Brain Powerd Original Soundtrack

BRAIN POWERD ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
Copyright © 1998 Sunrise
VICL-60264
Avaiable in Japan
¥3045
Where to buy

—by John Yung

1. Power of the Light 3:06

2. Ark 3:29

3. Deep Trench 4:17

4. Sonne ~ Hikari 2:43

5. My Little Pony 2:04

6. Run 2:15

7. Chemical Dance 2:18

8. Butterfly 3:06

9. Blue Tone 2:53

10. Home 3:04

11. Ground Zero 3:35

12. War Ship 3:51

13. Spark 3:53

14. Flow 5:03

15. Transmission 2:56

16. Music Box 1:43

17. Bridge 2:18

18. Ephemera 1:26

19. Ai no FIELD 4:16

20. On the Earth 2:33

Total Running Time: 61:39

That musical wunderkind Kanno Youko does it again. With her work on the BRAIN POWERD ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK, Kanno continues to fulfill the promise presented by her work on the MACROSS PLUS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK. Unfortunately, the BRAIN POWERD album may be overlooked because of the stigma associated with the series.
The album is impressive because the quality of the music exceeds the expectations for television series soundtracks. Four of the tracks were performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Warsaw Chorus with Kanno accompaning on piano. Brass instruments carry the melody in "Run" and "War Ship," reminiscent of James Horner's movie compositions. "Ground Zero" is a bombastic piece that would compliment the 1812 Overture at a concert. "On the Earth" is the quietest of the four orchestral pieces and a fitting last piece on this soundtrack.
The first track, "Power of the Light," is very energetic in contrast and features Kanno at the keyboard with string accompaniment. "Chemical Dance" is a whimsical string waltz accentuated by cymbals. The other symphonic pieces, "Deep Trench," "Spark," "Transmission," and "Bridge," are more solemn in mood. Bagpipes add a Scottish flavor to the string instrumentals in "Ark."
Kanno is not afraid to experiment, and the variety of the remaining instrumentals on the album prove it. "Home" starts off with a music box rendition and swells into a traditional full symphonic arrangement, but after the music swells, there are some weird harmonics that sounded out of place for the instruments involved. Upon investigation of the liner notes, experimental use of synth manipulation is suspected.
"My Little Pony" might have been inspired by toys of the same name, but there's nothing sugary or juvenile about this piece, although it does have a hint of whimsy in its new age arrangement for keyboard and strings. The most new age track on the album has got to be "Butterfly," with its Enya-styled chorus. "Music Box" is precisely what the title implies. The melody and percussion work in "Blue Tone" is reminiscent of Peter Gabriel's works with African music. "Ephemera" is similar with its arrangement of percussion and tribal chorus, punctuated by shouts.
Of the three other vocals on the album, "Ai no FIELD" (The title is written "Ai no Rinkaku" but "FIELD" is written above "Rinkaku" in katakana.) is probably the most mediocre. It features singing by Kokia, who is accompanied by string instrumentals, but the lyrics don't flow as well as they do in the other songs. "Flow" is a jazzy, almost beatnik sort of song, delivered in a breathy, seductive fashion by Iwashita Seika. The most outstanding vocal on this album is clearly "Sonne ~ Hikari," with lyrics by Gabriela Robin and vocal talent supplied by Artur Stefanowicz. This operatic aria is so good that it sends chills down the spine. Too bad the lyrics aren't listed in the liner notes.
There is no need to recommend this album for Kanno fans, since they should be already sold on any CD featuring her Midas touch. For fans made wary of the BRAIN POWERD anime series, the soundtrack should be given a chance since it features music that is probably more successful at conveying the grandiose scope of BRAIN POWERD than the plot or the animation was.