Yamato Sound Almanac Music Addendum

In terms of Yamato music collecting, this was the single biggest release of 2015, a triple-disc treasure trove that followed in the wake of the 30-CD Sound Almanac series. It may be hard to imagine that anything had been left out, but the well goes deeper than even the production supervisor thought, as described in his liner notes below.

In case you’re wondering if they finally dug up the original source for the Bee People festival in Series 1, that still remains sadly elusive. And truthfully, there’s nothing completely new here, but completists love diving into alternate takes and remixes that liven up the old favorites.

Highlights include alternate takes from the Yamato radio dramas, tracks from the Anime Piano ~ Yamato/Gundam album, The instrumental-only version of Prelude to Final Yamato, a “refresh collection” of BGM remixes from Yamato 2 through Final Yamato, and a handful of songs that didn’t fit on previous releases.

Yamato Sound Almanac 1974-1983: Yamato Music Addendum

Columbia COCX-39257~9, October 28, 2015

Liner notes

Preface by Masaru Hayakawa

“The infinite universe. A world filled with silent light…” The famous opening narration of Space Battleship Yamato, heard in the beginning of the first TV series, was inherited by the remake series Yamato 2199 in later years and became a sound icon that represented Yamato. This narration was supported from behind by the electronic sounds of Mitsuru Kashiwabara, which expressed the expanse of a glittering universe, and the beautiful background music of Hiroshi Miyagawa.


Yamato/Kamen Rider Amazon “Action Series” single
December 1974

As represented in this opening scene, the world of Space Battleship Yamato cannot be described without its sound. The vast ocean of space which Yamato flies through overflows with rich music, filled with life. Under the direction of producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, composer Hiroshi Miyagawa and writers such as Yu Aku and Kentaro Haneda created a huge, monumental library. The Yamato Sound Almanac CD series, which sailed for two years starting in 2012, collected that music in yearbook form, compiling the essence of Yamato into a living chronicle.

This Addendum album works as an “appendix chapter” to supplement those chronicles at the end of a long journey, containing music that was not presented in the previous 30 titles. It finally reproduces the “action sound” that was the forte of Columbia Japan, music only heard in radio dramas that moved fans to tears in front of their radios late at night, music from Prelude to Final Yamato without narration, and previously-unused tracks from the BGM Collection series.

If you think of the Alamanac as the third voyage of Yamato CD releases, heralded by the Yamato Resurrection Director’s Cut, it can also be seen as a rich, secondary route that ran parallel with a new movement. The work that became the nucleus of Yamato 2199 was inherited by Akira Miyagawa from the baton of his father and superbly played a role that is still fresh in our minds. The Yamato boom was reignited in the year 2012, filling the fans of yesteryear in particular with deep emotions exactly like those they grew up on.

The music of Space Battleship Yamato became a classic of animation soundtracks both in name and in reality. The music heard on this Addendum was not included in any previous Almanac volumes, a permanent record that was assembled after that series. If you play the CD immediately, you’ll notice that the lineup of music collected here really is some of the best.

So is this edition that last port of call on the music voyage of Yamato? Of course not. As long as there is love and romance in the hearts of the fans, Yamato will certainly be off on a new voyage.



Anime Piano Suite Yamato/Gundam, November 1982

Introduction by Tomohiro Yoshida

From July 2012 to March 2014, 30 titles were released over the course of about two years as the Yamato Sound Alamanac series. Originally scheduled to be released in October 2014 to mark the 40th anniversary of the original broadcast, it was developed in advance to coincide with the screenings and TV broadcast of Yamato 2199.

Among the 30 titles, there were five that had not previously been released on CD: The World of Hiroshi Miyagawa ~ Space Battleship Yamato, Space Cruiser Yamato [English drama album], Yamato New Disco Arrange, Final Yamato Digital Trip Synthesizer Fantasy, and Yamato Complete Music Works Piano Performances. There were another eight titles that had gone out of print six years after they were released on CD in 1993, and the complete collection of BGM used in the original productions.

These three major themes were published so that new fans of Yamato 2199 would fall in love with the grand music Hiroshi Miyagawa created in the past, and to send everything out into the world as a spindle full of CDs. Finishing the series had the effect of accelerating the release, and there were a few things left to do afterward.

There were a few pieces that didn’t materialize for the main volume of BGM: one from The New Voyage, one from Be Forever, and one from the Final Yamato 70mm edition. There were differences in the performances and the mix, and the tape material couldn’t be prepared during the production period of the Almanac.

There were also 15 tracks of BGM used in the All Night Nippon radio dramas of Farewell to Yamato, Be Forever, and Final Yamato that were stored in a half-finished condition that couldn’t be prepared for the Almanac. Instead, they were reworked during production of the MV [Music Video] Series after the Almanac, and now they can finally be released.


The New Voyage/Brave Raideen Anime Piano and Choral Suite
February 1982

In addition, after releasing the Almanac, we received a number of requests from Yamato fans, such as “Which music was only available in the BGM Collection and Eternal Edition?” and “I’d also like to hear the songs only found in the BGM Collections at the same quality as the Almanac.”

The Almanac series was the first ongoing release since the BGM Collections were reissued in 2005, and though they still had value, ten years have elapsed since then and over 20 years have gone by since the initial release. Thus it was decided to include them in the Almanac this time. Also, material was included from Eternal Edition Files 1-9 and the two volumes of Yamato the Best.

In this way The Almanac Addendum was composed so that Disc 1 contains unreleased BGM and the radio drama music, Disc 2 contains material only found in the Eternal Editions, such as the instrumental version of Prelude to Final Yamato, and Disc 3 consists of tracks that only appeared in the BGM Collections.

Furthermore, as bonus tracks, Disc 1 includes the Space Battleship Yamato Anime Piano Suite, Disc 2 includes The New Voyage Choral Suite, and Disc 3 includes five songs that were unreleased on Yamato the Best and Yamato the Best II, collected under the title Yamato the Best III. In the end it has a hodgepodge feeling, but I think you can understand it as a concept to fulfill the requests for “completeness” and “unified sound quality.”

As tape material was reviewed from the BGM Collections and Eternal Editions, monaural tracks from that time were recorded in stereo in the hope that the improved sound quality would give it a fresh feeling. Also, the EP Action Series Space Battleship Yamato is offered on CD for the first time.

I’ve been making Yamato CDs for more than 20 years since 1995, and at long last we’ve been able to bring together all the music of Showa-era Yamato. Throughout the Almanac series, including this album, I paid particular attention to different takes and arrangements in the performance. Between identical performances, monaural mixes, 4-channel mixes, stereo and mix-down differences and recording materials, rough mixes, and versions made with pseudo-processing, it leaves us with a lot to use.


Prelude to Final Yamato LP, May 1982

There is also material that no longer exists, which makes it impossible to find all the differences between versions of a single piece, so it’s not realistic to randomly increase the number of CDs. 4-channel mixes contain dialogue and sound effects in the center, and because the screen size of 70mm Cinescope is considerably oblong, the mixes were designed to reduce the difference in how these sounds would be heard on the left or right sides of the theater. But mixing it down to stereo music alone would have been contrary to the creator’s intention.

Accordingly, for identical pieces of music, I gave priority to the stereo mixes and editing for the CD medium, supplementing with other versions only on the basis of the presence or absence of major instruments, or where there were acoustic irregularities.

Also, there are simultaneously-recorded materials and temporary (rough) mixes that were used as sound sources for pseudo-processing and then discarded immediately afterward since it was assumed the individual elements wouldn’t be heard by themselves. In these cases, I gave priority to collecting the sound sources that preceded the final mix and the pseudo-processing.

(Translator’s note: one example of the pseudo-processing mentioned here was to split monaural tracks into simulated stereo for the MV [Music Video] series or for DVDs.)

Along with the 30 existing titles of the Almanac, the Eternal Editions, Yamato the Best and Yamato the Best II, I hope you will enjoy this album.


Track Listings

DISC 1:Yamato BGM Addendum

Action Series Space Battleship Yamato single
1. Space Battleship Yamato
2. Scarlet Scarf

All Night Nippon Space Battleship Yamato radio drama BGM
3. J-2 (Alternate Version)

Final Yamato 70mm version BGM
4. Overture (Alternate Version)
5. Birth (Alternate Version)

All Night Nippon Farewell to Yamato radio drama BGM
6. Great Love
7. White Comet
8. I Remember You

Yamato 2 BGM
9. M-13(1)(Alternate Version)

The New Voyage BGM
10. Wandering Iscandar (Alternate Version)

All Night Nippon Be Forever Yamato radio drama BGM
11. Hyperon Bomb
12. Threat of the Hyperon Bomb
13. Wounded Soldiers
14. The Love of Two People (guitar solo)
15. Sasha (guitar solo)
16. Sorrow of Kodai and Yuki
17. Double Galaxy
18. Tragic Love

Be Forever Yamato BGM
19. Giant Battleship Grodez (Alternate Version)
20. Showdown of Destiny ~ Lt. Alphon and Yuki

All Night Nippon Final Yamato radio drama BGM
21. Counterattack
22. Tragedy
23. Chase
24. Space Battleship Yamato theme ’83

BONUS TRACKS
Anime Piano Suite Space Battleship Yamato
25. Space Battleship Yamato ~ Overture/Birth
26. Trial, Departure, Decisive Battle
27. Scarlet Scarf ~ Reminiscence, Recollection, and Iscandar
28. I Remember You ~ Great Love, Starsha, White Comet
29. Great Love ~ Lonely Dessler, The Rival, Yamato



Further reading:

Yamato Sound Almanac: The First Half

Yamato Sound Almanac: The Second Half

DISC 2: Prelude to Final Yamato (Instrumental Version)

1. The story of water
2. Myth of Aquarius
3. Collision of the Galaxies
4. Great Imperial Planet of Dengil
5. Water Planet Aquarius and Queen of Aquarius
6. Yamato sortie
7. Space Battleship Yamato memorial

BONUS TRACKS
The New Voyage Anime Piano and Choral Suite

8. Space Battleship Yamato: The Universe Spreading Into Infinity/Space Battleship Yamato
9. Nemesis: The Rival/White Comet/Search Boat
10. Feelings: Home Planet/Iscandar/From Yamato With Love
11. New Voyage: Life/Departure/Yamato!! The new Voyage

DISC 3: Yamato BGM Collection Refresh

Yamato 2 BGM Collection
1. Battle of Yamato
2. Conflict
3. The Rival I
4. The Rival II
5. Reminiscence
6. Menace of Space
7. Various endings

The New Voyage BGM Collection
8. New Voyage (guitar combo)
9. Mysterious Yamato
10. Dessler’s Anguish
11. Wandering
12. Separation (guitar solo)
13. Sasha My Love (instrumental)

Be Forever Yamato BGM Collection
14. Dark Nebula Empire
15. New Universe ~ Double Galaxy
16. Mio’s Happiness

Yamato III BGM Collection
17. Shalbart Theme
18. Theme of Yamato’s New Crew

Final Yamato BGM Collection
19. Flooding of Dengil (Alternate Version)
20. Yuki’s Theme
21. Yuki’s Sadness
22. Dengil Boy Theme
23. Unfortunate Dengil Boy
24. Daisuke Shima’s Theme
25. Father and Child
26. Decision
27. Final Yamato

BONUS TRACKS:
Yamato the Best III (song collection)
28. Yamato!! The New Voyage (TV size)
29. Sasha My Love (TV size)
30. Pendant of Stars (Movie version
31. Separation (TV size)
32. Be Forever Yamato (TV size)

2 thoughts on “Yamato Sound Almanac Music Addendum

  1. It looks like this addendum still doesn’t have EVERY leftover track from the EE and BGMs. I just noticed that in your SA round up of Yamato III it lists several more tracks than the 2 listed above…I suppose I could try and see if there are more … unless you already have?

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