© 2007 Lawrence Tuczynski

Title: Fear Theater: Unbalance
CD Label: Bop
CD Number: VPCD-81120
Music by: Isao Tomita
Number of tracks: 22
Running time: unknown
Number of discs: 1
Year of release/manufacture: March 01,1996

REVIEW

September 04, 2007

I do not own a copy of this rare CD. All info on this page taken from what I could find on the internet and from an email by Nicholas D. Kent. Unless I find one sometime or someone who owns a copy wishes to provide me with more info or loan me a copy, there will be no review for this CD. From what I could find on the internet this CD was the soundtrack to a show that was similar to a "Twilight Zone", "Outer Limits" or "X-Files" type of show.

The below is info I received from Mr. Kent via email about this disc:

An interesting historical CD that I don't see on your site is the unaired Tsuburaya Ultraman predecessor series "Unbalance" which had it's episodes incorporated into the original Ultra Q series.

Apparently it was decided to revamp the already in-production supernatural series into a giant monster series and the original titles and music was discarded.

The soundtrack was by Isao Tomita is VPCD-81120, which I unfortunately never ordered in 1996 and was deleted by the time I tried to order it a couple years later. At some point, probably circa the soundtrack release the original episodes were released (presumably on VHS and laserdisc).

It's interesting that I guess a year and a half or so later Tomita got to score "Captain Ultra" which was apparently a companion show on the same network as Ultraman, though not made by Tsuburaya productions (whom he later scored "Mighty Jack" for). There's a 40th anniversary 2CD Captain Ultra soundtrack out recently that seems to duplicate the 1990s double CD (SLCS-5100-01).

It made me think that just as he was scoring productions surrounding Ultraman, but not the now legendary show itself, a couple years earlier he was also scoring shows on either side of "Astro Boy" for Tezuka though not the series itself. So those in my mind were the pinnacles of Japanese TV in the 60s. Though at least "Jungle Taitei" certainly ranks up there. He also scored the popular series "Princess Knight" for Tezuka and recently did a revived "Black Jack" animated feature score for Tezuka's still active company.

nicholas d. kent
technopop.info

Fear Theater: Unbalance
English translated titles courtesy http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/750709

  1. Fear theater imbalance [meintaitoru]
  2. The shadow which is imminent
  3. End of ? execution
  4. ? rain
  5. The shadow of raw and death
  6. Invitation to ? boundary
  7. Grave yard of mask
  8. The woman who calls the cadaver
  9. Illusion
  10. At the time of happiness
  11. The corpse of darkness ease
  12. Complete crime
  13. Morgue ([morubu]) homicide person
  14. Long sweet night
  15. Scream of vampire
  16. The demon which you can wander about
  17. The hand of cursing from grave yard
  18. Daydream
  19. With nook of city
  20. Woman of spider
  21. To bottom of basement
  22. Fear theater imbalance [endotaitoru]