ExtraCareful's Soundtrack Pick of the Week

So I hope this becomes a regular occurrence, but I want to share a piece of music that I think is relatively very well made. And the winner is....

A Whole New World God Only Knows (The World God Only Knows II OP)

Elisa

Sadly, the only one I could find that wasn't upside down/inverted horizontally. Sorry for the low quality.

This is already among one of my most favorite soundtracks overall (OP, ED, insert, etc.) because of the excellent theme coupled with its originality. For those who haven't heard my rant about OPs/EDs before, a lot of animes nowadays seem to have this formula stuck in their heads:

How to make a decent-sounding OP (full version) without thinking:

- Create a good main phrase lasting for about 5-10 seconds.

- Lead up to it for 1-3 minutes.

- Repeat said phrase or a slight variation of it for another 1-3 minutes. To get the heart pumping, change it to a minor key or do the exact same phrase but a third or fifth up/down.

- Instrumental

- Vocal solo

- Repeat phrase again

- End with lots of bass

Some random combination of the above will give you a halfway-decent OP. The most prominent follower of this rigid formula seems to be fripside. Don't get me wrong, many of my more favorite songs are from those guys. But seriously, it's dangerously repetitive, even if their leitmotifs are to die for. Take one of their more popular songs, Level 5 Judgelight (Toaru Kagaku no Railgun OP 2):

When you run out of things to say, interrupt the song with a guitar solo. Guaranteed to work.

Just think about what I said above. This is a prime example of the formula.

However we're straying off track, so let's get back to A Whole New World God Only Knows. It has a very good theme (0:39~0:53) - it's more light than its predecessor, God Only Knows, but it still gets me going. I actually like the decision they made to really lay off the bass this time and go for a more ethereal/electronic feeling.

The duet is very well done and quite original, adding to the feel of the song. I love it when there are multiple voices intertwining and doing it WELL - it makes the song more hefty, more complex, better to listen to, than just one lone voice as the main theme and echoes substituting in for the chorus.

The buildup is also quite good, since it's in almost exactly the same style as God Only Knows. Moreover, each part is quite unique and refreshing, and adds to the whole theme/what they're trying to go for (make it seem...'divine'? I don't know...) The transitions are excellent, going from one to another - sometimes they're smooth and other times they're great cliffhangers. The ending also is very gentle and floats away. Overall a great piece that kept me hanging until the end. Please listen to this and the Season I piece, God Only Knows, sung by the same person (Elisa) if you liked this piece. Enjoy!