Customer Reviews

Cowboy Bebop V.2

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1. American Money -- The "Big Shot!" theme! A hilarious, wild-west banjo riff, very skillfully mixed.

2. Fantaisie Sign -- An ambient and etherial techno piece, voiced by French singer Carla Vallet. Lyrics by Carla Vallet.

3. Don't Bother None -- Some hardcore blues, voiced by Mai Yamane.

4. Vitamin A -- Eyecatch BGM. ;)

5. LIVE in Baghdad -- A heavy metal piece, featuring some seriously skilled guitar! From the episode "Heavy Metal Queen." Lyrics by Gabriela Robin, vocal by Maasaki Endo.

6. Cats on Mars -- My personal anthem. ;) A bouncy, genki, lighthearted piece performed by Gabriela Robin. Lyrics by Gabriela Robin.

7. Want it All Back -- Used in a chase scene during the second episode, this rockin' song is fun to sing along to! Vocal by Mai Yamane.

8. Bindy -- A strange and fun instrumental piece with an arabic twist to it. The drum loop is skillfully done, and the layering of the two melodies creates a very fun piece. ;)

9. You Make Me Cool -- Okay, so vocalist Masayoshi Furukawa's english isn't perfect, and the song sounds like a cheesy lounge-lizard type song, but that doesn't stop it from being a good song. ;)

10. Vitamin B -- Eyecatch.

11. Green Bird -- A hauntingly beautiful chorale sung by Gabriela Robin. Featured in the cathedral scene of Cowboy Bebop Session 5, "Ballad of Fallen Angels."

12. ELM -- This is an absolutely beautiful piece. The skilled guitar and beautiful vocals provided by Pierre Bensusan make for an ambient and incredibly moving piece.

13. Vitamin C -- Eyecatch.

14. Gateway -- A fun jazz piece that may seem a little squeaky until the piano solo--but it's well worth the wait. ;)

15. The Singing Seas -- A slow jazz ballad sung by the skilled Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch.

16. The EGG and YOU -- A laid-back jazz combo version of "The EGG and I," from OST I.

17. Forever Broke -- A superbly dramatic guitar version of "SPOKEY DOKEY," from OST I. Used in the stunning final episode, in one of the most dramatic scenes in the series. (Of course, I wouldn't spoil it for you. ^_^)

18. POWER OF KUNG FOOD REMIX (Tank!) -- A remix of the show's opening theme, Tank! Very smooth, including sound clips from the show and slowing the general tempo down a bit to create a more atmospheric feel.

All in all, an excellent potpourri dish of the music from Cowboy Bebop. NO DISC provides the listener with an awesome array of different styles and moods, from the hardcore heavy metal of "Live in Baghdad" to the chipper bleeps of "Cats on Mars," courtesy of composer Yoko Kanno.

I highly reccomend all the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks: COWBOY BEBOP (OST I), NO DISC (OST II), Vitaminless (Mini-Album), BLUE (OST III), and Music For Freelance (Remix Album).

~Chiriko (chiriko@catsonmars.com)

Heck, I'll admit that I bought this Cd just for the sake of Green Bird, my fave Bebop song, from my fave bebop episode, Ballad of Fallen Angels. However, none of the tracks proved to be a disappointment, especially to a die hard Bebop fan like myself. If you loved the series, this is the perfect CD, though I would also recomment Blue as a good soundtrack from the series. Then, when you're on vacation and far away from a DVD player and you precious Cowboy Bebop DVDs, you can pop this in your CD player and enjoy!!!!

Like my money when it comes to Bebop stuff.. Easy come, easy go.

See you, Space Cowboy

The second installment in the series of soundtracks from one of the most incredible anime series in history is an interesting amalgamation of different sounds. Everything from heavy metal to smoky night club ballads to the blues makes an appearance, and each track is an absolute gem. Several different vocalists lend their talents to some of the songs, and the result is a perfect fit each time. There are a lot of very catchy tunes on this one, some of which I've been caught absently singing to myself; they're that memorable. How often do you do that with ANIME music? Every song will take you back; there's Ed's "theme song" ("Cats on Mars"), the unforgettable head-banger "Live in Baghdad" (from the "Heavy Metal Queen" episode), and the sing-along bluesy "Don't Bother None". There's even the theme from "Big Shot!"! At the end, there's also a surprise remix of the opening theme ("Tank!"). Fans of the series will love this volume of the soundtracks, and even those who've never heard of Cowboy Bebop will find something to their liking on this CD. Awesome.

Even though I consider this CD to be the weaker of the three main soundtracks, I still have much love for this offering. My personal favorite from the album is Green Bird, but then again, Ballad of Fallen Angels may be my favorite episode in all of Cowboy Bebop, so I'm tainted. This disk does contain some jazz, but not to the degree the OST 1 does. However, Tank! also makes an appearance hear with a nice little twist. All in all, this CD certainly upholds the reputation of Cowboy Bebop.

See You Space Cowboy. . .

This album is mostly lyrical songs, but not in a bad way. This is a good album for fans of the lyrical songs of the series. The styles on this OST range from blues-rock to cowboy western to metal to sugary-sweet pop to medieval music. The range between all the vocalists is very vast and very welcome.

"American Money": Is the bounty hunter t.v. show's theme, very western with it's banjo and gunshots.
"Don't Bother None": An awesome blues-rock song sung by the gruff Mai Yamane. Here voice is rough and raw and perfectly fit for this kind of song.
"Live in Baghdad": The random metal song in the mix, with surf guitar. I love this song exactly for it's randomness in the series.
"Cats on Mars": A super-cute song! This is the absolute cutest song of the series. It's poppy, it's cute, it's fun. Hard to resist.
"Green Bird": A sweet vocal by Gabriela Robin, her voice is so gentle and nice.
"Elm": A song that sounds like a medieval ballad from a skilled guitarist. It's so beautiful and addictive, the vocals are perfectly harmonized and the skill of the guitarist is very impressive.

For me, the greatest appeal of the first Cowboy Bebop disc (O.S.T. 1) is that all of the pieces (except the abysmal "Rain") work well together and form a cohesive whole. No Disc approaches the sounds of Cowboy Bebop from multiple perspectives and from various bands. There are more actual songs (music with lyrics) on No Disc than on O.S.T. 1. At first, I didn't like this approach, but the music grew on me with time. Not every piece or song is as complete as those of O.S.T. 1, but there is plenty of great music to write about.

"American Money" is a hilarious, banjo-driven critique of the foundation of the United States' economy, and it accomplishes this task in just over a minute.

I find "Fantaisie Sign" hard to describe. The female lead (Carla Vallet) delivers slow, silky jazz vocals over some nice brass and woodwind rhythms. I'm somewhat confused by the overzealous percussion, but I enjoy the song overall.

"Don't Bother None" is a great blues song. There's more than a little hint of Janis Joplin smokiness in the female lead. Great guitar and harmonica work round out the song. The song stops without resolution, but what we have is excellent indeed.

"Live in Baghdad" hits my ears as a rather silly metal song. I don't listen to it often.

"Cats on Mars" is pleasantly weird. I have no idea what is being sung about (it's in Japanese), but it's fun to listen to.

If "Want It All Back" wasn't in English, I don't think it would work as well for me. The brassy rock song doesn't have the greatest melody, but it does feel like a complete song.

"Bindy" is a fun instrumental break. The saxophone and hand drums explore what sounds like an Egyptian tune.

"You Make Me Cool" sounds like an homage to Henri Mancini (think The Pink Panther) as sung by an amateur Vegas lounge singer. The music is far more enjoyable than the vocals. It doesn't have a true ending, but homage doesn't have to be complete. It just has to get the job done.

"Green Bird" is a great call-and-response chorale. The piano accompaniment completes this short and beautiful song.

I have mixed feelings about "ELM." The guitar work is fantastic, but the vocals are distracting. The only distinguishable lyrics seem to be "no, "na," and "la."

"Gateway" is a great growling jazz tune with many quick mini brass solos. The piano solo towards the end is the best.

"The Singing Sea" requires the listener to slow down and take in the beautiful female vocals and great clarinet lead.

"The Egg and YOU" is a reprise of O.S.T. 1.'s "The Egg and I," and makes for a piano-driven, jazzy companion piece.

"Forever Broke" offers the listener an example of what music is all about - the silence between the notes. This slow, sparse, and bluesy piece sounds like what a very hot and dusty day in an early nineteenth century Old West town looks like.

"Power of Kung Food Remix" remixes "Tank!", the opening piece from O.S.T. 1 and theme song for the Cowboy Bebop series.

Scattered throughout No Disc are very short song-lets called "Vitamin A," "Vitamin B," and "Vitamin C." They are ingenious little intros to the songs that follow them. They last only a few seconds, and as they are fading, the next song starts. On iTunes, a "vitamin" starts and soon the next song joins it; both tracks play at the same time. It's seamless, something I've never heard on an album before, and very effective.

No Disc is a great addition to O.S.T. 1, because it approaches the anime source material from a completely different musical place. It takes more risks than O.S.T. 1, and because of this, falls short once and a while. Overall, I recommend No Disc to fans of Cowboy Bebop music and to those who want an alternative musical experience to mainstream tedium.

Fitting to the title, the music of Cowboy Bebop is one of the standout features that makes it a legendary anime instead of just an excellent anime.
Any true fan of the show would greatly benefit from this listening experience.
I've experienced some very difficult academic situations during the semester. I can't tell anyone the number of times I've played "ELM" while getting ready in the morning before work or class and just tried to quietly prepare myself for the day's events.
This isn't just a great soundtrack; it's a great album in its own right.
The only thing that this album could benefit from would be improved cohesiveness of the ordering of the songs. The ordering of the songs in this album is fine, but if it has one weakness, the ordering of the songs is it. This is a typical problem with soundtracks, and I think it's something that consumers just have to live with. A soundtrack's main purpose isn't the same as a "normal" album; its purpose is to showcase the songs used in the work(movie, anime, television, etc.).
Cowboy Bebop V.2 is an incredible listening experience in its own right.

Cowboy Bebop O.S.T. 2 No Disk is a great soundtrack that brings out all the little songs that make Bebop what it is. Most of these songs recieve the short treatment in the show but. never the less, make it just so much better. Some people may not like the songs so this is a sound track for serious fans.