The original soundtrack to the Japanese anime TV series, Dragon Ball Z continues the path of Son Goku in his adulthood, where he and his friends protect the earth from plenty of villains. The songs that accompany the show are penned by Chiho Kiyooka, Takeshi Ike, and Keiju Ishikawa, and are fleshed out here with many players on hand and welcomes much diversity.
The opening theme song, “Cha-La Head Cha-La”, begins the listen with soaring vocals and a bit of an ‘80s New Wave spirit, before the dancing strings and dreamy climate of “Journey Of Light”, which recruits a classical mood that radiates a superhero type of feeling.
Further into the action, the crisp drums and bright singing of the rhythmic “Here (You’re The Hero)” is aided by a smooth climate, while “Mind Power-Ki” buzzes and flows with a hint of soulfulness via the strong attention to mood and precise instrumentation.
Making our way towards the end, the melodic and guitar driven “Rising High” carries a timeless, anthemic quality to it, and “We Were Angels” comes with a bit of ruggedness that suits the triumphant atmosphere.
Available as a double LP on Halloween orange vinyl, the 15 tracks here take up just over an hour of your life, and brings us back to a time when soundtracks often seemed just as important as the program itself. In this case, it seems that the music further propelled the franchise into worldwide fame.
Although I have never seen this particular show, by the end of this record I was drawing parallels to the soundtrack to the 1986 cult classic, Rad, where you can just feel the intensity and emotion in the scenes by absorbing the animated musicianship and an occasional ballad.