Utena: Angel Creation Namely Light
List Price:
Our Price: $2.94
You Save: $12.04 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.95 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Edition: Music CDFormat: Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 2006-01-03
Music Label: Geneon [Pioneer]
Soundtracks:
- Last Evolution
- Inside the Body of the Paleozoic Era
- The Earth as a Character Guide
- Missing Link
- No One Talks About It
- W's Prophecy
- Utopian Past Tnese Incantation
- Supira Mirabirisu Theater
- The Revelation of Adolescence [Instrumental]
- The Revelation of Absolute Destiny with Universal Gravitation
- Angel Creation - Namely Light
- Angel Creation - Namely Light [Instrumental]
Music reviews of Utena: Angel Creation Namely Light
Music Review: Immortal music in mundane arrangements
Rating: 3 Stars
First off: if you want "Missing Link", then this CD is your only option. As the soundtrack for the emotional climax of the series, that lone song might be reason enough for a purchase. The rest of the album might not be.
The CD consists of the most noteworthy duel choruses from the Student Council and Black Rose arcs arranged in a heavily synthed style with a more prominent chorus. (To steal from another review, the tracks sound more "live" than the originals.) Most of the remixes share two weaknesses. First, the sound mixing, to my ears, is off - the chorus now frequently sounds like it's shouting tone-deaf over the music rather than singing as part of it. Secondly, the tracks are usually padded by unrelated, repetitive intros and/or outros that meander for a minute or two.
In numerous cases, the aspects that define and distinguish a chorus are stripped away. Were it anyone but original composer J. A. Seazer doing the remixing, I'd say they didn't know what they were doing; here, I imagine Seazer has a rhyme and reason, but it doesn't work all the same. "Earth as a Character Gallery" really cooked in the series but here is tranquilized and dirge-like; robbed of its momentum, the track loses its sparkle. "Utopian Past Tense Incantation" is sung regally, in a restrained, queenly style, which is way wrong. (The song is about wanting to go back to one's childhood. It also contains the lyrics "tiiiiiiime MACHINE!", and if you think that deserves a stuffy delivery, then you hate fun.) "Angelic Creation, Namely, Light", still has an edge, but it is considerably blunted by needless meandering, instrumentation that is clownishly overwrought instead of hard and cold, and other poor artistic choices. Drop the opening riff - harsh and unyielding, particularly to anyone settling down for a track about light and angels - and the daring concept of heaven and the universe as a hateful, unforgiving, malevolent force is lost.
Some success is found in "Nanibito mo Kataru Koto Nashi", remade as a medievalish waltz with effective synth "instrumentation" - bold, strong percussion, intertwining string accoutrement, and a woodwind outro. That said, the shouting brings it down. "Last Evolution" goes for grand drama - wailing guitar, a crashing chorus, and a chivalric lead-in. There's a powerful version of "Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku" on here (1 of 10,000 - collect them all!), and the original track, "The Revelation of Adolescence", isn't bad - consider it a precursor to "Rose is Rain" on the Utena movie CD. Then there's the victorious but world-weary release of "Missing Link", the dramatic high of the CD as well as the program.
I'm thankful that Geneon chose to bring these discs over at all, but I have one more complaint common to all the U.S. Utena CD releases - the booklets are poorly produced. They're (for the most part) the original Japanese layouts, yes, but the image quality is a bit degraded, and the lyric translations were seemingly done by someone at the end of their second year of language study. I know I sound like an utter ingrate and that the songs are filled with puzzling, seemingly meaningless phrases like "Virtual Star Embryology" and "Utopian Past Tense Incantation". The mistakes, though, range to the maddeningly simple (sounding out English words from katakana) and butcher the cryptic insight the lyrics offer on the proceedings. (There is a world of difference in context, for example, between the "two types of me" booklet translation of "Angelic Creation"'s final lines and "two of me", the accurate translation.) Disregard the booklet and look instead on the Utena fansite Empty Movement for the lyric translations by Robert Paige and Verthandi.
But back to the tunes. Look, Utena has produced such unique and high-quality music so integral to the story that it's worth exploring from any angle. The overall style here, though - synth homophony and that unnuanced, blaring chorus - makes the tracks sound too samey, and the execution is problematic. If you're a fan, you'll probably want to check this CD out eventually, but don't consider it a priority.
More Utena: Angel Creation Namely Light free music reviews:
1
1
Pop CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Pop CDs
Yvette Freeman - Dinah Was (L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collection)Release date: 2005-04-12; Music CD
Best price: $18.61
Price in other shops:
Twin Sisters Productions - Building Character Music CDTWIN SISTERS PRODUCTIONS; Release date: 2007-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.75
Price in other shops:
Bernadette Peters in ConcertDVD
Best price: $92.90
Everything Must Go/ Two Against Natureby Steely Dan
Published: 2003; Music CD
Scattered Ashes: A Decade Of Emperial WrathRelease date: 2009-07-28; Published: 2009; Music CD
Best price: $13.14
Price in other shops:
![Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS] Image](/images/Christmas-at-the-Biltmore-Estate-VHS-076700437X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Christmas at the Biltmore Estate [VHS]A&E Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.04
Price in other shops:
The Shadow: Rare Radio Gems (Rare Radio Gems)Release date: 2002-09-01; Published: 2002-09-01; Music CD
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
On the Shoulders of Giants, Vol. 1: An Audio & Musical Journey Through the Harlem Renaissanceby Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Release date: 2011-09-06; Published: 2008; Music CD
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops:
Francis Durbridge, Paul Temple & The Gilbert Case - Radio ShowRelease date: 2003-05-12; Music CD
Best price: $21.18
Price in other shops:
The Serenaders - My One and Only YouRelease date: 2011-05-28; Music CD
Best price: $8.59
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Shinkichi Mitsumune - Utena the Movie - Adolescence RushRelease date: 2004-06-08; Music CD
Best price: $3.87
Price in other shops:
Original Soundtrack, Shinkichi Mitsumune - Utena 2: Virtual Star EmbryologyRelease date: 2005-02-08; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Shinkichi Mitsumune - Revolutionary Girl UtenaRelease date: 2004-03-16; Music CD
Best price: $36.98