Soundtrack of the Month 11/2009: Refrain ~ The songs Were inspired by Evangelion

This month’s SotM is a vocal album for the ultra-popular anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. No, it’s not the laughably bad “VOX” album, complete with D-grade Western R&B and hip-hop vocal performances. The vocal album that is worth your time is the image album from Yoko Takahashi, entitled “Refrain.”

On the disc, you’ll find some original vocal tracks, but you’ll also find remixed versions of Evangelion‘s opening and ending songs, as well as songs for the movies Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion. After the jump, check out our full review for this surprising little gem from a decade past: “refrain ~ The songs Were inspired by Evangelion.”

The album opens with a beautiful string ensemble playing instrumental arrangement of Cruel Angel’s Thesis. After the first 30 seconds, a crazy looped beat is added, complete with strained, mechanical breathing: presumably, Rei Ayanami(s) in a holding tank. After this very moody opening track, Yoko Takahashi’s “Ambivalence Mix” version of Cruel Angel’s Thesis gets us in the mood for some EVA action. Frankly, this isn’t much of a “remix.” It sounds almost identical to the traditional opening. It’s slightly more acoustic, thanks to a strummed guitar, and there may be some additional vocals recorded in the track. But otherwise, it’s the same song we’ve known and loved for over a decade.

The next track, “To the Sky of Hope,” is an original piece. It has a wildly catchy chorus, and sounds like hippie-disco (think “Age of Aquarius”) at times. After that, we get the “Sounds of Reverie Mix” version of Premonition, a song that first appeared as an “insert song” in the middle of the EVA TV series, also found as the first track on the second of the three EVA OSTs. Instrumentally, I find that I am always taken in by the piano and the violin. The production is just fantastic, and the slow, lingering notes sung by Takahashi in the chorus are the kind that can haunt you for days after listening.

“Fortune is the Fragrance of Crime” comes from the first track of EVA OST 3, and the “Alter Ego Mix” is what we get on track 5 of this album. And man, what a cool remix! Yoko Takahashi’s vocal performance remains pretty much the same as the original, but the additional instruments thrown into this production really help it to stand out. I know some people are put off by the opening seconds of the track: “What is the dream? We have the dream now! What is the dream? We make the dream come truuuueeee!!!” I actually think this opening group vocal performance, kitschy as it may sound, really helps define the piece.

Now then, are you guys ready to “Fry Me To The Moon”?!? Of the dozens of versions of this classic bar jazz tune recorded for Neon Genesis Evangelion, at least half of them suffer from the vocalist’s bad English (or “Engrish”). I know there’s one version where, in my opinion, the mistakes must have been intentional, because they got 100% of the Ls and Rs wrong. When you pronounce “Mars” as “Mals,” you know you’re out of line. Takahashi gets her L’s and R’s right for almost all the lines, but she misses the most important one of all: the first word of the song. “Fry Me To The Moon” just sounds hilarious to me. This arrangement also has an “Age of Aquarius” feel to it, but the jazz sound stays intact thanks to the instrumental grouping.

“Forbidden Gene” is a “monk” choir piece with a dark ambient electronica beat and background. The vocals from this very interesting track are later lifted and used in an incredible way. But we’ll get to that later.

There are only two more “original” tracks on the disc. Track 8 “Love Antique,” and track 11 “From the Dazzling Sea.” I love both of these tracks. Love Antique is sung fully in English, and Takahashi really nails it. She doesn’t sound like a natural English speaker, but in singing the track, she doesn’t butcher the words (at least, not like she did in FRY Me To THe Moon!). The song itslef is another catchy jazz/dance/pop song. As for “From the Dazzling Sea,” that track is just weird… it’s a long track, and it’s soft, and the chordal structure never resolves. It’s always floating in some sort of nebulous minor mode. And the harmony on the vocals during the chorus just freak me out.

Other than that? Let’s see… there’s the “Sublimation Mix” of Kokoro yo genshi ni modore (Heart – Return to the Beginning). That’s the end credits music for Death and Rebirth. This remix is the most “remixed” song of the bunch, with a straight on house/dance beat and the lyrics scattered and sampled in any number of combinations. It’s actually pretty cool.

Then there’s the ending string ensemble track that mimics the opening track. There’s a hidden track with some people live on the streets of London singing Fly Me To The Moon. And then there are two more EVA tracks, both of which are forever etched into my brain. Let’s end on those.

One is the “Return to Dew Mix” of Eternal Embrace, which is another track that appears on the EVA OST 3. It’s the slowest piece on the disc (other than Forbidden Gene). Yoko Takahashi sings a pretty clear and straightforward ballad. The translated lyrics are very nice, and actually quite fitting for anyone who puts a positive interpretation on the ending(s) of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Finally, my favorite track on the album without question, the “Tabris Mix” of Soul Refrain, the end music from Death (before they merged “Death and Rebirth” into one package). This remix is amazing. What really sets it apart from the original music is the post-production additions: new instruments (mostly keyboard or loop-based synths), and the sampling of the big climax in “Forbidden Gene” is also thrown in. Then there’s the wind-down at the end: some of the best mixing I’ve ever heard on a J-pop record.

This CD will forever hold a special place in my heart. That’s why it’s been picked for Soundtrack of the Month. Many people like Shiro Sagisu’s music for Evangelion, and I do too, don’t get me wrong. But these vocal tracks from Yoko Takahashi, mostly composed and arranged by Toshiyuki Ohmori, are the best bits of music to come from the series. If you disagree, feel free to say so in the comments section. Or just join me in some light-hearted jabs at the VOX album. Man that thing was atrocious…

Also, good luck finding this album. Its availability has decreased over time since its 1997 debut. If you want to search, the catalog number for it is KICA-378.