Presented here is the full répertoire of The Monster Project, all of which was recorded for our full-length album. Buy It Now!
Samples from that album are available here.
Kaiju Daisenso: Godzilla Music of Akira Ifukube
Much of the weight of a Godzilla film is carried by the music, and no one is more inextricably tied to that weight than Akira Ifukube (1914 - 2006). From the very first film through today, if Ifukube wasn't scoring the film himself, his themes were nonetheless indispensible for any Godzilla soundtrack. This suite, named for Godzilla's sixth movie, Kaiju Daisenso (怪獣大戦争, translated "Giant Monster Battle"), is comprised exclusively of Ifukube originals from the Showa era of Godzilla films (1954-1975):
Godzilla Approaches • Godzilla Comes Ashore • Main Title • Horror in the Water Tank • Godzilla to Tokyo Bay • Godzilla vs. Mothra • King Kong vs. Godzilla • Two Monsters Appear in Yokohama • Namikawa on Planet X • The Monsters of Earth Gather • Birth of Ghidorah • Battle on Mt. Fuji • Dr. Mafune's Past • Terror of Mechagodzilla • Ending
Swan Lake (Act II Scene X)
Best known cinematically as the only musical piece within Bela Lugosi's original Dracula, Tchaikovsky's haunting theme was also used for the opening score of the Boris Karloff classic, The Mummy. While Dracula and the Mummy never formally clashed on film, we like to think they might come to blows over this little piece of Tchaikovsky.
The Slasher Suite
Slasher films are the bastard children of the classic movie monsters … and the best gauge of the popularity of a slasher is quite simply the number of sequels! As such, here is a medley of soundtrack selections from the undisputed champs: hockey-masked Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th); gloved sadist Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street); and the father of slashers, Michael Myers (Halloween). The Slasher Suite butchers the themes of the original composers (respectively Harry Manfredini, Charles Bernstein and John Carpenter) and sews them back together into one seamless grotesquerie.
Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster
It's been called the weirdest Japanese movie of the 70's. The film features psychedelic disco clubs, cartoon vignettes, fish-head acid trips, smokestack bong hits, an impromptu giant monster abortion and a flying Godzilla. Madness! The music is just as surreal. With slide whistles, sambas and heavy metal poundings, the Monster Project brings several selections of Riichiro Manabe's atmospheric score to life.
Opening • Investigation at the Bottom of the Sea • Godzilla and the Polluted Ocean • Multiplying • Fragments • Sulfuric Acid Mist / Smokestacks and Hedorah • Ending
Land of the Lost
Those who remember watching the 1970's children's show Land of the Lost usually recall it with a certain sense of awe. Sid & Marty Krofft's world of stop-motion dinosaurs, lizard-like Sleestak and mysterious Pylons kept young kids frightened and entranced. The Monster Project utilizes psychedlic sounds, banjo and a little free jazz to weave together a medley of selections from the show's trippy soundtrack. Plus, who could forget the happenin' closing theme?