Shiro Sagisu - The End of Evangelion CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW
CLASSIC ALBUM #2: THESE ALBUMS ARE NOT RANKED OR SCORED BECAUSE THEY’RE, WELL, CLASSIC.
Something I did this summer was binge the original run of the legendary Japanese anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and its finale movie, The End of Evangelion. It really has been a pretty mind-blowing series, and with the four Rebuild films coming to the U.S. later this month, I decided I somehow had to get some of its music onto here. I’ve thought about reviewing the recent compilation, Evangelion Finally, which is essentially a greatest hits album, but the more I’ve thought about it, The End of Evangelion’s score/soundtrack really deserves some praise and recognition. They might be the same in this case, but who cares, this is my website. Let’s get into what makes Shiro Sagisu’s score/soundtrack to The End of Evangelion a classic album.
Let me just come out on record that this soundtrack has one of my favorite classical pieces of all time. It’s Sagisu’s rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147," now titled “Jesus bleibet meine Freude,” and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Definitely one of the most haunting moments on the album, both on its own and in the context of the film. Leading into that, nearly all of my favorite soundtracks can be listened to outside of the original work it’s a part of, and the emotional weight can be felt throughout the music. Sagisu knows that and takes it to new heights.
The soundtrack is the movie here. Where this is most prevalent is the iconic “Komm, süsser Tod,” which translates from German to “Come, sweet death.” Having actually heard this song before getting into the franchise and not knowing the context, it was still a heart-wrenching song about suicide and destruction, especially with Arianne Schreiber’s soulful and disturbingly cheerful performance. Now having heard it in the context of the film, it’s even more devastating. Another Bach rendition, “II Air (Orchestral Suite No.3 in D Major, BWV. 1068),” is a song I’ve heard countless times before, but in the film, this song comes at one of the more jarring and downright horrifying moments and because of that, I’ll never be able to detach the visuals from the song.
I can sit here and confidently say that Shiro Sagisu needs to be respected as one of the most innovative composers working now. His work for the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise is a footnote in an already legendary career, but I think The End of Evangelion is Sagisu’s masterpiece, just like it is for the film’s director Hideaki Anno. This score/soundtrack is very reactive and is quite a good contender for one of the best film scores ever, and is my personal favorite film score ever.
Because of its emotional potency, it being widely considered to be composer Shiro Sagisu’s best work, and a staggering achievement not just for anime but for cinema as a whole, the score/soundtrack to The End of Evangelion is a CLASSIC.
Listen here
YouTube Music
The End of Evangelion is a Starchild release.
Something I did this summer was binge the original run of the legendary Japanese anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and its finale movie, The End of Evangelion. It really has been a pretty mind-blowing series, and with the four Rebuild films coming to the U.S. later this month, I decided I somehow had to get some of its music onto here. I’ve thought about reviewing the recent compilation, Evangelion Finally, which is essentially a greatest hits album, but the more I’ve thought about it, The End of Evangelion’s score/soundtrack really deserves some praise and recognition. They might be the same in this case, but who cares, this is my website. Let’s get into what makes Shiro Sagisu’s score/soundtrack to The End of Evangelion a classic album.
Let me just come out on record that this soundtrack has one of my favorite classical pieces of all time. It’s Sagisu’s rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147," now titled “Jesus bleibet meine Freude,” and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Definitely one of the most haunting moments on the album, both on its own and in the context of the film. Leading into that, nearly all of my favorite soundtracks can be listened to outside of the original work it’s a part of, and the emotional weight can be felt throughout the music. Sagisu knows that and takes it to new heights.
The soundtrack is the movie here. Where this is most prevalent is the iconic “Komm, süsser Tod,” which translates from German to “Come, sweet death.” Having actually heard this song before getting into the franchise and not knowing the context, it was still a heart-wrenching song about suicide and destruction, especially with Arianne Schreiber’s soulful and disturbingly cheerful performance. Now having heard it in the context of the film, it’s even more devastating. Another Bach rendition, “II Air (Orchestral Suite No.3 in D Major, BWV. 1068),” is a song I’ve heard countless times before, but in the film, this song comes at one of the more jarring and downright horrifying moments and because of that, I’ll never be able to detach the visuals from the song.
I can sit here and confidently say that Shiro Sagisu needs to be respected as one of the most innovative composers working now. His work for the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise is a footnote in an already legendary career, but I think The End of Evangelion is Sagisu’s masterpiece, just like it is for the film’s director Hideaki Anno. This score/soundtrack is very reactive and is quite a good contender for one of the best film scores ever, and is my personal favorite film score ever.
Because of its emotional potency, it being widely considered to be composer Shiro Sagisu’s best work, and a staggering achievement not just for anime but for cinema as a whole, the score/soundtrack to The End of Evangelion is a CLASSIC.
Listen here
YouTube Music
The End of Evangelion is a Starchild release.
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