Neon Genesis Evangelion - Original Series Soundtrack 2xLP - Blue w/ Black Smoke Vinyl

Milan (2023)

I don't buy a lot of soundtracks on vinyl, but I have been picking up some of the cooler ones that get released.  If it's Godzilla or Toho related, that's probably an instant buy.  Then there are others that pop up randomly like Cowboy Bebop and Star Wars type stuff.  I don't buy all of it, but I will pick up the occasional record that I think is cool.

I don't watch much anime.  In fact, I really don't watch any.  The only exceptions are the aforementioned Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion.  I stumbled across Evangelion in college, maybe in 1997 or so?  It was recommended to me and I started buying the VHS tapes that were being released at the time.  Two episodes per tape and lots of trips to Suncoast Motion Picture Company.  I loved that show and though it was so interesting and powerfully written.  Until the last couple of episodes anyway, then it just kind of goes a little crazy and I don't really understand what's going on.

The thing I always remember about the soundtrack is "Angel Attack," a rousing piece that captures the sound of impending doom perhaps better than anything since the Imperial March.  The rest of this soundtrack is only kind of OK.  I mean, nothing is bad or anything, but when I listen to it I'm not getting that immersive experience that I tend to while listening to other soundtracks.  Maybe I'm just not as familiar with the music of Evangelion, but it's not until the closing version of "Fly Me To The Moon" that those nostalgic memories hit again.

This was out of print for a while, as best I can tell.  It recently got repressed and I was able to pick it up for pretty cheap, so I did.  I'm glad to have it, but as far as soundtracks that I'm going to listen to often, this one will end up being lower on the priority list.

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Original Series Soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kymSzIaRe3oEW786pYicK32t9v_c7A0f0

Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) 2xLP - Orange & Red Marble Vinyl

Milan (2022)

Last week I wrote about the vinyl soundtrack to the original Cowboy Bebop anime.  This week, I have the double vinyl soundtrack to the live action Netflix series that came out last year.  I know a lot of folks were griping on the Netflix version saying it was a disgrace or ruined the series because of differences from the original series.  I fell on the other side.  I thought it was great.  It wasn't better or worse in comparison, it was just different.  I found it very fun to watch, with great visuals and a story that maybe wasn't as deep in some places, but I found to be deeper in others.  Whatever, I dug it. No gatekeeping from me.

Like the anime soundtrack, the Netflix soundtrack is equally confusing and frustrating.  The CD version has tracks not on the vinyl and the vinyl version has tracks not on the CD version.  The Vinyl doesn't come with a download card, so there's no getting MP3s of this version either.  While I really like the songs that are on here and am stoked to have them on vinyl, my annoying brain can only manage to be angry that it's missing tracks on the CD version.

Whatever you feel about the show itself, there's no arguing with how great any version of the soundtrack is.  Like the anime, the Netflix soundtrack was done by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts. Jazzy, big band, psych, folk chaos as you go from track to track and it really works genre hopping the way it does.  My only complaint isn't even a complaint as much as it is confusion on my part.  The theme song "Tank!" is the first song on the second LP instead of being the first song on the first LP.  It's the opening song of every episode, why would you put it in the middle of the overall track order?  Makes no sense to me, but it doesn't make it any less of a great song.

Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) (FYI, this is the streaming/CD version, tracklist is different than what's on the vinyl):
 https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kYV_IDL7Q_QikwXRf0biXXMWZj39OOx3g

Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop (Original Series Soundtrack) 2xLP - White Vinyl & Brown Vinyl

Milan / Sunrise (2022, Reissue)

I've been buying a lot more soundtracks lately.  You can absolutely put the blame of that on all of the incredible Godzilla and Toho releases coming out, but it's also reminded me that there are others that I need.  A big one on that list is the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack.  I first heard of Cowboy Bebop from my buddy Keith.  He let me borrow his DVD box set that also included the soundtrack on CD.  I loved the show and loved the music.  I picked up the DVDs myself, but the box set was tough to come by at that point.

Fast forward to a couple years ago and the soundtrack was finally released on vinyl.  It took me a while to commit to buy and at that point it was out of press so it took a bit longer to track one down.  It's great and has the songs from that CD I ripped from Keith many, many moons ago.  It also has a few others.  Here's the thing, in researching, I find the Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack Universe to be one of the most confusing things out there.  There's several CDs, different volumes, CDs with songs on other CDs, EPs with exclusive songs, CD box sets that have exclusive songs, but not songs from the regular soundtrack (well, it has some of those, but not all of those).  It's a confusing mess and I will not even pretend to understand it.

I'm sure there are people smarter than me that will be able to say exactly where the five bonus tracks came from.  I was able to track them down as being part of a "Best Of" CD compilation, but it seems at least three of the songs were exclusive to that Best Of, which maybe makes it not actually a best of?  And we haven't even started talking about the Netflix soundtracks yet.

Anyway, the songs on here are great and I love throwing them on and just kind of zoning out to let my imagination be somewhere else.  Not to mention that the theme song of the show "Tank!" could be the best TV show theme song in the history of the earth.  If it isn't, it's right up there.

The Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop (Original Series Soundtrack):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ntVLX9pb5DsNbXz2_WN82eEq58oZmpaiU