Godzilla Minus One Soundtrack 2xLP

Rambling Records (2023)

While this isn't the last kaiju soundtrack I have on deck, this is the last Godzilla one.  Shin Godzilla hasn't had a vinyl release, but since that's a standalone movie and not part of a series of soundtracks, I don't feel the need to call out any record labels for not releasing it.  It would be nice to have at some point, and I assume that a label will get to it eventually.

But to the matter at hand, we have the soundtrack to Godzilla Minus One, with the bulk of the score composed by Naoki Sato, with a little bit of Akira Ifukube as all good Godzilla soundtracks should have.  The movie was spectacular and I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough.  Stop whatever you are doing right now and go watch it.  Even my wife loved it and she doesn't really care for Godzilla movies.  It's everything you want in a Godzilla film and I'm so excited to see where they go with these characters next.

The soundtrack doesn't get me quite as excited as the movie does.  And that isn't because it's bad or anything.  The score is just very somber and low key for the non-Godzilla scenes.  They work perfectly in the context of the movie, but as standalone music, it becomes a bit atmospheric and lost into the background for me.  But when the music hits for Godzilla appearances, it's as loud, chaotic and frantic as you want it to be.

I ended up getting the Japanese version on Rambling as opposed to the US version that Waxwork put out.  I didn't specifically avoid the US version or go after the Japanese version, this one just ended up being the one I could get first.  The Waxwork one looks great though and were it not for the fact that I'm very consciously trying to cut down on variant collecting, I'd want that in the collection as well.  

Godzilla Minus One Soundtrack:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mhw_lbL2k89bu3WU1uT_J47dBTvWUMOTQ

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus Soundtrack LP - Clear w/ Orange & Yellow Splatter Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

The second movie in the Godzilla Millennium series was Godzilla vs Megaguirus.  While it uses essentially the same suit as Godzilla 2000, it's not a direct sequel or related to that movie in any way.  It's another complete reboot of Godzilla that acknowledges the events in the 1954 movie (sort of) and that's about it.  I don't know why they did it that way.  I can understand the need to reboot Godzilla every so often so you can reuse some of his more famous adversaries, but I would prefer the reboots be starting up a new series with new continuity from movie to movie.  Having the Millennium series be several standalone reboots has always made it more difficult for me to get invested in them.  Though to be fair, the up and down quality of each film doesn't really help in that regard.

Godzilla vs Megaguirus is an alright movie.  I just rewatched it so it would be more fresh in my mind and it's another one that I'm not sure I had seen since originally picking up the DVD 20+ years ago.  The human storyline isn't as good as the one from Godzilla 2000, though the monster fight scenes are maybe a little better.  I'm not sure Megaguirus really works as a compelling adversary as it's another one of those morphing-through-various-stages type of monsters that I think slow things a little.  Plus when one of its main features is that it flies really fast, you get a lot of Godzilla standing around shooting off his atomic heat ray and not as much rock 'em  sock 'em as I'd like.  It's fine, but not amongst the great Godzilla films.

Michiru Ohshima handles the soundtrack and it's serviceable enough.  Like all Godzilla scores, it feels like it comes alive the most when an Akira Ifukube passage sneaks in.  But Michiru Ohshima does a good enough job having the music be plaintive when necessary and rousing when the action kicks in.  Like the movie it scores, this soundtrack is fine, but not great.

Death Waltz and Mondo do a good enough job with the presentation of this soundtrack, but we have yet another annoying slipcover that adds nothing and diminishes the otherwise excellent artwork of Attack Peter.  I don't know why they are so obsessed with these extra slipcovers.  All they do is increase costs and there hasn't been a single one that is any better for having it.  I do really like the D side screen prints they've been putting on the vinyl though, that's always a nice touch.

If I wan't trying to collect all of the Godzilla soundtracks, is this one that I'd buy on its own?  Doubtful.  I can't imagine playing it all that often, but it's nice to know it's on the shelf if the mood strikes me.

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus:
https://youtu.be/oFjT1F8lkBo?si=VrHoCHn-sIog-gUR

Godzilla 2000: Millennium Soundtrack LP - Black w/ Orange and Black w/ Yellow Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

Even though they left Godzilla vs Biollante out of their Heisei series soundtracks (I'm not going to let that one go), that didn't stop Mondo and Death Walt from digging int the Millennium series of films at the same time.  Once again, these weren't released in chronological order and they also never released on of the soundtracks from this series either, but I'll try to add some order to the chaos by starting with the soundtrack for the first film in the series Godzilla 2000: Millennium.

The movie holds a special place in my heart as it was the first real Godzilla film I got to see in a movie theater (1998 remains a fever dream).  I think the last time a Godzilla movie played in American theaters before this was Godzilla 1985, which neither of my parents took me to.  Granted, the version I got to see of Godzilla 2000 in the theaters was a dubbed version (Let's Get Ready to Crumble, as the poster said), it still made the movie special and take on a larger than life feel.

The movie itself is fine.  I actually like the human story quite a bit with the dude and his daughter running the self made Godzilla tracking business that's one step ahead of the government.  The heelish government guy also does a lot of the heavy lifting in this movie pulling over dramatic faces when the plot points hit.  The Godzilla suit design is great, but the building smashing is only OK.  He's also got a monster fight with Orga, which is pretty boring if I'm being honest.  Still, a solid if not spectacular film.

The soundtrack is by Takayuki Hattori, of Godzilla vs Space Godzilla soundtrack fame.  Like that soundtrack, this one is kind of boring.  It's mostly kind of quite for the bulk of the movie and really only gets goinf when it brings in some of the classic Ifukube music from earlier G movies.  The vinyl on this is lovely, though I'm not sure the cover artwork itself feels like it fits the vibe of the movie even though the plastic clear slipcover thing is pretty neat.  I'm just happy it exists at all, which is more than I can say about two other soundtracks that Mondo should have released.

Godzilla 2000: Millennium:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbiNOQhDiCE&ab_channel=LandWarriorII

Godzilla vs Destroyah Soundtrack LP - Pink & White Swirl Vinyl (/2500)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2021)

Godzilla vs Destroyah was the final movie in the Godzilla Heisei series and it was a pretty big deal when it came out in Japan in 1995.  I remember reading about it in the G-Fan zine that I used to buy at the old comic shop at the Rockaway mall.  Toho made a huge push that Godzilla was going to die and the plan was to put Godzilla movies on ice for a while so that Tristar could launch their American Godzilla series.  That may not have ended up being the best idea in the world, but I can see why they wouldn't want competing Godzilla franchises happening at the same time in 1995.

I just rewatched the movie this week after not having seen it for quite some time.  I have watched it more recently than some of the others, but it's been at least 15 years.  While it's definitely not my favorite Godzilla movie, it's one of the better Heisei entries for sure.  And following on the heels of Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla, it feels like a masterpiece even though it has its share of flaws.  It's a solid movie though, and a good way to close out this era of Godzilla.  I still don't like how it leaves Godzilla Jr. as the character to leads the next era of Godzilla, but then that idea was completely dropped when the Millennium series started.

For the soundtrack Akira Ifukube is back.  As he should be for this Godzilla's swan song.  The soundtrack is strong, leaning heavily on older motifs while still bringing in some new ideas.  There isn't a bad Godzilla soundtrack from the Heisei era, but at the same time I don't find that any of them stands head and shoulders above any other.  I do tend to listen to Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla '93 the most, simply because it's my favorite movie of the series.

Death Waltz and Mondo do a great job with the vinyl for this as usual.  Again, I do wish there was more consistency in the artwork for each release, but as a standalone piece it is very nice.  This wraps up the Mondo Heisei Godzilla soundtracks, so it's only fitting that I once again say that it's ridiculous that they never released Godzilla vs Biollante on vinyl so that I could have a complete set of Heisei soundtracks.

Godzilla vs Destroyah Soundtrack:
https://youtu.be/iq2-f43x6IA?si=ydIlH901AXlapGIo

Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla Soundtrack 2xLP - Purple w/ White Splatter Vinyl & Blue and Green Cornetto Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

I just rewatched Godzilla vs Space Godzilla for the first time since probably the original US VHS version came out in the lates 90s.  I didn't really like it then and over the years, it seems that popular consensus is that this movie was a stinker.  But I know that opinions change over time and some movies age well, so I wanted to give it a fresh viewing before writing about its soundtrack.  

It's still terrible.  I do not understand how you can go from Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla to this thing.  It's really pretty awful.  The story is silly, the action is suspect and everything about is campy, but not in the way I like my Godzilla movies.  I do think, and have always thought, that the design of Spacegodzilla is excellent.  I just don't know why they couldn't execute a good movie around it.  I also have no idea why he spends a quarter of the movie flying around with Big Rock Candy Mountain strapped to his back.  Bizarre.

For the soundtrack, Akira Ifukube isn't on board after scoring the last few Heisei movies.  Perhaps he wisely passed on it after seeing what it was becoming.  Takayuki Hattori steps in to fill the composer's chair and does a perfectly fine job.  The score is as good a score as you'll find for a pretty bad movie.  There's some interesting percussion and tempo changes mixed in with the usual lush orchestral sounds.  It's cool, but it's also not something I'd listen to very much as it inherently makes me think abotu a movie that isn't much fun to watch.

As usual, Death Waltz and Mondo do a very nice job with the soundtrack.  The art is great, but again is sort of out of place with the others in the series due to a lack of consistency.  As a standalone, it's nice, though I do question why they put Spacegodzilla in Big Rock Candy Mountain mode on the cover.  No matter what, this was going in the collection because the goal is to have the whole series.  Too bad theirs still no vinyl release for the Godzilla vs Biollante soundtrack.

Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla:
https://youtu.be/m6otWwSDw4k?si=dGQAEWfKi1mb1Ryu

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla Soundtrack 2xLP - Clear With Orange Splatter Vinyl & Blue With White Swirl Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2022)

The 1993 version of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is my favorite movie in the Heisei series.  There's always been something about it that grabs me and takes me along for the ride in the same way that all of the best Showa films do.  It's not even due to my eternal love of the 74/75 version of Mechagodzilla as the 93 design pales in comparison to my boy from the 70s.  But it's a movie that fires on all cylinders and I adore it.

Akira Ifukube is back for the soundtrack again and turns in another great score.  There are a lot of themes from older Godzilla movies used throughout, but for me that only adds to the nostalgia and good feelings that the film and its score bring to me.  Top notch stuff here (That's a technical music criticism phrase, I don't expect just anyone to be able to throw around analysis like that).

Death Waltz and Mondo originally dropped this release at the 2022 San Diego Comic Con with a die cut, neon green slipcover.  They made 2000 of these and they had them available for a while on the Mondo website afterwards.  While I would have never bought the less rare version when this one was available, I think the slipcover is pretty stupid and all it does is hide the excellent artwork.  I would have preferred that every version of the record had the same artwork and the slipcover was ditched.  But that's not how things went so I will forever have this dumb lime green sleeve that doesn't even have writing on the spine in my record collection.

Aside from that though, everything is really nice.  Strong art (though I do prefer what they did for the Mothra and King Ghidorah releases better and would have liked to have had the same artist do all of the Heisei releases), beautiful vinyl (despite not usually being a huge fan of splatter) and a killer screen print on the blank D side.  I'll bring up again how bummed I am that they never released the soundtrack to Godzilla vs Biollante, but I'd be even more bummed if Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla was the one that got skipped.

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1993):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5t51qhsSIt5KTGRT5I5zj2uTEt73UuRf

Godzilla vs Mothra Soundtrack 2xLP - Blue w/ White Splatter Vinyl & Yellow Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

As we continue to go through the Heisei era Godzilla films, number four on our journey is Godzilla vs Mothra.  Off all of the Heisei movies, this one and vs Space Godzilla are probably the two I've watched the least amount of times.  I haven't seen it in several years at this point and am overdue for a rewatch, but even without having seen it in a while, I absolutely remember that is was significantly better that Godzilla vs King Ghidorah.  If my memory serves me correct, it was also the most popular (meaning highest grossing) Heisei Godzilla movie in Japan.

Godzilla maestro Arika Ifukube returned for Godzilla vs Mothra and turned in an absolutely phenomenal soundtrack.  While the audio quality and production values are higher which give it away a bit, musically this would not be out of place amongst any of his Showa era scores.  It's classic Godzilla with familiar motifs effortlessly blended with new, original music.  Nothing ever feels out of place and it's a testament to Ifukube being one of the great film composers to ever live.

Death Waltz / Mondo did an amazing job with this release.  The Greg Ruth artwork is incredible and looks glorious sitting right next to the Godzilla vs King Ghidorah soundtrack that he also did.  There's a beautiful gatefold illustration of Mothra's egg that's also quite spectacular.  The downside of this is that again, I wish the artwork across all of the Heisei soundtracks was consistent like this.  Greg Ruth should have gotten to do the entire series.  The colored vinyl looks sharp, especially the blank 4th side with the screen printed Mothra on it.  This is really a nice little release.

Godzilla vs Mothra Soundtrack:
https://youtu.be/fVUl8UeWuKM?si=2SP1vJCnLdrnA4OV

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah Soundtrack LP - Yellow w/ Gray Splatter Vinyl (/1000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

The third film in the Heisei Godzilla series was 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.  In addition to the return of one of Godzilla's most famous adversaries came the return of the man who in many ways defines what Godzilla soundtracks should sound like, composer Akira Ifukube.  But more on the soundtrack in a moment.

I'm definitely the sort of person that prefers Showa Godzilla movies, but there is a lot to like about many of the later entries as well.  That said, I do struggle to find too many positive things to say about Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.  Now, admittedly, I'm probably due for a rewatch as it's been likely ten years or so since I last watched it, but most of my memories are pretty negative.  

It has this really convoluted and kind of stupid time travel storyline that involves aliens tricking humans into bringing muppets back in time to stop Godzilla from being created and creating King Ghidorah instead.  The plot holes are larger than both monsters combined and It's really a slog to get through it.  The fights are fine and Mecha-King Ghidorah is a monster design I really like a lot, but as a whole, right up their as my least favorite of the era.

On the other side of the coin is the soundtrack and having Ifukube back is one of the saving graces of the movie.  His themes are appropriately dark or triumphant, depending on what mood needs to be set and I honestly can't imagine how much worse the movie might have been without his score holding things together.

The LP looks great, I really dig the artwork, though I do wish the art was more cohesive across the various LP releases.  It's great to have these soundtracks on vinyl finally, but in a lot of ways that only frustrates me more that the Heisei series wasn't completed.  As a reminder, the Godzilla vs. Biollante soundtrack should have been the one I wrote about this week, but it never came out.

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah Soundtrack:
https://youtu.be/gFKQ5QS6vIY?si=2JLiqknoNSEBm6o3

Godzilla vs Biollante Soundtrack - This Does Not Exist on Vinyl

This is just a quick missive to remind the world that the next Godzilla movie after The Return Of Godzilla is Godzilla vs. Biollante. Mondo/Death Waltz released Godzilla soundtracks all out of order jumping between Heisei and Millennium series and some non-Godzilla Showa kaiju soundtracks. Then, they just stopped over a year ago and they never did Biollante, the Heisei film that many would argue is the best of that era. 

Doing the soundtracks in order, I should be writing about Godzilla vs. Biollante tomorrow, but I can't write about a record that does not exist. I'll be posting the Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah write up Friday morning, I just wanted to call this omission out again. This also doubles as a plea for someone, anyone, to put this soundtrack out on vinyl. It's a hole in the collection and one that frustrates me greatly.

The Return Of Godzilla Soundtrack LP - Clear Blue Vinyl (/2500)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2021)

When Waxwork put our their Showa box set of Godzilla soundtracks in 2021, I had barely finished opening the mailing box before I started thinking about what they could do with a Heisei era box set.  Unfortunately, that was not to be as Mondo imprint Death Waltz stepped in instead.  I would have preferred the consistency of Waxwork doing it, but I figured that Mondo does really nice work, so even though these will end up being more expensive in the long run, they'll still be nice.

My plan was to write about these in order of movie release date, so when Mondo started releasing the soundtracks out of order, mixing Millennium series with Heisei series, I figured I'd just have to wait a bit.  Well, here we are well over a year since the last Godzilla soundtrack was released.  Mondo never put one out for 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante or 2004's Godzilla Final Wars.  

I think it's incredibly lame that they never completed either series and I wonder if it had anything to do with the shake up a few years back where the founders of Mondo were forced out of the company by parent company Funko.  A dumb situation that reeks of the sort of corporate nonsense that drives me up the wall.

Regardless, I have already waited way to long to write about these Godzilla LPs and I'm ready to finally start filing them away in my collection.  So on Fridays for the next few months, I'll be writing about some Godzilla soundtracks.  Starting with the soundtrack to Godzilla's return in the 80's, appropriately called The Return of Godzilla.  At least in Japan, in America is was released as Godzilla 1985 and had scenes inserted of Raymond Burr posing and Dr. Pepper product placement.  The first time I saw Godzilla 1985 was whenever the first airing of it happened on TV.  I remember I was at my dad's house and it was shown during primetime, unlike the usual Saturday or Sunday afternoon showings that I was used to on channel 9 or 11.  I also remember a lot of Dr. Pepper commercials, including at least one that had Godzilla in it.

The movie itself seemed very fancy and flashy to me as technology in movies had certainly evolved since the last time Godzilla was stomping around Tokyo.  It never felt connected to those earlier movies to me back then (which in fairness, storyline-wise it wasn't), but as I've gotten older I hold a similar nostalgia for it as I do the Showa series ones.  But I'm burying the lead about the movie, and about the soundtrack; The Return of Godzilla is kind of boring.

Composed by Reijiro Koroku, the film's score is mostly dark, very brooding and only offers brief moments of respite from that dourness.  The Super X fight at the end is a notable exception as it has a fairly upbeat and triumphant military motif, but a lot of the soundtrack is just a downer.  The movie is kind of the same way. There's some good building smashing action, but it's done in such a heavy handed, trying to be serious manner that it zaps some of the fun out of things.  Don't get me wrong, I like the movie and the soundtrack at the end of the day, but I definitely rank them lower when compared to most Godzilla movies and scores.

The LP that Mondo has given us is good, for the most part.  I can't say I love the art on the cover.  While I like the idea, the execution doesn't do much for me.  Godzilla just looks weird.  There is a very cool pop-up Godziulla built into the center of the gatefold, but of everything Mondo bothered to actually release, this is the artwork I probably like the least.

This write up is probably way longer than most of the others will be as I had to set the stage a bit.  Next up on the Godzilla filmography is Godzilla vs. Biollante.  But again, Mondo never released that soundtrack so I'm going to have to skip it and go right to the movie after that next Friday.  I just hope someone, anyone (hey Waxwork!) releases the Biollante soundtrack on vinyl someday.  It's a glaring hole in the collection and really frustrates me.

The Return Of Godzilla Soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp7o1q38PjxHybeS3MHxg8uX7Wcdzyp3X

The Best of Godzilla 1984-1995 - Original Film Soundtracks 2xLP

Crescendo (2019)

This double album is the companion piece to The Best of Godzilla 1954-1975 album that I wrote about a few weeks ago.  Like that album, this release covering the Heisei era of Godzilla music has been released on vinyl for the first time.  While I didn't get the colored vinyl version of either, it's pretty exciting to have both on vinyl.

The Heisei era of Godzilla films were an odd bunch in the pre-internet days of my high school years, they were the sort of thing I would only be able to keep track of by purchasing the newest issue of the G-Fan fanzine from the comic shop in Rockaway mall.  They were virtually impossible to see and none of the movies aside from The Return of Godzilla (Godzilla 1985) received a stateside home video release until years later.  Though I do remember that the first time Godzilla 1985 was shown on TV, it was something of a big deal, complete with Dr. Pepper commercials that vaguely tied into the movie.

Bootlegs where the main way of keeping up with everything and I cherished the copy I had of the 1993 version of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, which is still my favorite of this era of Godzilla movies.  While the composers varied from movie to movie, it's the soundtracks done by the maestro of Godzilla, Akira Ifukube that are my favorite.  I imagine that's due to a lot of the baked in nostalgia I have as he wove in many of the classic Showa series themes that I had been listening to for my entire life.

If you were only going to buy one compilation of Godzilla music, I would recommend the first volume that covers those Showa soundtracks, but if you are looking for the Heisei era music, this is as good a starting place as any.  I hope that more of the complete Godzilla soundtracks receive releases on vinyl.  Though my wallet hopes they are spaced out from each other.

Godzilla Main Theme (Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjsU-JlpvH0

Main Theme (The Return of Godzilla):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKQvWLK8Dvs

The Best of Godzilla 1954-1975 - Original Film Soundtracks 2xLP

Crescendo (2019)

I love Godzilla movies.  I have since I was a little kid watching them on Saturday and Sunday afternoons on either channel 5, 9 or 11.  Back in the 80s, it was pretty easy to stumble across a Godzilla movie on a weekend afternoon as they played them all the time.  I also ended up with a pretty sizable VHS collection so my brother and I could rewatch them whenever we wanted. While Godzilla didn't really seem to stick in my brother's consciousness, I became a life long fan hunting down bootlegs of the Japanese versions and buying figures, shirts and all sorts of other silly things.  It's only really been over the last fifteen years or so that you could buy legal versions of the Japanese cuts of these movies stateside.

Then there is the music.  I've always loved the soundtracks to the Godzilla movies.  These were impossible to come by when I was a kid.  I remember freaking out as a teenager finding a Godzilla CD in the import section of a Tower records.  It was the first time I was ever able to listen to the music on command.  I also drooled over the Perfect Collection CD box sets that came out in the early 2000s, but they were just way too expensive for me, despite containing nearly every musical note ever played in every single Godzilla movie.  Honestly, I'd still really like to get those if I could ever find them at a decent price.

This double LP is a nice compromise in the meantime.  It compiles music from the Showa series of Godzilla films that ran from 1954 to 1975.  There's at least one suite of music from every Showa Godzilla movie except for Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Godzilla vs the Sea Monster).  Though we do get "Mothra's Song" from the standalone Mothra movie, so it's an OK trade.  Also interspersed throughout the record are various monster sound effects.  These are neat to hear, but kind of disrupt the flow of the music a bit.  They also scare the shit out of my cat.  I could have passed on them in order to have a more cohesive album.

That minor complaint aside, this is a fun collection fo Godzilla tunes that I'm excited to have on vinyl.  While I wish that someone would release all of the individual soundtracks on vinyl (and a couple have come out), I know that is something that is likely never going to happen.  At least this record gives me a taste of the good life.