I'll have to say that this CD is the best also.It has so many great vocal songs.
One thing I really enjoy about the music of COWBOY BEBOP is that it is so diverse. Not since MACROSS PLUS (another Kanno Yoko opus) have I heard a soundtrack this diverse and good. The music in this series ranges from blues and jazz to some mambo/Caribbean to rock and even some hip-hop. And without exception this trend is displayed here in the third COWBOY BEBOP soundtrack: BLUE.
One of the best songs on this CD is the title track "Blue." One thing that is immediately noticeable about this soundtrack is that most (actually almost all) of the songs with vocals are sung in English. These songs are sung by native English speakers, so it isn't that surprising; what is surprising is that "Blue" was sung by Yamane Mai, a Japanese woman whose English is just flawless. It's probably even better than mine. Usually when a Japanese person sings a song with English lyrics it comes out kind of garbled. For example check out "Tell Me Why" by the PENPALS which is the opening song to the anime series BERSERK. "Blue" has to be one of the best songs in this series and may be one of the best songs to ever come out of an anime. It's hard to describe what kind of genre it falls into, but it gets my vote for best song on the CD. It appears at the end of the last episode of COWBOY BEBOP.
Another interesting song on this CD is "Chicken Bone," which is a hip-hop like song. The lyrics to the song are kind of strange with the mention of Cajun sauce, the repeated use of the words "chicken bone," and every once in a while some guy who sounds like the Tasmanian Devil says, "Destroy." This song was featured in episode 17 ("Mushroom Samba") with another song on this CD, "Mushroom Hunting."
Another excellent song is "Adieu," performed by the very talented Emily Bindiger. With a mellow piano melody and a soft and somewhat sultry voiced singer this is the type of song I would expect to be heard in an upper class nightclub featured in some film noir movie. The song is also an extended vocal version of the song "Memory" which is on the first COWBOY BEBOP Soundtrack.
And if you are tired of all the jazz and blues music there is even a little opera on this CD for you: "Ave Maria." This was the song being performed in the opera house in episode 5. Also something else that is fairly interesting is the track "Wo Qui Non Coin." It's not that it's really good or anything but that it is one of the few songs sung in Japanese. Or at least I think it's Japanese. But more that that it's the only song sung by a cast member (sung by Tada Aoi, who was the voice of Ed). This is interesting because Hayashibara Megumi usually sings at least one song for the anime that she is in.
And finally we come to the last track, which is actually a bonus track of sorts. It's not listed with the other tracks except on the last page of the cover booklet. So it's like a hidden track, but not one of those stupid hidden tracks that only comes on twenty minutes after the last song has been played. The song is called "See You Space Cowboy..." but is actually a second version of "The Real Folk Blues." It's a softer version with the piano being the predominant instrument instead of the electric guitar which the original version featured (the original version is the one heard during the closing credits of the show). Also the lyrics are slightly different in that the language which some of the lyrics were sung in were changed.
Overall this is one great CD. It doesn't have some of the more recognizable COWBOY BEBOP songs like "Tank!" or "Space Lion" but is great none the less. Some other good songs are "Call Me Call Me," which is kind of a folk rock song, and "Go Go Cactus Man," which could have come right out of a spaghetti western.Overall this CD stands as an instant classic CD anime or otherwise.
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"Everything past and future is vivid. Only the present is fuzzy."
-Yoshitaka Amano
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a great job summarizing a great cd bigshot
