Slayers Try VOX

SLAYERS TRY VOX

Copyright © King Records
Copyright © Araizumi Rui/Kadokawa Shoten/TV Tokyo · SOFTX
KICA 351, 21 June 1997
10 tracks, 45:42
¥3059

— by Charles McCarter

1. Take Your Courage 4:32

L·O·N

2. Breeze 4:24

Hayashibara Megumi

3. But But But 4:40

Ishida Akira

4. Stand Up! 4:40

Suzuki Masami

5. More Than Words 6:02

Midorikawa Hikaru

6. Exit—Running 4:21

Hayashibara Megumi

7. Waru - Bad Blood 4:12

Takagi Wataru

8. Somewhere 3:46

Kuwashima Houko

9. So in the World 4:29

Matsumoto Yasunori

10. Don't Be Discouraged 4:10

Hayashibara Megumi

SLAYERS TRY, the most recent television incarnation of the popular SLAYERS series, continues the musical traditions established in the earlier series. What that means is that there is a BGM collection (BOX) and a vocal collection (VOX). The vocal collection comes complete with the opening and closing, as well as image songs and songs sung by the characters.
The most obvious reason to get this CD is for the opening, "Breeze", and closing "Don't Be Discouraged," both of which, naturally, Hayashibara Megumi, the voice of Lina and a popular singer in her own right, sings. The opening is a moderately upbeat pop song, which is typical Hayashibara. However, what makes this song special is the very Spanish influence that an acoustic guitar gives in the accompaniment. In fact, the show opens with the strains of this guitar, and it seems a little odd. The song itself is good enough to stand on its own, and Hayashibara is growing as a vocalist. "Don't Be Discouraged" is a very fast, frantic song, which at times seems to have Hayashibara racing along over the words to keep up with it. But, she is successful and manages to instill a unique energy into the song as a result.
The first track on the CD, though, is "Take Your Courage." Sung by L*O*N, it is the melody for "Don't Be Discouraged" with English lyrics. Newer anime fans may think that this is a new way to rip off a successful song, but this idea has been around in anime for some time; some attempts are just more successful than others. For example, GUNDAM 0083: STARDUST MEMORIES's second opening theme "Men of Destiny" was given new English lyrics and became "Oblivion," and turned out to be a decent song in its own right. However, other shows have re-used the same song or melody over and over until it wears pretty thin. "Follow Your Dream," from PROJECT A-KO was rewritten into Japanese and appeared in PROJECT A-KO 2 and yet another version appeared in CINDERELLA RHAPSODY.
This English song is not bad. First of all, the English lyrics actually make some sense. And the singer is adequate, but her English pronunciation could use some work. This song is not a detriment to the CD, but with the original Japanese version, which is much better, on the disc as well, it is not really an asset either.
Many songs on this disc the voice actors sing in character, which has become something of a common occurrence on anime soundtracks these days, much to the chagrin of many listeners. And, as with most any other collection of voice actors singing, these range from good to passable to hideously bad. Standouts at the good end include "Stand Up!", sung by, Suzuki Masami, who plays Amelia. And of course, Hayashibara's "Exit3Running" is among the best. The biggest surprise in the "voice actors sing" category, however, is "Somewhere," sung by Filia, Kuwashima Houko. The song is a slow, forlorn ballad of surviving dark and troubling times, but the catch is that it is entirely in English. And, while it is not great, and is, in fact, a little syrupy, it is certainly good. It takes several attempts to really comprehend this song, which is buried between two of the worst songs on the disk.
And those songs would be "Waru - Bad Blood," howled by Takagi "Volgarv" Wataru, and "So in the World," Matsumoto "Gourry" Yasunori's attempt at singing. In fact, most of the songs that the male voice actors sing on this CD just are not very good and are probably best skipped over.
This disc has several really good songs. It, unfortunately, also has several really bad songs (unless one accepts "caterwauling" as an appropriate form of singing). SLAYERS fans may find the musical antics of the series regulars to be good for a chuckle too, but not even they will likely be able to stomach repeat listenings of "Waru - Bad Blood." So with a total of three great tracks, four good ones, and three that range from almost bearable to aural torture, this CD is a mixed bag; listeners who just want the opening and closing will find the CD single (which contains both songs) their best bet.