Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt The Original Soundtrack – Review
| Album Title: | Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt The Original Soundtrack |
|---|---|
| Anime Title: | Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt |
| Artist: | Hoshina Anniversary, TeddyLoid, ☆Taku Takahashi, Jun Sasaki, Emyli, Booty Bronx, LISA, Mitsunori Ikeda, Debra Zeer, Kodai of KinKieS, Mariya Ise, Aimee B |
| Catalog Number: | VTCL-60236 |
| Release Type: | Soundtrack |
| Release Date: | December 29, 2010 |
| Purchase at: | CDJapan, Play-Asia, iTunes |
Tracklist
[spoiler]
| Track Title | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Theme for Panty & Stocking | Hoshina Anniversary | 0:33 |
| 2. Immoral Church | TeddyLoid, ☆Taku Takahashi, Kohji Ishii | 2:16 |
| 3. Fly Away | TeddyLoid | 4:23 |
| 4. Daten City | TeddyLoid, Kohji Ishii | 0:49 |
| 5. Beverly Hills Cock | ☆Taku Takahashi | 1:26 |
| 6. Pantscada | TeddyLoid, ☆Taku Takahashi | 1:59 |
| 7. Dancefloor Orgy | TeddyLoid | 3:33 |
| 8. D City Rock feat. Debra Zeer | TeddyLoid, Debra Zeer | 4:32 |
| 9. Juice | Jun Sasaki, Arisa Ogasawara | 1:04 |
| 10. EPTM feat. Kodai of KinKieS (Booty Bronx Remix) |
Hoshina Anniversary, Kodai of KinKieS | 4:16 |
| 11. Cherryboy Riot | TeddyLoid | 4:34 |
| 12. Technodildo | Hoshina Anniversary | 4:31 |
| 13. CHOCOLAT feat. Mariya Ise | Emyli, ☆Taku Takahashi, Mariya Ise, Arisa Ogasawara |
4:07 |
| 14. Theme for Scanty & Knee Socks | TeddyLoid | 4:13 |
| 15. Schranz Chase | Booty Bronx | 5:24 |
| 16. Tenga Step | ☆Taku Takahashi | 2:53 |
| 17. See-Through | Hoshina Anniversary | 4:47 |
| 18. Corset Theme | TeddyLoid | 4:34 |
| 19. Champion feat. Emyli | Emyli, ☆Taku Takahashi | 4:51 |
| 20. Fallen Angel feat. Aimee B | LiSA, Mitsunori Ikeda, Aimee B | 15:56 |
[/spoiler]
Review: After listening to Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt’s soundtrack, I’m rendered absolutely lost since it wanders into unfamiliar musical territory. In looking at my past experiences exploring music out of step with my normal repertoire, I can say that it may take awhile as it did with the funky groove in One Outs’s soundtrack which I grew to love or it can quickly reel me in if it’s as catchy as the oddball Katamari Damacy soundtrack. These soundtracks represented novel listening experiences and I took to them fairly quickly.
So here I am, listening to Panty & Stocking’s soundtrack, and I’m just not feeling it. It contains a random scattershot of music which tilts primarily toward club dance mixes with its pulsating rhythms and electronica, a few tracks with sound effects derived from a cheap porn flick, and some R&B which make up the shortlist of my favorite tracks. This amalgam makes for a unique listen, but unique doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good, especially when some of the tracks on their own feel like a shadow of what they were when you look at how they’re used alongside the art and animation.
The biggest example of a song that possesses a healthy dose of flash and dazzle in the anime, but flails around on a standalone basis is none other than “Fly Away,” which enthralled viewers in the way it went so well with the poledancing transformation sequence. Out of context, the song feels limp and wanting. The screaming electronica, reminiscent of the music you’d find in Air Gear or Jet Set Radio, doesn’t feel full, as if an instrumental channel is missing entirely. I’m also not sure why they muffled the pulsating rhythm towards the end, but it only compounds the lack of fullness. On the whole, its presentation lacks the pizazz the scene possessed and the piece is drawn out for far too long. “Fly Away” only needed to be two minutes of rhythmic fullness rather than four minutes of limpid delivery.
Fly Away
[audio:03 panty.mp3]
And then there are tracks that are just flat-out in bad taste, which limits the ability for anyone to play this CD straight through in the presence of polite company unless they’ve a witty rejoinder for why they’re even listening to something so raunchy. “Juice” takes it to the most extreme. In a nutshell, it consists of a little over a minute of someone making copulating noises backed by skanky porno music. To say that it’s not my thing is a huge understatement. If I wanted to listen to that, I could just watch porn and so, I’m not sure what the point of that track is. Maybe people get off to that stuff. It’s none of my business; I’ll just avoid it entirely. “Pantscada” isn’t quite as bad as “Juice” since the beginning does have a nice meld of rhythm and energy, but once again, the moans brought about by the mixing in the second half of the track has me shaking my head and reaching for the “next” button.
[spoiler show=”NOT SAFE FOR WORK”]
Juice
[audio:09 panty.mp3][/spoiler]
The remainder of the album mostly consists of electronica of varying quality. I’m totally fine with “Beverly Hills Cock” since its screaming tones do carry a bearable sort of energy and “Dancefloor Orgy” relies on some heavy mixing to hit its groove that borders upon an industrial sound. The electronica slowly degrades as the album progresses, starting with “EPTM feat. Kodai” which starts out with gusto, but between the gabber and the overuse of autotune, it’s difficult to appreciate the throbbing beat that serves as the backing. By the time “Technodildo,” with its droning distortions and chiptune-y flavor, and “Schranz Chase” roll around, the electronica becomes more like a jackhammer placed between both my temples. Needless to say, the dull thudding doesn’t result in pleasant listens at all.
Dancefloor Orgy
[audio:07 panty.mp3]Technodildo
[audio:12 panty.mp3]
Amidst all that, there are a few diamonds in the rough and a few actual diamonds. I do find myself engaged by “D City Rock’s” self-centered lyrics which somehow remind me of a funkier “Material Girl” with a more seductive bent to it. “CHOCOLAT” is by far the best track on the album though. The combination of guitars and electronica meld into a trance-y, dreamy tone to back Mariya Ise’s soothing vocals which pack in a sense of charm through its heartfelt, yet ethereal delivery. “CHOCOLAT’s” message resonates well with me even through I haven’t seen the segment where this song is played because its loving sentiments carry an aura of sincerity and innocence which are capable of transcending the anime to reach the listener. Finally, the album closes out with the excellent “Fallen Angel” sung by Aimee B. The song’s touch of regret and forlorn tones win me over with its expression of the isolation the two titular angels must feel as they’re cast down. Aimee B’s delivery is poignant, filled with loneliness and a heartache that yearns for heaven’s embrace, working perfectly as Panty & Stocking’s ED and which, together with “CHOCOLAT,” stick out as the soundtrack’s most notable songs.
CHOCOLAT feat. Mariya Ise
[audio:13 panty.mp3]Fallen Angel feat. Aimee B
[audio:20 panty.mp3]
To many, this is the one anime soundtrack that they had been waiting for all year. Not for me though. Between my ambivalence for throbbing, pulsating electronica, my distaste for overly-distorted, repetitive synth, porno music, and a predisposition against club music, Panty & Stocking’s soundtrack was facing an uphill battle. Beyond the few tracks that impressed, I’ll cheerfully admit that this album isn’t boring; it’s just not my thing. And with that, I’ll pull out some Valkyria Chronicles II to wipe my mind of this experience, and simply move on.
Rating: Decent
I’ll have to agree that the electronica sucks after EPTM (my favorite track :3)
by the way, how does LiSA contribute to Fallen Angel?
What is… that… white stuff… all… over them? O_O
In the end this just feels like the over-the-top soundtrack to an over-the-top series. They went for a shock-and-awe campaign on all fronts and it seems they spread their creativity too thin. The show was all poop jokes and profanity sprinkled with occasional brilliance, and it looks like the OST is the same way. But seriously, “Technodildo”? “Beverly Hills Cock”? Ugh…
I agree with you, it isn’t a good soundtrack, but I never thought it’d be.
It’s always like this with anything by Gainax: Some random people with nothing better to do start saying their new anime is the next best thing since sliced bread, while highlighting one unique aspect of their new anime(in this case the unusual techno soundtrack, in Eva the christian motifs, in FLCL the strangeness), everybody buys it and starts repeating it.
In the end the people who were hyping it ignore reason and keep “loving” it, while the ones who didn’t buy into the hype wonder why they’re doing this. I really don’t understand it, most stuff Gainax puts out is either mediocre or good, nothing excellent. Even PSG has its moments but is boring for the most part.
I think it’s a little up and down, but some of the rock/dance fusion and house rhythms were interesting. TeddyLoid’s tracks were what I felt to be the most well made, everything else was kinda bad. D City Rock was by far my favorite track, a great synthpop sound with great riffs. Loved the lyrics, too. I also thought Champion had a great feel to it, a little overmixed but the beat was well structured. The album definitely has some major flaws, and WAY too much fluff.
(right after I finished my review I thought “hey I wonder if zzero would let me review the OST, what’s his email again? Lets che- oh nvm)
Zounds! Those 1970s p0rn guitars…
Juice is a cruddy song. It doesn’t even suit the feel of the album, which delivers mostly fast dance hits. I’m glad the song used in the trailer (Pantscada) is in the album too though.
All the OST songs have ridiculous names though. I guess they can say it’s all for the sake of applying to the show itself..
Uhh, that was interesting. I’ll leave take a rain-check… perhaps I’ll appreciate the album in 5 years.
@Sebz
Yeah… the electronica that comes after does get a bit tiring to listen to. But to answer your question, Lisa wrote the lyrics to D City Rock and Fallen Angel. Not bad given that those two benefited well from strong lyrics!
@Aftershok
Given that this *is* Panty and Stocking we’re talking about, it is probably what you think it is. (Naaah, they’re probably just showering.)
I’m usually not one to care what the track titles are since it’s really the music that’s important. But yeah, if I were a casual consumer and read the tracklist, I’d be feeling a bit squeamish as well. No idea how “Beverly Hills Cock” came by its name, but at least “Technodildo” has vocals where they just repeat the track title over and over.
@Dez691
I think that’s a bit of a harsher take than I’d spin it. Having an electronica album doesn’t bug me in the slightest, but when the quality of the musical pieces feel as half-assed as they do here, then yeah, I’m all for pulling up the red flags. There’s really 4 tracks that I enjoyed out of this album. The others are either ok-I-can-deal-with-this or downright boring with the dull, repetitive thudding, not to mention the porno tracks. God those porno tracks… never a good sign when one of those pop up in an OST. Ever.
@kevo
Thanks to you, I’ve come to a good idea as to what good electronica sounds like and this sure isn’t it. Though I didn’t highlight “Champion,” the way it sounds… inspiring(?) actually works pretty well as a penultimate track. Not with you totally on TeddyLoid’s stuff though since I didn’t think “Scanty & Kneesock’s Theme” were all that brilliant. That one is a good example of an electronica piece that just didn’t feel all there. I dunno.
You still can write one, but only if your opinion differs significantly from mine!
@mrwan
Quite… those turned me off pretty quick.
@Valence
I think “vile” pretty much describes the feeling I got from “Juice.”
And yeah, the naming mechanism does tie it to the show somewhat.
@Rhythmroo
Somehow, I don’t think that even if I had 100 years, I’d be able to enjoy this soundtrack as in me playing it at least once a month. Or a year for that matter. Life is too short and there’s just better music elsewhere. The only positive is that this album felt novel, but I think that once you’ve done about four listens, you’re kinda done.
I think this is a classic case of an anime that has pretty good music but a bad OST. There are a few tracks that are pretty enjoyable but the rest of junk. I can pick out 8 tracks that deserve to be on an album. That’s what, a third of the OST?
@kevo
I wonder what would happen if
1. You had a competent DJ
2. The DJ mixed some wicked sick transitions between each of these tracks
3. Have some of the more erggghhh tracks cut their duration by half.
and released all that as an album? Somehow, I think it might actually be doable and the results might actually fly with me.
The Pansuto OST is a classic example of one where the songs worked PERFECTLY in the anime. Everything was where it was, and everything actually made sense. Unfortunately it’s not a great stand alone album. After a while, a lot of tracks on this album just begin to feel, well, boring. It’s a shame really, as a lot of songs really caught my attention when they started playing, but I soon started to get impatient while waiting for the song to finish.
I actually agree with Mystlord where he says that the songs work perfectly in the anime, but as a standalone OST it’s not nearly as good. I thought all the songs complemented the show very well, but the only three songs from the OST that I found myself listening to in my spare time was the ED theme, Fly Away, and Chocolat. Gainax did a good job with the music for the anime itself, which I do appreciate for what it’s worth.
@Mystlord
Are you telling me someone should have warned me that this was going to be the FMA:B version of an electronica soundtrack? Damn! I feel you though since as the soundtrack kept going on and on, I began to grow even wearier waiting for it to finish and the next one to start.
@Tsuki
Somehow, it’s the vocal tracks that aren’t heavily mixed that are the best. Especially with the ED’s almost soulful vibe. That’s not something you hear a lot of in anisong, and it provided for a nice change of pace.
I didn’t watch the series, but I heard a lot of good things about Panty Stocking OST. So I’m a bit surprised when I first saw the “decent” rating. However, after listening to the samples, I agree. Maybe this style just isn’t my thing.
@Yi
Yeah, this was one soundtrack where I was afraid the hype would get to me, but I think I managed to slide by with a critical, but fair assessment of the soundtrack. So whether my review is the lone dissenting opinion or not, hopefully it’ll let the people who agree with my thoughts comfort that they’re not the only ones who didn’t like the album wholeheartedly.
Yes, points for trying something different. Just wished it worked better than it did.
I actually ordered the single, i dont know why but i like it =)
love the dance rhythm!
*fly away ! ^^ XD
@Fabrice
Well, hopefully you get that chance to enjoy what the album has to offer!
As an ex-clubber, (age saps your night vitality…) I was actually intrigued by the varieties of dance music on parade. Electro-house, Dirty-house, dubstep, techno, electro-pop and even hints of turtabalism, etc.
However, only a few tracks were worth listening. Too many suffered from repetitive beats or uninspired vocals. They might work on the dancefloor with a booming subwoofer, but doesn’t hold up to analytical listening. Sorta like Trance music. 😛
I’m not turned off by the song titles (Hardcore and assorted Metal sub-genres anyone?) or moaning (Basement Jaxx anyone?), but I am pissed by the single bleep during D City Rock. I mean, if you wanna offend, go the whole nine yards. Sheesh…
@MrMayat
I’d like to think myself an open-minded person when exploring other musical genres, but this one just didn’t click with me. I guess I’m quite pleased to know that even those who are well-acquainted with such genres aren’t quite so hot on it either, and that my music sense tingling isn’t a false alarm. Like you said, the repetitiveness just got a bit overbearing, especially when I hit the second half which somehow made me impatient to get to the next track once it looped because there wasn’t much substance left.
I do think you raise a good point. Why have tracks like “Juice” and then proceed to bleep out D City Rock? Go all the way or don’t go!
I’m a big fan of Panty & Stocking, and I was very impressed by how well the music was integrated into the series. However, I’m not terribly surprised that the short blasts of music didn’t translate into a great complete song in every case. I’m still interested in getting the soundtrack so I can hear the music apart from the animation, even if it’s not something I’ll listen to every day.
On a side note, the clip of “Fly Away” above sounds very full to me (with a lot of bass extension) played through the speakers I use to mix music. I don’t really mix club music, but I believe it often has a lot of low end that might not get reproduced well on more consumer-oriented sound systems.
@angle
As the comments above attest, most people have no issues with the way the music was implemented in the anime. It’s just that when listening to it standalone, most of the commenters didn’t take much of a liking to it. That hardly represents the general opinion though as many other writers have touted P&S as their soundtrack of the year. So my suggestion is for you to give the OST a listen and see how you think of it. Use the samples as a guideline since it obviously works for you!
The only complaint I have is that they left out some rather cool tracks that were in the anime, and put in some of the shittier ones.
Really, I don’t know what the hell they were thinking when they made the track list.
I’m sure “Juice” is what you’d call an “Interlude”. It’s something of a break at the halfway point of the album.
I love this soundtrack, because I don’t listen much to hard techno and house that much, even outside of anime music. I’m not particularly against the review, but I always thought how the music in this OST is cleverly produced, it reflects the crossover nature of the anime pretty much. And I like how it borrow styles from actual music producers like Schranz Chase’s guitar riff to Daft Punk’s Aerodynamic, or Scanty and Kneesock’s theme to Lady GaGa.
I guess if your a techno music buff then this album’s not really up there, but as an anime soundtrack it works very well with the show.
@roy
Yup, my opinion here is borderline minority and as BGM, it works well with the anime by all accounts. As numerous people have stated, it only seems that once taken outside the context, the quality of the music falls rather steeply.
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The series looks cool, might check it out sometime once it releases in dub mode.
As for this soundtrack. Well….. Let’s just say it wouldn’t unfitting for it to be seen on the top 40 hit list where I live.
@some random guy
A lot of people do like it for the depths it plumbs in vile humor. I’m not too big on that sort of thing though, but it might work for you. Same goes towards the music though I’ve kind of abandoned the top40 as any sort of gauge on how much I’d enjoy the piece. My tastes do flow a tad differently from most other people’s.
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