© 2001 Lawrence Tuczynski

Title: COMPLETE RECORDINGS: AKIRA IFUKUBE TOEI-DOGA FILM MUSIC
CD Label: Futureland
CD Number: TYCY-5213~14
[reissue of LD25-5065~6]
Music by: Akira Ifukube
Number of tracks: Disc 1: 65
Disc 2: 29
Running time: Disc 1: 73:24
Disc 2: 71:18
Number of discs: 2
Year of release/manufacture: 1992

REVIEW

December 14, 2001

A friend of mine found a copy of this CD and picked it up for me. I'm glad he did. This is a wonderful sounding 2 CD set with a wide variety of music. Some of the tracks will sound familiar to owners of other Ifukube CD's and other tracks will sound very new. The styles run a wide range. Everything from fast, action oriented pieces to slow, mournful music and most things in between pop up on these CD's. As with most Ifukube 2 CD sets, there tends to be a bit of repetition but it isn't too bad on these discs. I have never had the opportunity to see the films this music is from but you can definitely her pieces and passages that have appeared in other Ifukube scored films in other guises.

This is a packed set with both discs running over 70 minutes each. If you're an Akira Ifukube fan and run across this 2 CD set, either in this reissue (TYCY-5213~14) or the original (LD25-5065~6), grab it. You won't be disappointed and they are very hard to find.

September 05, 2002 (updated February 28, 2008)
Additional information courtesy of Robert Storch

This rare double CD set from 1992 is a reissue of Complete Recordings: Akira Ifukube Toei Animation Movie Music, which was originally released in 1988 (LD25-5065/6). The set contains some truly incredible, hard-to-find music by the maestro. Disc 1 offers his complete score to "The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon", an animated film from 1963. The main title here is one of my favorites by Akira Ifukube and there are a few versions of it on the soundtrack. I have seen this movie, and the music certainly made watching the film very enjoyable, especially since there were no English subtitles for me to read. There is also a version of his "Mysterians" march on the soundtrack (slightly updated from the 1957 original), which is played while the Little Prince single-handedly slays the eight-headed dragon by himself as he flies around on a horse (quite an amusing scene actually). Although there is some repetition throughout the score, Ifukube delivers a very solid soundtrack, and the main title march is one of his all-time best!

Disc 2 starts off with 18 alternate cues from the "Little Prince" soundtrack, followed by something really special - the beautiful music Ifukube composed for an acclaimed multimedia exhibit held at EXPO '70's Mitsubishi Pavilion. These 11 tracks are all in STEREO, and sound really good. Track 1, the "Four Seasons of Japan" is my personal favorite theme from this exhibit - it is extremely beautiful and catchy, and thankfully there are a few alternate versions on the disc as well. Two of the themes here, "Storm" and "Volcano", would later turn up on the Godzilla vs. Gigan soundtrack, although in artificially extended form, and in mono of course, not stereo. Tracks 26 & 27 will sound very familiar to most G-fans, as they both feature piano arrangements based on Ifukube's 1968 "Destroy All Monsters" march. Overall the score is a real treat, and features some very beautiful and rousing music by the maestro. This volume is considered one of the "holy grail" discs by fans of Ifukube's music and is one of the most difficult Futureland CDs to find.

Special thanks to Anthony Romero at Toho Kingdom for uncovering some fascinating details about the 'EXPO '70 exhibit. Check out his review at: http://www.tohokingdom.com/tv/mitsubishi_pavilion.html. 


Title:	COMPLETE RECORDINGS: AKIRA IFUKUBE TOEI-DOGA FILM MUSIC

Track translations courtesy of Jolyon Yates

Disc 1
PRINCE WANPAKU SLAYS THE GREAT SERPENT
(WANPAKU OJI NO OROCHI TAIJI, 1963)
[This is an animated movie also known as "The Naughty Prince Slays the 
Giant Serpent" and "The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon"]

[WANPAKU seems to be another film based on Japanese creation stories, 
like BIRTH OF JAPAN. Susano is a wild hero, Amaterasu is the Sun Goddess he 
offends and who has to be tricked out of hiding in a cave by the Heavenly 
Stripper Ame-no-uzume. The great serpent is Yamata-no-Orochi, which means ‘the 
great 8-headed dragon of Yamata’. Izunami and Izanagi are the couple who stirred 
the waters and created Japan.]

 1.	Prologue ~ Main Title
 2.	Butterfly ~ Akahana & Taro
 3.	Susano Entrance
 4.	Izanami
 5.	Mother’s Naiko Nursemaid Song
 6.	Sumo ~ Izanami’s Ascension
 7.	Izanagi & Susano
 8.	Weeping Susano
 9.	Izanami’s Illusion
10.	Decision to go on a journey
11.	Akahana’s Worry
12.	Journey ~ Moonlit Night Sea
13.	Strange Fish Akuru
14.	Akuru vs Susano
15.	Yume-no-hirasaka
16.	Yoru-no-osukuni
17.	Tsukuyomi
18.	Ice Mirror
19.	Susano’s Anger I ~ Freeze
20.	Kaito
21.	Susano’s Anger II
22.	Tsukuyomi’s Sword
23.	Ice Ball
24.	Road to the Fire Kingdom
25.	Titanbo
26.	Fire God
27.	Fire God vs Susano I
28.	Fire God vs Susano II
29.	Fireball Power
30.	Titanbo joins Otomo
31.	Ame-no-torifune ~ Takamagahara
32.	Amaterasu O-omikami
33.	Fieldwork
34.	Wild Horse ~ Shrine
35.	Field Path ~ Shrine
36.	Susano’s Making of a Rice Field
37.	Flood ~ Shrine
38.	Shrine Melee ~ Rock Door Shuts
39.	Omoikane’s Trick
40.	Taper to a God
41.	Ame-no-uzume’s Dance I
42.	Ame-no-uzume’s Dance II
43.	Rock Door Opens
44.	Shrine
45.	Takamagahara Departs
46.	Road to Izumo’s Kingdom
47.	Princess Kushinada
48.	Blood River ~ Yamata-no-Orochi’s Speech
49.	Ame-no-hayakoma
50.	Princess Kushinada and Susano
51.	Preparation for Fighting
52.	Before the Storm
53.	Yamata-no-Orochi Appears
54.	BOSS
55.	Sake-drinking Yamata-no-Orochi
56.	Susano Sets Off
57.	Prince Wanpaku Slays the Great Serpent
58.	KAMA 1 vs Susano
59.	Akahana and YAGI
60.	Princess Kushinada’s Crisis
61.	KAMA 2 Chase
62.	Fight
63.	Last Fight ~ After the Fight
64.	Victorious New Day
65.	Ending

Disc 2

 1.	Mother’s Naiko Nursemaid Song (karaoke)
 2.	Sumo ~ Izanami’s Ascension (karaoke)
 3.	Izanami’s Illusion (karaoke)
 4.	Ending (karaoke)
 5.	Prologue ~ Main Title
 6.	Mother’s Naiko Nursemaid Song (alternative take)
 7.	Sumo ~ Izanami’s Ascension take 1
 8.	Sumo ~ Izanami’s Ascension take 2
 9.	Susano’s Anger I ~ Freeze (alternative take)
10.	Ame-no-torifune ~ Takamagahara (alternative take)
11.	Susano’s Making of a Rice Field (alternative take)
12.	Flood ~ Shrine (alternative take)
13.	Omoikane’s Trick (alternative take)
14.	Taper to a God (alternative take)
15.	Ame-no-uzume’s Dance I take 1
16.	Ame-no-uzume’s Dance II take 2
17.	Takamagahara Departs (alternative take)
18.	Ending (alternative take)

FUTURE MANSION: JAPANESE NATURE & JAPANESE DREAMS 
[Mitsubishi Future Building: Nature in Japan and the Japanese Dream]

*NOTE*:This second score was commissioned for the Mitsubishi exhibit at EXPO '70. Two tracks (“Storm” and “Volcano”) were later 
reused in "Godzilla vs. Gigan" and appear on that soundtrack.

19.	Four Seasons of Japan
20.	Storm 
21.	Volcano
22.	Sky (Space)
23.	Cloudless Sky
24.	Deep Sea
25.	The Sea
26.	Leisure Land
27.	Leisure Land
28.	Land Prologue
29.	Land