Aquarion Evol – Love @ New Dimension review
Review by Yyrkoon, thanks!!!
Album length: 73:45
This new album contains 7 new tracks whose total length is 23:32 (the new tracks are marked with a *). 5 of them are non vocal musics, that’s not a lot but it’s still great for a “vocal album”.
01. 君の神話～アクエリオン第二章 [trans: Your Myth ~ Aquarion Chapter Two] (5:28)
Aquarion Evol first opening released as a single and in the first Aquarion Evol O.S.T.
02. 荒野のヒース [trans: Heath of the Wastelands] (5:40)
Sousei no Aquarion insert song released in the first Sousei no Aquarion O.S.T. and in the Lost of Time album
03. Go Tight! (4:41)
Sousei no Aquarion second opening released as a single, in the second Sousei no Aquarion O.S.T. and in the Lost of Time album
04. パラドキシカルZOO [trans: Paradoxical ZOO] (4:35)
Aquarion Evol second opening released in the first Aquarion Evol O.S.T.
05. 創聖のアクエリオン お兄さまと [trans: Genesis of Aquarion with My Brother] (4:43)
Sousei no Aquarion first opening with some chorus from Akashi Kawamitsu released in the first Sousei no Aquarion O.S.T.
06. プライド～嘆きの旅 [trans: Pride ~ A Journey of Grief] (4:35)
Sousei no Aquarion insert song released in the first opening single, in the first Sousei no Aquarion O.S.T. and in the Lost of Time album
07. オムナ マグニ [trans: Omna Magni] (1:37)
Sousei no Aquarion ending released in the first Sousei no Aquarion O.S.T. and in the second opening single
08. ニケ15歳 [trans: 15-Year-Old Nike] (4:49)
Sousei no Aquarion insert song released in the second Sousei no Aquarion O.S.T. and in the Lost of Time album.
09. a tot* (2:23)
This is a very pleasant orchestral track, one of the best surprises in this album. This is a ballet like music with strings, flute and piano arrangements while the rhythm is given by pizzicato strings. This is the kind of music Yoko Kanno is really good at but that she’s doing more and more rarely.
10. 鳥になって [trans: Becoming a Bird] (4:17)
Sousei no Aquarion insert song released in the first Sousei no Aquarion O.S.T.
11. Unforgettable* (3:28)
This is the only music from Sousei no Aquarion. It’s none other than THE Celiane orchestral arrangement. Normally it was performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Another excellent surprise.
12. 昇天唱歌* [trans: Ascension Song] (0:33)
This is a short military march song performed by young men, perhaps by the voice actors of Aquarion Evol. It’s not really interesting even if you saw the show. Anyway it’s only 30 seconds long.
13. イヴの断片 [trans: Fragments of Eve] (4:58)
Aquarion Evol insert song released in the first Aquarion Evol O.S.T.
14. 光のカデンツア*[trans: Light Cadenza] (2:16)
With the track 16 “Echoes encore”, this track uses some kind of spacious echoing keyboard. In this track there is also a warm pad used as a bass. This music uses variations of some parts of from the song Zero. It ends with the Sousei no Aquarion main theme (the one used in many orchestral tracks like Aquarius, etc). It’s a little short but the song Zero melody has such power that it can be easily enjoyed.
15. 月光シンフォニア [trans: Moonlight Symphonia] (3:52)
Aquarion Evol first ending released in the first opening single and in the first Aquarion Evol O.S.T.
16. 残響encore* [trans: Echoes encore] (4:42)
This track is in the same style as the track 14 “Light Cadenza”, but with more different parts. The first part is made up of a chaotic piano with some quick synth playing in the background. Then comes an instrumental version of Zero followed by a short refrain of Sousei no Aquarion and then comes the intro from Kimi no Shinwa. The final part is strange because there’s a real piano (without any echo) and a light synth in the background, and it’s playing a classical and sad melody. This part is not bad but there doesn’t seem to be any relation with the previous parts or even with the Aquarion universe.
Overall this track is some kind of medley with that spacious echoing keyboard. I’m not sure people who don’t know Aquarion themes can enjoy this music but for the others it’s a interesting piece of music, mainly thanks to the middle part.
17. ZERO ゼロ* [trans: ZERO Zero] (4:43)
I guess this song can just be called “Zero” since it’s pretty common to have such titles in Japanese albums (like the song Cloe from the Arjuna soundtrack). This is the song played in the last episode, but as always, it cannot be heard clearly in the show because of all these sound effects (explosions…) they put everywhere (whereas in Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf’s Rain and GITS they really worked on the way the music was used in the shows).
The song arrangement itself is a little loud and blur, the refrain is a little too cheerful (almost naïve) for me and the bridge lyrics don’t mean anything (“Sounds of love” …) but here stop its defects. This song rhythm looks like the ones in “Heath of the Wastelands”, and it’s full of chorus everywhere. The part just before the refrain with the double echos is really beautiful (“Kanashimanaide…” and “Demo yume wo mite…”), and I understand why it’s so emphasized in “Echoes encore” and “Light Cadenza”. The most beautiful part for me is on “Demo yume wo mite…” with the strings going down four times in a row until the refrain starts again.
Anyway, that’s a good song for those who can stand the refrain cheerfulness (although it’s totally logical with the Aquarion universe).
18. Genesis of LOVE～愛の起源* [trans: Genesis of LOVE ~ Origin of LOVE] (4:40)
This song is a surprising arrangement of the first opening “Sousei no Aquarion”. it’s surprising because the musical universe doesn’t match Aquarion anymore. It’s closer to the gospel universe related to the Bless4. It’s not bad at all, but I’m feeling like it’s a little boring because it’s so slow and it lacks of some dynamics. However, the chorus are really gorgeous.
19. (Bonus track)* (1:45)
Like in the first O.S.T., there is a bonus track. This one is a new variation only heard in Aquarion Evol of “Souseiki #2″, a music released in the first Aquarion Evol O.S.T.. This version does not have any chorus and therefore lighter, but it’s still nice to listen to.
It’s a good surprise when we know that a lot of (good) BGM remain unreleased.
July 27th, 2012 at 10:06 am
Anyone else feel nostalgic for any of the older songs? Pride ~ Nageki no Tabi particularly reminded me of the time when I first heard the Aquarion OSTs.
July 27th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
I got that way when I was watching Aquarion EVOL and they played Nike 15 Sai. I was like, “They didn’t even play this in the original! They are just throwing every song into this!” Then I remembered Kawamori also started doing AKB0048 during the 2nd half of EVOL (why it got worse I think) so that explains major usage of music I think.
July 27th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
@Fuu: that was already the case in Sousei no Aquarion and, of course, in Macross Frontier (but this one was centered on songs so it was more logical).
The way Kawamori makes the episodes is that in each episode there has to be a song. Remember how many time they played Sousei no Aquarion in the Sousei no Aquarion?
July 28th, 2012 at 11:10 am
The track 9, “a tot”, sound like “Mikazuki no Shindai”, with different arrangement (song of “Please Save My Earth”).