Not Another Music Review!
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door OST FUTURE BLUES
It's Like:
Someone dared Yoko Kanno to do her best work in as many different genres as
possible.
The Bottom Line:
This may be a pricey import, depending on where you look. And the soundtrack
is worth every single penny. There's several tracks that you're bound to enjoy,
whether or not you've even seen the movie or series.
The Review:
Back when everybody and thier grandmother was raving about Cowboy
Bebop, what made me run out and finally watch the series was listening to
one of the series' soundtracks. After being blown away by the sheer artistic
talent behind Yoko Kanno's work I heard on the CDs, I simply HAD to find out
what Cowboy Bebop was all about.
After a critically acclaimed run of 26 episodes, the
movie Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door was released
,
and Yoko Kanno again stepped up to the plate.
But would she be able to deliver the same diversity and freshness of music styles across so many genres? After watching the series, the bar was set rather high for me.
Some people may be a bit surprised that this soundtrack has a harder edge to it; like the Dylan song the subtitle references, a lot of the tracks have more of a classic rock feel to them, with mixes of Middle Eastern, country tunes, and even gospel.
The first track , "24 Hours" , tells the listener that things are going to be a bit different. It starts off with the type of breezy, forgettable music you'd expect to hear on an elevator or in a convenience store... and is quickly punctuated with machine gun fire, and screams of terror. Track 2, "Pushing the Sky" is a very strong hard rock piece that was used to great effect in the movie's climatic final battle.
Fans looking for some tried and true jazz from a Bebop soundtrack won't be disappointed; there are four tracks that use at least of light touch of spirited and lively jazz ("Time to know ~ Be Waltz", "Clutch", "Yo, pumpkin head", and "What planet is this?!"). There's also a very dreamy, mellow, almost sensuous vocal track in "Butterfly" with a vibraphone and vocals that work in perfect harmony with one another (it's one of my favorite tracks on the CD). The album dips into a few more western influences with the country and western blues track in "Diggin'", and has a very powerful rock ballad that also carries strong gospel influences in "Knock a little harder" (which was used as the end credits piece).
But Kanno doesn't stick just to western genres or influences; since there are parts of the movie that take place in what could be best described as an amaglam of Egypt and the Middle East, two tracks in particular, "MUSAWE" and "No Money" carry a distinct Middle Eastern and Moroccan flair.
This CD also features an unlisted bonus track: Rain (Demo Version). This is the version that is sung by Mai Yamane in the actual anime series).