Customer Reviews

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Be Human

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although ignored a little bit, this is a good album and a great addition to the Ghost in the Shell OST collection.

1 - Be Human
A good, low-down start to the album, although it could be better.
The simple, childish lyrics make you appreciate things, and the melody is very nice. The singer makes it a bit unpleasant to listen to.

2 - Trip City
Fast-paced and with a good rhythmn, the real hook of this song is the "Take me, take me to the lab," chorus, but is otherwise not very catchy. Good music, though.

3 - Patch Me
A little electronic song, very short, and not very memorable.

4 - Tachikoma no Iede
One of the highlights of the album, this is very feel-good and easy listening, with a simple, fun melody. The piano, flute and violin go together nicely.

5 - Osanpo Tachikoma
Paired with the previous track, this is another gem. While the first was traditional music, this is done almost completely in synthesizer, with French vocals halfway through for a nice touch. Again, very cute and feel-good.

6 - Bang Bang Banquet
A high-spirited song, and very catchy, with drums and synthesizer, as well as a few vocals. Played often when the Tachikomas are debating over things, it's very mischevious-sounding.

7 - FAX me
An interesting piece with a string quartet, and the sounds of a computer and a fax machine in between. Not bad, but not good either.

8 - Rocky wa Doko?
An episode-specific song, the title, "Where is Rocky?" is in reference to a dog a tachikoma is looking for in the episode. The string instrument and the violin synthesizer go together well. A very peaceful song to listen to.

9 - Spotter
Definately the song that makes the album worth buying, this isn't included on any other of the OSTs, yet is featured so often on the series, you wonder why it's on this "Concept Album" of sorts. Starting out slow and quiet, it gradually brings you into the song, before going into another quiet section and returning to the action. Much like Inner Universe, this is an excellent piece of work, if not the highlight of the album.

10 - Let's Oil
Another mini-song, much like Patch Me, and not very memorable.

11 - Cream
An interesting song, yet very likeable in it's own way. Starting out quirky, it goes into some Japanese Rap, with a semi-melodic chorus, with a string section afterwards and a beautiful vocal and guitar. A very nice song, if you're in the mood for it.

12 - Spider Bites
A "music-box" version of Be Human, it's short and sweet.

13 - Good By My Master
Sad, dramatic music, this isn't easy to listen to at the beginning, but definately picks up at the end and really sets the mood. Very operatic.

14 - Piece by Ten
One of the sadder pieces in the entire series, the strings are totally heart-breaking (especially in context with the scene it's used in!), making this another gem of the album.

15 - What Can I Say?
A child and piano, with sweet lyrics and a simple, beautiful ending. A great end to the album, as well.

There are also 5 extra tracks on the album:
- Hi! : Simply Tachikoma's introducing themselves "Ta-unchi-kokoma...tachikoma-ko!"
- I'm not straight : Drums and bass! An interesting thing that I'd expect out of Samurai Champloo.
- AI sentai Tachikoma : a total rip on lame, sentai (power rangers)-ish shows, featuring the tachikomas. The translation of the lyrics in the booklet are hilarious!
The next three are little electronic ditties that don't distinguish themselves much.

Overall, a good album with several wonderful tracks and a few that fail to meet the mark.
I'd reccomend this to anyone who likes the series.

Contrary to another review, this album IS indeed music from the series Ghost In The Shell: Standalone Complex, and it is, after listening to it, NOT just cheap techno. A few of the songs are from episodes that have not yet been released in the US, and range stylistically as much as any of Yoko Kanno's works. Incidentally, the last six tracks from the disc are from the "Tachikoma Days" segments at the end of each episode, which simply require viewing to understand the quirky humor.

This is perhaps the least loved of all the Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex OSTs... But I personally think it's the best of them all and the most underrated... But then again, I'm a full-fledged YK fan and may be just talking way over my head...

1. "BE HUMAN" - I like Scott Matthew's voice... His deep and melancholy voice seems to fit very much on those sad songs--even how lively the music is... If I were to rank this song against his other GITS songs, I'd place it behind "Psychedelic Soul" (OST 2, track 10) and "Dear John" (OST 3, track 13)... Nontheless, I love the lyrics and it really helps to bring the song out more... And found it quite catchy to sing the song out of the blue...

2. "TRIP CITY" - Not the best GITS songs sure, but it sure is a heck fun to listen to... It's a lively piece that again showcases Scott Matthew's voice but in a different light--it's not a sad song at all (compared to most of his YK songs like Cowboy Bebop's "Is It Real?" or "Psychedelic Soul")... I personally prefer the second half of the song especially when Scott Matthew sings "Trip City" over and over...

3. "PATCH ME" - One of the techno style tracks for the series... I personally don't find to listen to this track most of the time... But I definitely don't skip on listening to it on random... Hey, it's just fun to listen to... I like when that harp suddenly plays before the end...

4. "TACHIKOMA NO IEDE" - One of the cutest and best tracks in this OST... The interluding piano, fiddle, and flute is just a joy to listen to... You'll definitely notice this nifty number find yourself listening to it over and over... (At least I hope)

5. "OSANPO TACHIKOMA" - Cute... Kinda sad... Kinda off-beat... I'm sure you'll appreciate it... It even ends cutely... It's, by no means, bad at all..

6. "BANG BANG BANQUET" - Another great piece... Even if you can help to not dance to it, you'll definitely find yourself tapping to the tune... I'd like to know how they used this piece in the show (since I don't really watch the show)...

7. "FAX ME" - Very classical in sound, but contrasted by some beeping sounds of office supplies like a phone or fax machines (:P).... I like it... It's got some really nice tunes...

8. "ROKKI WA DOKO" - This one's another track for keeps... It has a sad nature to it that I just can't quite put my finger to... The combination of strings and the xylophone has a sort of child-like innocence to it... Sounds dreamy, yet melancholy... I like how it 'ends' in the middle and 'starts' again...

9. "SPOTTER" - From the very few episodes of the series I've seen, this one seems to get a lot of airplay (is that the right word?)... It has the essence of technology with the techno-like beat to it, combined with strings that really add to its mood... It gets catchier and catchier as the track plays on... The best part is when the chorus (and guitar) joins in the middle transition... One of the great tracks in this CD for sure...

10. "LET'S OIL" - This short piece is somewhat unnerving (not in a bad way in my case) due to its fast-paced tune... This won't be your favourite, but it's goes to my most favorite track in the entire GITS:SAC canon--"Cream"...

11. "CREAM" - Now we get to my most favorite track Ms. Yoko Kanno composed for the show... It really took a second or third time of listening before it really got to me indefinitely... HIDE's rapping is top-notch... The first verse of the rapping isn't really the clincher for me, but rather the 'bridge' to the 'chorus' before Maaya Sakamoto sings 'la, la, la' which I also absolutely love... This 'bridge' to the 'chorus' is so different in most of the rap songs I hear, it's worth noting the fast-paced singing is a darn catchiest rap tune I've heard... I hope to find other people who really like this song....

12. "SPIDER BITES" - This is the instrumental/music box version of "Be Human"... It's lovely and poignant in a different way the original song evokes...

13. "GOOD BY MY MASTER" - A choral piece that's haunting yet technological with it's sound... A very nice combination IMO, that's very hard to achieve... A great, great piece...

14. "PIECE BY TEN" - Probably the saddest piece for this soundtrack, or the series for that matter... This orchestral track was played during the episode where the tank run amok and the Major was able to see the memories of the inventor placed inside the tank... The piece heightens to a beautiful climax in the middle that really pulls your heartstrings... A very lovely tune...

15. "WHAT CAN I SAY" - A song sung by a child named Sunny (at least I think s/he's a child)... It's again sad but a more classy way of singing it--kinda like a torch song or bar song but with a kid singing the lyrics... I love this piece but I'm particularly annoyed at how short it is... Love the lyrics too...

>> The Shorts:
16. "HI!" - Weird...
17. "I'M NOT STRAIGHT" - Sounds Cowboy Bebop-ish... It's cool...
18. "AI SENTAI TACHIKOMANZU" - an extremely funny and catchy take on those Power Ranger type songs... I love it!... Some may get annoyed by the singing... But I found it very cute and catchy...
19. "PRO BOWLER TACHIKOMA" - Have you heard the opening song for L/R?... Well, it kinda sounds a lot like it...
20. "DON'T SPONGE ME" - Another 'too short' track... I'd like to hear this longer since it sounds really interesting...
21. "PO'D POD" - Sounds like a computer game... *Plop-plop-plop*
22. "CIAO" - And then they say goodbye...

This will be my first review on amazon.

I finally got the urge to write and I must say it is for a very nice soundtrack. I got my copy of Be Human with one of the Ghost in the Shell: SAC dics. My favorite track is Be Human and brings a tear to my eye every time I listen to it. Yoko Kanno does such a wonderful job bringing emotion to her music. Past the first track the rest of the disc is filled with the child-like whimsy of the Tachikomas.

If you like Yoko Kanno this is a must have for your collection.

If all you want are the opening and closing themes for the show, get the first OST. But if, while watching the show itself, you found yourself liking the music then this is the soundtrack for you. The track 'Spotter' is hands down my favorite song from the entire show. It's the song that plays when the detective character, Togusa, is figuring things out. It's the show's "thinking music" but I will always think of that song as Togusa's theme. Other high points on the album: Good by my master, Cream, and Trip city (good old fashioned Kanno style rock). The song FAX me is a fun minute and a half of up-tempo classical string themes accompanied by computer and modem sounds. The only low point of the album, to me it's the only thing keeping it from five stars, is the title song: Be Human. I don't like it mainly because the singer's voice is annoying to me and the lyrics strike me as kind of dumb. Written from the point of view of a robot, it's all about how much the robot wishes to be human, a theme which is interesting to me but is not handled in a particularly interesting way in the song. Enough negative, though. I still love this album. If you are a fan of the detective portions of the show and you like music, odds are that you will like this soundtrack.

I consider myself an "anime listener"; I don't really have time to watch anime series, but I seek out and listen to the good soundtracks. So I'm reviewing this album just based on the music, not how it connects to Stand Alone Complex, because I don't even know what the plot of the series is.

Unlike the other Ghost in the Shell OSTs, be Human doesn't really hold together as an album. I wouldn't often listen to it from start to finish. But despite this, it has individual tracks that stand out and make me say "wow" more than on its sister albums.

The most notable of these is "Rocky wa Doko?". It's got a beautiful, poignant, flowing melody, and it works in a reference to the song "Daisy" in a way that fits perfectly with the middle section. With the album's theme of robots trying to be human, I have to wonder if this is an intentional reference to Hal's death scene in 2001.

The CD gets off to a slow start with "Be Human", but it does establish the theme for the album. The hard-rocking second track, "Trip City", is worth the wait. The chorus, in particular, is worthy of some serious rocking out.

"FAX me" is perhaps difficult to appreciate at first. You may wonder why you're listening to a fax machine over some classical music. But the music is original Kanno, and the fax machine is an integral part of it. It's a concerto for string quartet and fax machine, and it works.

"Cream" is R&B the Yoko Kanno way. Not something I thought I'd like, but egad does that melody get stuck in my head. The broken guitar chords and the way they weave into the wordless female vocals are what make this track.

"Good By My Master" is a powerful bit of choral soundtrack, and it pretty much rounds out the section of the album I'd actively listen to. Some other good tracks I've passed over are the eccentric and fun "Tachikoma no Iede", the catchy Latin jazz of "bang bang banquet", and the driving orchestral "Spotter".

The end of the album is filled out with a bunch of very short tracks, and I don't see the point of them. They may mean something to fans of the anime. To me, they mean that the album needed to be padded out to 45 minutes. So while I'll listen to the other Stand Alone Complex albums as albums, here I pick and choose the tracks I like and shuffle them into my playlist. But hey, those are some good tracks.

As I listen to "be human" for the uptenth time whilst writting this review, I can honestly say that words cannot accuratly describe how I feel about this album, if you wish to know, you should feel it for yourself...

Looking at this in a non-emotional way, it is very good to say the very least; Traces of Kanno can be strongly felt in each track...

As mentioned above, the first track is by far one of the most, if not the most, moving song on the album in both the melodic and lyrical structure of tense, after all it is the album title.

tracks 2 through 7 are as the first reviewer stated, an insight to the Tachikomas' precocious child like single persona, most examplified by their use in "Tachikoma no Hibi" from the anime. (FAX Me was particularly halarious in my opinion.)

Tracks 8 and up begin to get more serious as they deal with the circumstances leading up to the Tachikomas' fate in the first season. I was particularly overjoyed upon the incluion of Spotter and Cream, as they (as well as others) were not present in the first compilation volume.

Tracks 12 to 15 get pretty emotional (for me at least) since not only because one was used at the end of the season, but because that fact is combined with Kanno's strong emotion influencing melodies. I suppose you'll have to see the end in order to understand.

I'd like to add that Track 15 does a perfect job of wrapping it all up and leaving one feeling satisfied, although it's not the end of the album, it's the end of the tracks listed leaving room for only one thing: An Omake! The next 7 tracks are comprised of entirly of "Tachikoma no Hibi" from the opening to the ending as well as a bonus track entitled: "AI Sentai Tachikoma" or Super AI team Tachikomanzu~

The cover artwork is very well done, and can range from heartwarming to lighthearted; the lyrics are included as well. It should be added that the bonus tracks arn't listed on the back of the CD case nor are they listed here. as a matter of fact, only half of the CD is listed here.

Here are all of the tracks before the Omake:

1. be human

2. trip city

3. patch me

4. Tachikoma's House Leave

5. (kanji) Tachikoma

6. bang bang banquet

7. FAX Me

8. Where's Locky?

9. Spotter

10. let's oil

11. cream

12. spider bites

13. good by my master

14. peice by ten

15. what can I say?

Be Human does not disappoint! It has sound quality mixed in with sound fx and acoustic and classical and when I say 4stars I mean it. When I say 5stars I usually mean a ten. Were I to do sound for a futuristic play I would feel gratified in using some of this. I think Yoko Kanno knows the Secret of Life and she shares her formula...with us, time-and-time again. I happened to be spoiled on her earlier works and always long for those type masterpieces; but if I had to choose american rhythm or Yoko Kanno, I would choose Yoko Kanno. I wonder if she's ever been nominated for a grammy? In my book she's world-class!As-I-said-before this cd does not disappoint and there are enough tracks on it to justify four-stars. No worries here.

The Simple of it that this is something of a sequal to the first "Stand Alone Complex" OST. In many ways it is of the same vein. But, at the same time it's a bit quirkier and obviously inspired by the lively fellow gracing the cover. An excellent buy for fans, but if you're looking for the depth and power found in the majority of Miss Kanno's work; look elsewhere.

The music IS from the series... but it's mostly background pieces. The focus of the album is on the Tachikomas (Those helpful police robots that have the voice of a 7 yr old girl).
The theme seems to follow Kanno's thoughts on their 'human' condition. The first song "Be Human" is cute and very catchy (and still stuck in my head). The rest is lo-fi 'industrial' (as in typewriter and 'found' electronic sounds) blended with a mix of classical music by the composer of the show's opening theme. Only 2 or 3 tracks have vocals.
The big thing though (that upset me) is that this DOES NOT HAVE THE OPENING THEME - written by Kanno as well.
That disapointed me.
Look to one of the other show OSTs for the real "songs" from the show.