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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you have fond memories of growing up with the series as a child. Avoid it... if you expect any of the score or songs to survive the test of time, for they are badly rooted in the era of cheesy 80's synth operas. Original Review, by Christian Clemmensen
Robotech: (Ulpio Minucci/Arlon Ober/Various) Most cartoon series on television in the 1980's only aimed at kids to the extent that they could convince those youths to ask their parents to buy the toy versions of the characters on screen. In every regard, Robotech was a different breed. Producer Carl Macek wanted to adapt a Japanese anime series and translate it to English, but in order to reach the episode number required for American syndication, he was forced to purchase the rights to three distinct anime series and rewrite them into one relevant, overarching storyline. The resulting Robotech series resulted in a spin-off film and secondary series in the following years (both complete failures), and eventually yielded another television series in 2006 for which Macek contributed his services once again. The important difference between the Robotech universe and those of other cartoon series running at the time was the fact that Macek and his team weren't afraid to kill off major characters and serve up concepts of mass death and such that similar series (like Star Blazers) were more content to gloss over. What's most surprising about this different attitude towards animation was the adult musical approach to the show. A mixture of symphonic, synthetic, and vocals, the soundtrack to Robotech was wildly diverse. Primary composers Ulpio Minucci and Arlon Ober were inspired by John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith in their efforts to provide futuristic music for the series, though neither came into the project with lengthy credentials. In fact, their involvement in Robotech would mark the height of their respective careers, with only Ober reaching out into the B-horror film genre for other substantial work. While songs by both composers for Robotech would be adapted into the 2006 resurrection of the concept, only Minucci would live just barely long enough to see the follow-up series produced. Their music for the original series is, in retrospect, badly dated, and only devoted fans of the series should even humor this review any further. When you go back and listen to the synthetic music often provided to these mid-80's cartoons, you're horrified by the fact that you once considered them even marginally cool. In the case of Robotech, you have so many different sounds, from the faux-Star Wars fanfares to the light rock songs, that it's surprising that so little of the material survives as being enjoyable twenty years later. The ensemble for Minucci and Ober consisted of a small orchestra, rock band elements, and unaccomplished vocalists. They composed a variety of themes for each character and scenario, a surprising amount of complexity in development. But each theme is strikingly amateurish and simplistic, with their performances two-dimensional in style and betraying their inspiration more often than not. Their downright cheesy renderings are the death blow, however, with drum pads and ridiculous 80's synth sound effects killing and lasting power this music may have had. Recording quality of electronics was already far beyond these dorky levels by 1985. The performances themselves are atrocious in parts. The songs, led by elegant piano performances, often contain distracting errors that make them difficult to digest outside of the fact that they seem so badly out of place to begin with. The vocal versions of the songs are equally painful, especially those performed by actress Reba West, who only reluctantly agreed to sing while intoxicated. On the whole, only true enthusiasts of Robotech will be able to tolerate this vast variety of music, particularly after twenty years. On album, a 2-CD compilation of music from both the original and "Sentinel" series (the latter of which is even less tolerable!) was released by a specialty label in 1996. In 2006, a remastered 20th Anniversary follow-up compilation would add a handful of tracks and an additional 12 minutes of material. The sound quality of the Robotech music has always been wide-ranging, often changing significantly from track to track. This problem applies not only to the score, but also the songs, which suffer from master tape distortion in places. Overall, there is little music from the Robotech world that will satisfy most soundtrack collectors; only people who grew up loving the series will enjoy this music with fond memories. **
Review #2, by Todd China
Robotech: The Perfect Soundtrack Collection: (Various) The 1980's was a great time to be a kid. As an elementary school student, I used to go over to my grandparents' house every afternoon after school to watch cartoons such as "Voltron," "The Transformers," and "G.I. Joe." I used to wake up every morning at 7:00 and watch Robotech. I was too young to fully appreciate how great the show was when it first aired in 1985, but I rediscovered the series in high school and in college. Robotech was more than a toy commercial; it was an epic, character-based, romantic space opera that spanned three generations. Even my dad thought Robotech was cool. The 85 episode series was made up of three unrelated Japanese anime series which Carl Macek obtained and combined into a saga of three parts: The Macross Saga, The Robotech Masters, and The New Generation. In order to accomplish this, a few lines of dialogue were altered in the translation, and new scenes involving the Robotech Masters were produced and inserted into The Macross Saga. The general consensus is that the first and third installments were good, and the middle one sucked. Musically, an entire library of score and songs was newly created for the American version of the series. As many as five different composers contributed background score and songs, but the principals were Ulpio Minucci and Arlon Ober. The music of Robotech was very much in the sci-fi film scoring style of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith (Arlon Ober cited Goldsmith as one of his biggest influences). A traditional orchestra, along with electric guitars, synths, and drum sets, performed the score. I have always loved the Star Wars-like main title of Robotech, with its heroic trumpet march and swirling woodwind runs. Perhaps a regular orchestral percussion section could have benefited this theme, as the use of drum sets instead of tympani gives it an odd contemporary rock sound. The main title was Minucci's most valuable contribution to the score; he wrote a handful of other cues, but nothing else he wrote was nearly as good. The main title does go through some interesting variations in the score. A lonely muted trumpet plays the theme as we see scenes of desolation from the alien wars (Desolation). My favorite version was the use of a solo oboe on the theme as characters contemplated their hopelessly messed up romantic relationships (Love Theme). For example, the love theme plays when poor Lisa Hayes considers knocking on Rick Hunter's door while standing in the rain, all alone and forlorn. Robotech does not offer much in the way of compositional innovation or thematic complexity. What it does offer is a lot of memorable melodies and orchestral licks that immediately bring to mind specific moments in the Robotech series. Rick Hunter has a dashing, rock-based saxaphone theme (Rick Hunter's Theme) that plays whenever he does something daring or brash, such as interrupt the SDF-1 ceremony with a fly-by during the very first episode. The Zentraedi, a race of humanoid giants sent by the Robotech Masters to reclaim the SDF-1 flagship from earth, were given a menacing theme on electric guitars (Zentraedi Theme). Another enjoyable cue (Alien Attack) features lower register piano on the downbeats and weird synth sounds on the upbeats, followed by a desperate sounding electric guitar and orchestra theme that plays whenever the Zentraedi are on the attack. For the New Generation, a creepy synth theme was introduced for the Invid. In addition, there was also an enjoyable syncopated synth action cue (Cyclones) for all those cool scenes of the Cyclones in action. Remember that relentless sixteenth note theme that played on the electric guitars (Battle Stations) every time the enemy was approaching? We'd see close-ups of the bridge officers informing Captain Gloval that "Enemy ships are approaching!" Skull Squadron would spring into action as Lisa Hayes' voice proclaimed on the intercom, "All hands to battle stations --this is not a drill!" Then an equally exciting rock orchestral cue (The 15th Squadron) would play over scenes of the Veritech fighters and the Zentraedi pods in action. Remember when Zentraedi ace pilot Miriya Parano shrinks herself to human size in order to hunt down and kill her human nemesis, the bespectacled, blue-haired Max Sterling? The Robotech theme underscores their videogame duel as Miriya realizes that she is playing against her nemesis. Later, a wild, jagged piano motif (Confrontation) underscores the following scene in which Miriya attempts to assassinate Max, who is in love with her. Harp arpeggios and sad violins (the second half of Broken Heart, which plays over every "big emotional" scene) accompany the scene as Max and Miriya end up in each other's arms. In one of the biggest moments of the entire series, Zentraedi lord Dolza assembles his entire fleet in a move to obliterate earth. Lynn Minmei sings "We Will Win" as the humans and Zentraedi defectors stage a desperate battle to save the earth. This was one of the best uses of songs in the Robotech series. Overall, the songs in Robotech are highly sentimental (even sappy) and the lyrics can get corny, but they all exude sincerity. "We Will Win" was the best song in the Macross Saga, while "My Time to Be a Star" is simply embarrassing. Reba West, the actress who played Lynn Minmei, also performed the songs. She initially refused to sing and was only induced to perform after her fellow voice actors got her drunk (That explains a lot). The song disc also features songs from The New Generation, Robotech: The Movie, and Robotech II: The Sentinels. The songs from the little-seen movie are all decent, except for "Saved by Science," which is just plain bad. Yellow Dancer's songs are all enjoyable enough, although their 80's synth-pop sound really dates these songs. A genuinely heartfelt and inspiring song is "To Be Together," from the wedding of Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes in The Sentinels. This is a beautifully written and performed song about love and commitment. Many Robotech fans loved this song so much that they used it at their own weddings. Meanwhile, the synth instrumentals in The Sentinels, meant to give a more futuristic feel to this ill-conceived, badly written, and ultimately aborted sequel to Robotech, is mostly boring, cheesy, and lame. This soundtrack, despite its "Perfect" appellation, is not quite complete. Several cues are missing, most notably the high register piano version of "We Will Win." During the production of this album, some of the original master tapes either could not be found or were damaged beyond repair. Instead, in the case of the instrumental "We Will Win," there is an alternate, lower range piano version of the theme included on the album. The sound quality overall is excellent, with two exceptions: "Roy Fokker's Theme" and the Robotech "End Titles." Sometimes it just doesn't pay to be a fan of a cult animated sci-fi series from the 80's. Streamline also released a "perfect" VHS collection, which featured both the original subtitled Japanese version and the American version of Robotech. This project was never carried to completion. The likelihood that this series will ever be reissued on VHS or DVD is remote. But thank God for this 10th anniversary soundtrack. We will always have the music. ****
* Previously unreleased
The 1996 Perfect album insert includes no extra information about the score or series. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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