Friday, January 21, 2022

Godzilla Raids Again LP - From Godzilla: The Showa Era Soundtracks, 1954-1975 Box Set

Untitled

Waxwork (2021)

For the next several Fridays I'll be writing about an LP from the fantastic Godzilla Show Era soundtrack box set.  Godzilla was such an important part of my childhood and the music was such a vital piece of that puzzle.  Thrilled to finally have these on vinyl.

Godzilla Raids Again is the second Godzilla movie and to be honest isn't one that I've watched with the same kind of fervor as some of the other entries in the series.  It always struck me as being a little rushed and kind of out of place in a weird way.  I'm sure part of that was the fact that Ishiro Honda didn't direct it, but it just always felt a little lacking.  It did give us the introduction of the monster Anguirus though, so there is some value here.

The film lacks the usual Godzilla director Ishiro Honda, but also missing is the standard bearer for Godzilla film composition, Akira Ifukube.  Taking up the task for Raids Again is Masaru Sato.  While I don't think his score has the same sort of ominous foreboding that Ifukube is so adept at, the jaunty military pieces of this soundtrack are quite good.  The main title theme is also pretty triumphant and is probably the highlight of the album.

After getting through Godzilla Raids AGain is when the real classic Showa movies really start up for me.  Of course I love the first one as a serious, statement film, but once we hit the 60s things start getting wacky and very fun.

Godzilla Raids Again - "Main Title Theme":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IetONh8OJ_g&ab_

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