Releases - CD - Trouble in Tokyo
Release Information
Label: La-La-Land Records
Release Date: July 22nd, 2008*
*though shipped on July 29th, 2008 to most outlets |
Official Description: When a
high-tech ninja from the Far East attacks Titans Tower, the Teen Titans
spring into action and bring him down. But when Robin finds out the
ninja was sent by a mysterious and menacing Japanese criminal known as
Brushogen ... our heroes realize that the action isn't over -- it's just
getting started! An off-the-wall story accompanied by equally enjoyable
music created by the Dynamic Music Partners, creating one of their most
enjoyable scores yet!
Track Listing:
1. Meet Saico Tek ( 5:18 )
2. Interrogation ( 1:23 )
3. Main Title ( 2:36 )
4. Tokyo Arrival ( 1:28 )
5. Monster Attack ( 4:36 )
6. Troopers Tour + Robin’s Disappointment ( 1:46 )
7. Titans Watched ( 1:52 )
8. Starfire Videogame ( 1:18 )
9. Moment Lost ( 2:39 )
10. Tokyo Skyline + Robin Blots Out Saico Tek ( 4:11 )
11. All You Can Eat/Boy Troubles ( 2:01 )
12. Titans Attack ( 1:51 )
13. The Note (:51)
14. The Fight Continues ( 2:43 )
15. Raven Finds Books/Robin Goes Underground ( 1:19 )
16. Play It Louder (:55)
17. Bar Fight ( 1:18 )
18. Motorcycle Chase ( 1:57 )
19. Brushogun Origin ( 2:17 )
20. Chasing Titans ( 1:58 )
21. Meet Brushogun ( 3:48 )
22. Villians Makin’ Copies ( 2:16 )
23. Final Battle ( 4:20 )
24. The Kiss (:55)
25. Tokyo ’s Newest Heroes ( 1:58 )
26. End Credits ( 1:59 )
Total Time (53:33)
Review (Zach Demeter): It’s been years
since Trouble in Tokyo aired on Cartoon Network and over a year
since its DVD release, but patience for fans paid off with this release
of the Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo soundtrack. Bringing
together the three composers of the series into one big project, Trouble
in Tokyo took the Titans to a local they’d never been previously to
experience a whole array of new enemies and adventures. As new as the
location is in the film, the soundtrack brings together some familiar
elements of the series as well as mixing in plenty of new music in as
well.
Composers Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion and Lolita Ritmanis are
no stranger to animated DC works. On board with the various Bruce Timm
produced features since Batman: The Animated Series, the trio
work their way across a myriad of episodes of Batman, Superman, Batman
Beyond and Justice League. While Teen Titans followed the same
superhero genre as their previous works, the music written for the show
was wildly different from what they had done previously and Trouble
in Tokyo is a superb example of just how diverse the trio can be.
From the start, Trouble in Tokyo kicks off with an action-packed
piece that eventually slides into a dramatic piece that takes the
listener to a whole other area of music. Unfortunately I can’t seem to
pinpoint which tracks are what on this release, as the track names and
times listed on the rear cover don’t match up with the run times given
on the actual tracks on the disc. It also seems that some tracks are blended
together at times, with new tracks starting in current ones. Not a huge deal,
but something I noticed.
In any case, the music presented here is honestly some of my absolute
favorite work of the Carter/McCuistion/Ritmanis trio. I’ve loved their
music ever since Batman Beyond and Teen Titans is such a
fantastic mixture of truly superheroic themes mixed with the bubblegum
style fun that Teen Titans has always represented. While I didn’t
absolutely love Trouble in Tokyo when I first saw it (and I still
have only seen it twice…guess I should rewatch it sometime, especially
after this soundtrack), I was immediately blown away when I started
listening to this soundtrack. I think by covering the show as much as we
did for so many years I just became burnt out on it and didn’t get to
enjoy it the same way everyone else was and the music is just an
absolutely fantastic way to get back into the series, as it embodies
everything that’s so wonderful about it.
Track 4 ("Monster Attack) is
absolutely fantastic. The upbeat nature of the battle mixed with…well, I
don’t even know what to call it really. It’s just a very lively and
entertaining track to listen to. The rest of the soundtrack follows an
oriental vein, with plenty of cues thrown in to match the location. Even
with those elements, however, the soundtrack always seems to return
“home”, with a bit of the Titans theme thrown in or just a general
action filled piece. The soundtrack also mixes in quite a bit of emotion
for the Robin and Starfire characters, which is incredibly apparent
throughout all of the soundtracks “quieter” moments. There’s a lot of
drama thrown into this score and whether its action or sorrow, Carter,
McCuistion and Ritmanis have always been able to pull it off without a
hitch.
I absolutely adore this CD and it ranks up there as one of my favorite
DC Animated scores released yet. While I’ve enjoyed the “epic” music
from the DC Universe features, nothing quite matches up with the
excitement and fun that Teen Titans can provide. Truly there is
some beautiful music to listen to here, but when the music gets pumping,
blasting the stereo up a few levels only helps you enjoy it that much
more. Highly Recommended.
The CD
La-La Land Records has packaged Trouble in Tokyo in the usual
jewel case with artwork from the series thrown about on the release.
everything looks and sounds terriffic, although I did notice that compared
to the Gotham Knight soundtrack, this one doesn't sound as "loud"
and crisp as previous releases from La-La Land Records. Nothing really that
hinders the experience, just something I noticed after listenting to their
two latest releases back-to-back.
Inside the casing is some images of the composers and a listing of their
previous works, as well as the liner notes. This little booklet has
commentary from Dynamic Music Partners (that’d be Carter, McCuistion and
Ritmanis’s s music group) as well as some words from Glen Murakami who
points out some of his favorite tracks on the disc as well as the impact
that the trio left on the series as well as the film. Following that is
a serious of thank you’s from Carter, McCuistion and Ritmanis, as well
as a shot of them mixing mix with a shot of Trouble in Tokyo up
on the monitor, in full widescreen glory as if to tease me since we’ll
probably never see it in its original aspect ratio.
I still have a bit of a problem with the way these soundtracks are put
together, more from a visual standpoint than anything. Some of the
graphical work looks incredibly cheesy, such as the backdrop image of
the three composers behind the actual CD itself. The faded outline
around them just looks very strange, as does the texture background
behind that. I’m not a graphic artist so I can’t pretend I could do
better, but something just seems a bit off-beat about that.
Overall Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo is a fantastic soundtrack
and one I won’t soon forget and will be listening to for many years to
come. The series may have come to a close years ago, but if we can
continue to get releases of it in some format, whether on DVD or CD (or
widescreen Blu-ray releases! Come on!), the show will undoubtedly live
on not only through reruns but also from the various releases that
continue to arrive on store shelves. Highly Recommended. |
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