The Sounds of Awe and Terror: Revisiting the Music of Godzilla [Part 2- The Heisei Era]

 

     When Godzilla was born, a phase of my life began. Now Godzilla is gone, and that phase is over. It was very emotional. ~ Akira Ifukube

Welcome to the second part of my journey through the OSTs of Godzilla films. In the previous editorial, I discussed the music scores from the Showa series. Now, we proceed to the Heisei era.
     Ever since the premiere of Terror of Mechagodzilla (1974), the Toho Studios was keen on bringing its most iconic monster back to the big screen. The chance finally arrived with an idea of making a reboot that would ignore all the preceding entries apart from the original 1954 film. Koji Hashimoto’s The Return of Godzilla (1984) is a fresh and serious take on the King of the Monsters in the Cold War era. The job of composing the music went to Reijiro Koroku, a classically trained musician mainly known from working on TV productions, variety shows, straight-to-video flicks, and video games. (Akira Ifukube declined to return because he was too busy teaching at Tokyo College Music.)

Reijiro Koroku

     In all honesty, Koroku’s soundtrack for The Return of Godzilla (1984) is one of my all-time favourites. You can hear a heavy use of synthesizer, but there are also lots of orchestral arrangements. The viewers can definitely feel the sense of wonder and dread thanks to these bold, dark, and larger-than-life tracks. The main theme is “an ominous, rumbling piece played by a full orchestra accented with low-end brass” (Ryfle 1998: 237). Together with the movie, the soundtrack was a breath of fresh air into the franchise. Interestingly, there was also a special song made for the end credits “Godzilla: Love Theme” sung by The Star Sisters pop group. A different song “Sayonara Lover” by Yasuko Sawaguchi accompanied alternate releases of the film.

     Although the release of The Return of Godzilla (1984) was a financial success for Toho, the studio did not really know in which direction to carry on the series. After holding a special script competition for the fans, they greenlit the idea of Godzilla fighting a genetically-engineered plant. For Kazuko Omori’s Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989), Koichi Sugiyama (famous for his work on Dragon Quest RPG series) was chosen to compose the music. Some fans remark that the score has a distinct, John Williams-like, symphonic feel. Surprisingly, Sugiyama did not participate in the orchestration process, which in turn was handled by conductor David Howell. The conductor was never shown the film, which resulted in him imagining potential sequences when conducting the orchestra.

Koichi Sugiyama

     Another interesting thing about Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) is the fact that a lot of Akira Ifukube’s older themes (featured prominently on his 1986 album Ostinato) were used in the film. Allegedly, a film historian and Godzilla expert Ed Godziszewski saw the rough cut of Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) with only Akira Ifukube’s music.
     Akira Ifukube eventually returned to the world of Godzilla and stayed on as the composer for the majority of the Heisei era. His decision to go back to composing duties was triggered mainly by the track Bio Wars from Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) which is basically a creative reinvention of the Godzilla theme in a funky style. Ifukube’s aim was to bring the stylish and epic monster music back to its glory. In my personal opinion, Ifukube’s work on Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993) are his best contributions to the franchise. However, you can clearly notice that he was rearranging a lot of his old material. In fact, if you listen to Ifukube’s scores to other films, such as Chushingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (1962) and The Adventure in Kigan Castle (1966), you will hear the Godzilla theme as well.

Akira Ifukube

     That is not to say, however, that Maestro Ifukube relied only on previous scores. He managed to produce some original material which is absolutely breathtaking: the Mechagodzilla theme and the Destoroyah theme. Steve Ryfle wrote that “he delivers a tour de force proving that even in his late seventies he hasn't lost his magic touch” (Ryfle 1998: 295). Ifukube’s last score was for the final Heisei entry Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). The Requiem of Godzilla Death track is an absolute stroke of genius! This piece of music alone not only marks Godzilla's farewell to the audience, but also Ifukube’s farewell to Godzilla. The composer stated the following in an interview: “The theme for Godzilla's death was one of the most difficult pieces I have ever had to compose. In a way, it was as if I was composing the theme for my own death.” (Ryfle 1998: 316)

Takayuki Hattori

     Last but not least, Takayuki Hattori also has to be mentioned. He was responsible for the Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) OST because Akira Ifukube refused to return upon reading the script which reminded him too much about idol flicks. The movie itself is considered to be a mixed bag by Kaiju fans, but I regard it as a personal guilty pleasure. Hattori’s soundtrack is also a pleasure to listen to (that introduction!). Evidently, the music is not as big in scale as Ifukube’s OSTs, yet it has its idiosyncratic charm. Some tracks would perfectly fit a PS1 game, whereas others seem to be an homage to John Barry’s You Only Live Twice (1967) score.
      All things considered, this was my “brief” trip down the music lane of Godzilla’s Heisei era. Please make sure to hit the hyperlinks in order to listen to mentioned tracks. If you enjoyed the read, please stay tuned for the third editorial in which I will go through the musical history of the Millennium era. In the meantime, I leave you with my full “guide list” of the Heisei movies and the people who scored them because I could not find such a rundown anywhere on the internet. Thank you for reading:

• The Return of Godzilla (1984) music by Reijiro Koroku
• Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) music by Koichi Sugiyama
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) music by Akira Ifukube
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) music by Akira Ifukube
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993) music by Akira Ifukube
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) music by Takayuki Hattori
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) music by Akira Ifukube

Sources: Japan’s Favourite Mon-Star: An Unauthorized Biography of the Big G by Steve Ryfle * VGMdb * Interview with Koichi Sugiyama * Akira Ifukube Interview * Gojipedia * AkiraIfukube.org.

«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»