Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

I don't typically make new topics of my own, but I felt like this might be interesting enough. Late 1990s/early 2000s the "Best of Godzilla" CDs were the only available source of Godzilla music for myself. I assume no other official release of the original series' music was available in North America before that point.

(For those who don't know what I'm talking about: , .)

Recently a friend asked me to make him a version of the more recent era of music a task I was happy to do, but inept at cutting down.

So what would you were in charge of a "Best of Godzilla: 1999-2004" what tracks would you attempt to fit on a 90 minute CD? From which version of the releases would you use? The recent box sets? The original releases? The American releases of G2K and GxM? Feel free to pull up iTunes and try it yourself, if you like, and yes you do have to include the scores you don't like as well. I'm interested in what some feel were the best representations of each movie from this era.

I have these, and I think they are perfect for a starting point in Godzilla music.

That being said, I hold onto the Perfect Box like there is no tomorrow.

I thought an audio CD could only hold 78 minutes and 59 seconds of audio without skipping issues. Or have I been horribly deceived by the sticker on the front of Metallica's Load CD and its accompanying Wikipedia article? Time to reevaluate my life, maybe.

With my old, potentially misguided preconceptions in mind, though, here's a playlist I've sorted out in iTunes, "The Best of Godzilla: 1999 - 2004" with 30 tracks clocking in at 77 minutes and 10 seconds. All tracks are from Toho's perfect collection soundtrack releases, with one noted exception. For easy reference, all of the titles I list here are Toho's titles from those releases, even though I've personally tweaked many of the track names on my iPod as I've seen fit. See for a list of all of the soundtracks and their track titles.

Godzilla 2000 - Takayuki Hattori
01. The Object From Space - Disaster I (M9)
02. Before the Explosion (M26)
03. A Hope to Dad (M30A)
04. G's Decision (M37B)
05. End Title - The Feared God - Godzilla - (M39C + M21)

Godzilla 2000 (U.S. version) - J. Peter Robinson
06. Godzilla vs. Orga (click for the source and for how to rip it)

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus - Michiru Oshima
07. Scout (M5)
08. Godzilla x Meganula (M28)
09. Godzilla x Megaguirus II (M40)
10. Kirikio's Decision - Lock On (M45)
11. Dimension Tide x Godzilla (M46)

Giant Monsters All-Out Attack - Ko Otani
12. Terrifying Landing (M19)
13. Godzilla's Rage (M32)
14. Determined to Protect the Future (M33)
15. A Desperate Crisis (M36)

Godzilla x Mechagodzilla - Michiru Oshima
16. Godzilla Lands - Godzilla x The Special Defense Forces (M2 - First Half)
17. The Skeleton of Godzilla (M7)
18. Mobilization (M14)
19. Intense Fighting II (M26)

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS - Michiru Oshima
20. Imago Mothra x Godzilla I (M18)
21. Kiryu Mobilization (M24)
22. Kiryu in Flight - Yoshito Rescued - To the Japan Trench (M38)

Godzilla: Final Wars - Various composers (listed below)
23. Main Title (M2C) - Nobuhiko Morino and Akira Ifukube
24. Rodan Attacks New York (M8) - Keith Emerson
25. Gigan Awakens (M16 Edit) - Daisuke Yano
26. The King of the Monsters Returns (M22 Edit) - Nobuhiko Morino
27. Godzilla vs. the Three Monsters (M25 GtrA) - Daisuke Yano
28. The Xilien's Intent (M28) - Nobuhiko Morino
29. The Fierce Battle of Four Great Monsters (M31-1) - Daisuke Yano
30. Godzilla vs. Keizer Ghidorah (M35-2) - Daisuke Yano

I don't find many of the millennium soundtracks memorable enough to buy.

Hrm. I find G2K to be the only one (of 6) without a memorable score. But I think there are some excellent samples in the others

There's a few decent tracks in the bunch, but I could say the same about Biollante which has the equivelant of clown music for a Godzilla film. The only song I can play in my head is GMK's main theme, and it's just alright.
I thought Otani's work in the Gamera trilogy was much better.

To me, having 8 selections from GFW seems like a little much. Id rather have more Oshima and Otani in a collection like that. I'd whittle that down to three: the Godzilla theme, the main title and the end title. That's all I ever bothered to transfer to my iPod from the film's soundtrack.

Luckily, I have all of the individual soundtracks for these movies. But aside from GxMG and SOS I rarely listen to them anymore.

Me too. I actually really like the Biollante score as a whole and don't understand why some hate it so. It's very heroic sounding.