Buy it... if you seek a very strong introduction to the work of famed composer Joe Hisaishi or some the best of Japanese film music in general.

Avoid it... if you expect the complexity of the score's action material to rival the beauty of its dramatic melodic passages.

Hisaishi

Princess Mononoke/Mononoke Hime: (Joe Hisaishi) Japanese animation took much longer than it should have to penetrate the international theatrical market. When Disney, through Miramax, decided to purchase the distribution rights to famed director Hayao Miyazaki's anime, their first major venture was Princess Mononoke (also known as Mononoke Hime). The film had briefly set Japan's box office records in 1997 (before Titanic shattered the records even there), and it debuted in America in late 1999 to a stellar critical response. It had been dubbed into English with an entirely new vocal cast, which did not effect the production in any adverse way. The film failed, however, to start a tidal wave of similar anime translations to a wider audience. Naturally, the story was aimed at an older audience, exploring topics of "man versus nature" that, in this case, include all the necessary fantasy elements to satisfy older youth while making its statements about conservation. The scope of the film's story is epic, which is all that you really need to know when approaching Joe Hisaishi's music for the Princess Mononoke. The score had been raising eyebrows ever since the film's initial release in Japan, and the media blitz surrounding this music in the United States was just as heavy as that for the film itself. Hisaishi, arguably Japan's foremost composer (having won the country's equivalent of the "Best Score" Academy Award the previous year for another project), already enjoyed a long collaboration with Miyazaki. During the first years of their work together, Hisaishi's music was often darker and more sinister, and after a few lighter efforts in the years just prior to 1997, Princess Mononoke marked Hisaishi's return to his popular and earlier brooding style. Comparisons have been drawn between the music from Princess Mononoke and that of Hisaishi's Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind and Laputa: Castle in the Sky, as well as that of the popular American composers Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner. For the mass majority of American listeners, the history of Hisaishi's career might have seemed distant and irrelevant at the time, and his immense effort for Princess Mononoke was a well-timed introduction.

For an animated film, the music of Princess Mononoke is just as orchestrally powerful and thematically provocative as Mulan, with similar elements to be heard in both works. Hisaishi employs a full orchestra and lyrical vocals for the epic tale, augmenting those Western-friendly elements with non-traditional vocals and several Japanese solo instruments, including the koto, shakuhachi, and, most importantly, Taiko drums. The composer's thematic constructs do utilize progressions familiar to Oriental settings, but they exist on the same level as any melodramatic Horner theme in terms of scope and performance. The balance between the Western ensemble, in its expansive sound, and the tints of local flavor give the Princess Mononoke score a very listenable personality for ears from any part of the world. The primary theme represents the central warrior Ashitaka, with this idea anchoring the start and close of the album. Aside from these impressive suite-like performances, the "The Land of the Impure" and "The Young Man from the East" cues, among several others, restate this theme with grandeur. Solo performances of the theme, such as the one on flute late in "The Encounter," are equally compelling. The other major theme, provided for San the Princess, is heard in both the vocal song and its instrumental version. A love theme for the two is extensively followed with a slightly more modern touch on piano in "Ashitaka and San." The track titles of the album releases also ease the task of identifying several submotifs that Hisaishi uses, including the percussively ominous representation of "The Demon God" and an understated but pretty "Requiem." The greatest weakness of Princess Mononoke is its battle music; although the straight forward performances of rhythmic Taiko drums are powerful effective (especially in "The Battle Drums"), the actual action cues, such as "The Furies" and "The Battle in Front of The Ironworks," are disappointingly sparse in both their attitude and complexity. The two "World of the Dead" cues near the end do crank up the intensity, thanks in part to the culmination of many sound effects, vocal and electronic, that Hisaishi inserts as accents throughout the score. Otherwise, the fluid performances of the score's primary themes are the main attraction.

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The "Ashitaka and San" cue will likely be the only satisfying track for listeners interested in Hisaishi's more upbeat work of the mid-1990's (such as My Neighbor Totoro). The remainder of Princess Mononoke, when not engaged in one of its lovely statements of theme, is surprisingly moody and restrained for extended passages. Much of the middle portion of the film is treated to cues that tend to pass quickly and without much notice, especially compared to the heightened bass and additional layers in the last third of the score. The mixing of the score for the album is somewhat curious; the string and woodwind sections are afforded a very wet mix, with a distinct concert-like echo to the violins and solo woodwinds in particular. Conversely, the brass and metallic percussion are somewhat dry and flat by comparison (with very timid cymbal hits and rolls). It's an awkward overall balance, but at least each moment will impress with crisp definition. One of the treasures of Princess Mononoke is its song performance. San's theme is translated into an operatic piece performed by Sasha Lazard in "Princess Mononoke Theme Song (Mononoke-Hime)." With Lazard's similarities in tone, as well as the orchestral accompaniment and a few shared progressions, this performance may remind some listeners of Sarah Brightman's performances in the Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera. The ensemble vocals in "The Tatara Women Work Song" have new age hints in both their electronic backing and an Enya-like, layered vocal effect. The album situation is a tale of two countries. Several versions of the song have been released in Japan, in single and remixed album form. The full score itself was available in multiple incarnations on Japanese labels, with varying levels of sound quality. The track listings on the main, 1998 Japanese TKDA and 1999 American Milan releases are practically identical, but the Milan album makes one significant mistake. The Japanese version is longer by about four minutes, and the music missing from the Milan release is the extended performance of the title song. It's difficult to imagine why only an 80-second edit of this song was provided by Milan, for at that length the song only serves to tease the listener into seeking a longer version. Otherwise, both albums are very strong representations of the score, and either would represent an excellent introduction to Hisaishi and Japanese film music. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download