Ahhhhhhh! It's back again! It's the return of my disgusting series of excessive CD Collecting. What can I say? I want it all and CDs are cheap if you know how to shop. This time I will be covering the ten 8cm CD singles covering both Megaranger and Gingaman. Last time I took a look at all of the singles covering Liveman through Ohranger. If you *really* want to get up to speed, check out my post from January covering all of the Carranger singles. After today, the only thing left for me to look at for Super Sentai is GoGo Five and Timeranger...
As always, this page is for reference (particularly if you're in the market) since finding any kind of information is difficult in Japanese let alone English. That said, I am not offering downloads of any of the music featured on my site. The aim is to maybe get a few more people interested in CD collecting through details (content, artwork, extras, etc.).
With all of that out of the way...let's get into Megaranger!
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Denji Sentai Megaranger OP c/w Install! Megaranger!!
CODC-1166
1997.02.21
The 1990s had it's fair share of excellent Super Sentai theme songs. Zyuranger was good...Dairanger was fantastic and the genre never looked back until...well, I'll get into when things turn around in a later post. The Megaranger theme song was smack in the middle of a hot streak of excellent theme songs. I could understand why someone might not like this one, but I love it! It's incredibly peppy and features the awesome singing of Naoto Fuuga. It might have a couple little spots of cheese, but it's a great theme song.
The song that it couples with, Install! Megaranger, is a pretty decent fight song. Also by Fuuga, I would say that this one complements the theme song nicely. It does have that killer guitar/synth solo that might as well end the song. A good song, but I wouldn't say it's one of the more memorable songs from the series.
Tracks three and four are Karaoke versions of the previous two tracks.
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Denji Sentai Megaranger ED c/w Denji Gattai! Galaxymega
CODC-1167
1997.02.21
The main Megaranger ending song, Ki no Sei kana, also falls in a long string of wonderful ending songs from 1990s Super Sentai. It is almost an inverted version of Jetman's Kokoro wa Tamago. That one had an emphasis on the orchestra with some light band music playing. This time around, the band music is front and center with the orchestra adding some depth. Yet...the two songs were always similar to me. Maybe the closer comparison would be the Fiveman ending song, but that one stinks.
Oh man. From memory I believe I declared the Galaxymega theme song to be the best Super Sentai Mecha theme song. I did! Way back in 2012. Things have not changed. I friggin love this one. 5-4-1! 5-4-1!! This one is sheer perfection when it comes to mecha themes. It has that killer intro, upbeat music throughout, and great vocals by Naoto Fuuga (who sang the first track on this disc also). I don't think I can say much more about it. Best Sentai Mecha theme song ever...
As usual, tracks three and four are Karaoke. 5-4-1! 5-4-1!!
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Denji Sentai Megaranger Digdug! Degitank c/w Multiweapon Megahanasenai
CODC-1202
1997.04.19
Norio Sakai, anyone? He didn't do a whole lot of singing on Tokusatsu albums, but whenever he did it was a treat. Prior to this he sang Kamen Rider BLACK's ending song Long Long Ago 20th Century, both Gridman theme songs, and the VRV Robo theme from Carranger. He sings the Degitank theme song for Megaranger. Maybe it isn't the most majestic thing to sing about, but I enjoy this song. Interesting to note that the backing vocals are the unmistakable voice of Kumi Sasaki who would later sing the Timeranger opening theme song.
Remember when they gave almost everything a theme song? Well, the Multiweapons also had a song. I guess that makes this the 'single of unnecessary theme songs'... Anyway, I also like this one quite a bit. It's a very fun song with lots of energy and some more of the great Naoto Fuuga. His songs have a tendency of being upbeat and fun.
Karaoke versions of the first two tracks close out this four-track single.
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Denji Sentai Megaranger Cyberslider TMY c/w Cosmic World
CODC-1203
1997.04.19
Once again...why exactly do the Cybersliders have a theme song? Of all of the Megaranger songs that ended up on a CD Single, this is probably the only one I don't like. It's just a little too cheesy. It really sounds more like it belongs on the B-Robo Kabutack song collection. Heh. Naoto Fuuga really sings the hell out of this one at least.
Cosmic World! This one also ended up very high on another Top 7 list of mine. This is exactly what a heroine song in Megaranger should sound like. It's a tad similar to the opening theme song, but manages to be it's own kick-ass thing. This one is sung by Lisa Ooki, who I really am not familiar with given her sheer lack of Tokusatsu work outside of this song.
Another four track single. Two vocal, two Karaoke.
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Denji Sentai Megaranger ED2 c/w Mighty! Megaranger
CODC-1233
1997.05.21
So the second ending song to Megaranger is a little tune called Bomb Dancing Megaranger. It was used from episodes 21-30 and was sung by one of my favorite singers of the era: Hiroko Asakawa. I like this one quite a bit, but maybe not as much as Ki no Sei kana. I kinda recommend Carranger ONDO over this one, but I still really enjoy it. Like Carranger ONDO, this one has it's own dance. The steps were included on a separate sheet of paper.
The other song one this single is Mighty! Megaranger, which is a fairly standard fight song. I tend to get this one mixed up with Install! Megaranger in my head. The biggest difference is that Norio Sakai sings this song once again. Good song, but a little bit on the forgettable side.
Four tracks...two vocal, two Karaoke.
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Seijuu Sentai Gingaman OP c/w Chikyuu ni Hikaru o
CODC-1423
1998.02.21
In my very first Top 7 list I selected the theme song to Gingaman as my favorite Sentai opening theme song between 1998 and 2004. That's right, I picked this one over GoGo Five's theme song. You know what? I stand by that decision. It is everything I think the Zyuranger theme song wanted to be...but done a thousand times better. They even managed to coax Masato Shimon out of retirement to sing it (he sings it under the name Ryu Kisami). It's a fantastic production and fits the series amazingly well. Go back and listen to it again. There used to be a time when Sentai theme songs had personality
The coupling song, Chikyu ni Hikaru o is a fairly standard action song that is kinda let down by it's synthetic bass. Eh. I wouldn't say I'm totally down with this song, but I do seem to listen to it regularly. This song is sung by Eiichi Sato who has a pretty unique voice. If you don't like his voice, I recommend trying to listen to the Karaoke version of this song...you'll quickly miss his voice. Maybe he isn't the best singer, but his contribution helps make this song listenable.
Do I really need to mention that this single has two vocal and two Karaoke tracks? No? Too bad!
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Seijuu Sentai Gingaman ED c/w Mugendai no Yuuki
CODC-1424
1998.02.21
Masato Shimon also sings the ending song, Hadashi no kokoro de. I genuinely think this is a pretty beautiful song. Keep in mind, I didn't care for Masato Shimon very much. His Gingaman theme songs are truly fantastic. This song is the child that Megaranger and Jetman's ending song never had. It features this janky guitar that bounces off of Shimon's equally as janky vocals. Great song. It's a shame it took this long for me to like something of Shimon's that wasn't his Taiyaki song.
The coupling song on this single is a pretty good action song called Mugendai no Yuuki by Shinji Kakishima. I wouldn't say it has any stand out moments, but it's still a really cool upbeat song.
There are four tracks here--two vocal, two Karaoke.
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Artwork=Magnificent
Seijuu Sentai Gingaman Ginga no Ohja Gingaioh c/w Kiti o muke
CODC-1490
1998.04.21
Oh. My God. Yes. While I like Takayuki Miyauchi's other mecha theme songs, this one takes first prize in my heart. I would even go further and say that this is the best Gingaman song outside of the theme songs. This song has the room for Miyauchi to live up to his potential--something that he wasn't afforded on the bummer of a Muteki Shogun theme song. Not only was Miyauchi fantastic, the music is bonafide earworm territory. The horn parts will have you whistling for days...
The song that couples with the Gingaioh theme song is called Kiti o muke by Norio Sakai. It's a great companion to the Gingaioh theme song, but doesn't quite meet it in awesomeness. Still, the two songs work very well together to make a well-rounded single.
Keeping with the norm, this one is 2vocal2karaokious.
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Seijuu Sentai Gingaman Misetsukero Seijuu Tamashii! c/w Ginga Tensei! Jikuu o Koete
CODC-1491
1998.04.21
Oh wow! Misetsukero Seijuu Tamashii is sung by Yukio Yamagata...the man who would later go on to give Gaoranger theme it's impeccably tuned vocals. I always imagined that someone at Columbia was taking notes when they made this song so that later they could give Yamagata his own theme song when the opportunity to put his gruffer-than-Kushida's voice to work arose. Sure, he did some songs between this and Gaoranger, but I'm willing to bet that this one got him the job. I love it! Especially the awesome little breakdown about three quarters of the way through.
To complete this very good single, an action song called Ginga Tensei! Jikuu o Koete couples as the second track. This one is sung by Yoshito Fuchigami, who might sound a bit familiar if you listened to the Carranger IN songs that he happened to also sing. I happen to like this song quite a lot, though I know that it is only probably just better than average. It definitely gets the job done, though!
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Seijuu Sentai Gingaman Unare Juugekibo! Juugekiha! c/w Gingapink Saya~Hana no Senshi
CODC-1514
1998.05.21
Yet another unnecessary weapon song--this time for the Jugekibos. Forget that, though...it's Naoto Fuuga! His enthusiasm is missing from this rather straight-laced song collection. Maybe that's for the best, though. I'm not really feeling the Jugekibo theme song. It's alright, but it's a bit...all over the place...especially at the two-thirds point.
I would have to rank Gingapink's song among some of the forgotten heroine theme songs. It isn't bad, it's just pretty bland. The music is really cheap sounding pretty much throughout. Not even Hiroko Asakawa could bring this one to life. What a shame. Give this one a listen if you get a chance. It doesn't even sound like it's from the same series. Actually, it sounds like the Karaoke machine version of itself...with some good vocals laid on top. Poor Hiroko Asakawa. I think I'm going to listen to Seishun Circuit now in protest.
You guessed it! There are two vocal tracks and two Karaoke tracks on this CD Single.
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Recommended Pick: This is probably the toughest 'recommended pick' I've had to do. I really have to give it to the Ki no sei kana/Denji Gattai! Galaxymega single. It might be a little bit lacking in the artwork (it isn't bad, just not as crisp as some of the Gingaman singles) but the two songs are incredible. The Karaoke version of the Galaxymega theme puts it over the edge for me...
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That does it for the latest batch of CDs from my CD collection. This topic was selected by Twitter poll. Seeing as Metal Hero has lost out to Super Sentai every single time, I think I should just finish up the damn Sentai singles in the CD next post. Stay tuned for GoGo Five and Timeranger singles in September!
Be sure to check out my CD Collection page here. I get CDs faster than I can update that page, so there is way more than that on the way.
Thank you so much for stopping by today.
-CC
P.S. Here are some photos of the sheet that was included with the Bomb Dancing! Megaranger single. As with the Carranger ones, I won't be scanning these since some asshat will likely just lift them and put them on their nothing of a website.
