Customer Reviews

Spirited Away Image Album

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So I think I've figured out what Studio Ghibli's Image Albums are. They are released before the film, and before the final orchestrtations as a means of introducing the film's premise. This CD works so much better for those who have seen the film. A few of the tracks are already on the OST in orchestrated form (#2 is Yubaba's theme, #5 is the Sootball's theme, #8 is "The Sixth Station" and #10 is Chihiro's theme near the ending). It's still interesting to hear the very first forms of these songs. #7 is actually a brand new track that is wonderfully composed, but never featured in the film.

The rest are songs from the film, but with words, and that's the highlight of the CD. The first song is the opening of the film with vocals. The third track is the bathouse theme with lyrics. The fourth track is "It's Hard Work" with lyrics. The sixth track is about No Face singing of his loneliness. Track 8 is likely Chihiro singing about Haku; it's titled White Dragon.

If you understand Japanese, you can understand the beauty of the words in every song. But even if you don't each song sounds wonderful, and if you are a fan of Spirited Away, this is a must-buy.

NOTE: Just to include some more background, some of these songs are heard in the background of the Japanese documentary featured on the second disc of the Region 1 (North American) DVD release of Spirited Away. I thought I would never be able to own those songs on album form, but they're here.