring up every time robot helper songs are the topic. For some reason I went into this listen thinking that it was as bad as Flashman's Mag song. NOPE. This is far worse. Irritating lyrics aside, Yoshiko Ota is NOT up to singing a song. The warbly notes are easily the worst I've heard in a Tokusatsu song prior to like 2001. Oof.
08. Biorobo no uta / Takayuki Miyauchi
By FAR the best song of the song collection. Like...not enough to justify any of the crap before it, but it's great.
When your debut mecha theme song is this flippin' good it's no wonder Toei would call you back several times over. I'm willing to say this is the first major Sentai mecha theme song. The Dynarobo theme is *sooooo* close to this greatness, but Miyauchi's voice has finally met it's match with the music. Perfect. When the finisher BGM closes out this song...AH *chef's kiss*
Seriously... 03:08 to the end are just perfection. You can be excused for not buying the Bioman music collection, because the best bit is right here.
09. Yuuyake no Pegasus / Ryosuke Sakamoto
Hey...a song by Red One himself, Ryosuke Sakamoto. You know what...I've always really liked this one. Sakamoto is actually a really decent singer. The song itself is fast-paced and actually really chill. It reminds me of some of the songs from the much better Machineman song collection of the same year. Even the end is fairly sweet in how it closes out.
This one gets regular play from me for good reason. I genuinely like it as a song.
10. Biomic Soldier / Takayuki Miyauchi
Billy Joel. Tell Her About It.
In case you were wondering where your brain heard this one before. I know a common connection people make is Wham!'s Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (a song that famously got it's name from a typo), but that song was released *after* Biomic Soldier. Tell Her About It is from 1983, so yeah. It is something of a generic peppy beat, though. Playing Biomic Soldier over either of those two songs is pretty uncanny.
Biomic Soldier is...alright. Fun in a very, very stupid way. I used to actively dislike this song, but I would be a hypocrite to like Zyuranger's goofy Bouken shite rapappiya and not like this. I guess. Miyauchi actually does line up with this one pretty well given the song has a pulse.
11. Chodenshi Bioman [Original Karaoke]
12. Oretachi Bioman [Original Karaoke]
13. Sexual Lady [Original Karaoke]
14. Blue Togetherness [Original Karaoke]
15. Oozora kakete! [Original Karaoke]
16. Coloful Bioman [Original Karaoke]
17. Yumemiru Peebo [Original Karaoke]
18. Biorobo no uta [Original Karaoke]
19. Yuuyake no Pegasus [Original Karaoke]
20. Biomic Soldier [Original Karaoke]
------------------------
I had some reservations about reviewing this song collection after my previous post about the unwatchable Power Rangers episode of The Toys That Made Us, but I guess it's time for this to happen. Negative November in full effect...
This song collection is terrible. I would even give the frankly bizarre Uchuu Keiji Shaider song collection a listen over the Bioman songs any day. Even Miyauchi's Shaider song is better than most of what's here. You have a wonderful singer who is woefully under-utilized on top of some of the most boring songs to accompany a Tokusatsu series. It's bad...and I really don't understand the acclaim outside of the sudden sharp turn this takes once you get to the Biorobo theme on the disc.
If you really need a Bioman fix, I would check out Tatsumi Yano's Bioman music collection instead. It's definitely something I play fairly often since it has all of the good bits from the song collection woven into a lot of the music.
------------------------
That's that for the Bioman song collection. Check out my CD Collection page and until next time...
Miracle Bio Electron Laser Beam!*
-CC
Previously...
The Toys That Made Us: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger Song Collection
Seiun Kamen Machineman Song Collection
The CD Collection
*Yes, I know that's Bycrosser. You really need to check out my post about The Toys That Made Us. Fuck those idiots...
I'm mostly in agreement with you on this. Bioman's soundtrack is just kind of boring a ho-hum for me, with Bio Robo's the one song from it that I can say I love. I had my post about the Sentai OPs (that I foolishly deleted) where I stated my problem with the OP -- it's slow, it has that goofy xylophone, it's dull. Toku openings need to be good songs for the heroes to fight to (back when they still did that regularly). Bioman's OP is not that.
ReplyDeleteAnd Takayuki Miyauchi is awesome, but so wasted for most of this soundtrack. I always felt like Miyauchi deserved another theme to make up for it. (I risk repeating myself, but as much as I like Taku Kitahara, I think Miyauchi really should have done the Flashman themes.)
Gaoranger VS Super Sentai DID try to trick me into thinking Blue Togetherness was worthwhile, though. It sounds cool in that movie, but never when I'm listening to it. (I find that the case with A LOT of songs used in movies or shows.)
I'm one of the people who compared Biomic Soldier to WHAM!'s song, but I never accused it of being a copy, just that it reminds me of it. (And it's just the intro.) And I'll once again bring up that the intro of Dairanger's ED reminds me of Hall & Oates' "Maneater," and I don't know if anyone out there agrees with that.
LOL @ the "Bioman" picture at the end of the post!
It's really weird that every other notable anison singer had the perfect Tokusatsu debut...except Miyauchi. Kageyama had the perfect debut for Kageyama (imagine if he did the Bioman themes...wow). That said...who would be the ideal Bioman singer? These just feel like songs written for Masato Shimon. Hahaha
DeleteBack when I was more twitter-active I used to randomly ask for tips on soundalike songs to compile. My efforts didn't yield much more than someone pointing out that the Liveman henshin BGM sounded pretty similar to the Magnum PI theme. I did get a TON of suggestions for Wake Me Up Before You Bi-o. I never did anything with it, though.
As a Filipino, I remembered watching Super Electronic BioMan on TV when I was younger. At first, it was English dubbed, but years later, it was a Filipino (Tagalog) dubbed. About the songs, I agree with you. Why? Was it because the Super Squardon Showa Era songs are boring? Probably.
ReplyDeleteOff-topic: Please post your thoughts about FTC Vs. YouTube, Facebook and other sites that violated the Antitrust Law in the United States and that annoying COPPA Act since 1998. Make an article if you have time, O.K.? Merry Christmas and Happy 2020!
I honestly dig pretty much every Super Sentai song collection of the 80s *except* Bioman. It's just so lazy and blah. I hated the Maskman music collection, but even that show managed to have good songs.
DeleteHonestly I don't have much of an opinion on the COPPA thing. It's an old law with some nebulous guidelines that wasn't really crafted with the vastness of the internet in mind. I think privacy, especially for children, is critical. The enforcement of the rules just needs to be a little more clear.
Yeah, not much else to say there. Haha
Happy New Year. ;]