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Let me see if I can even explain this one. Supervillains is an aural tribute to the pantheon of megalomaniacal geniuses from ’80s pop culture, back before fictional bad guys had to have a more logistically manageable agenda than ruling the world/universe. The equally evil remix geniuses known as Suckadelic basically combine sound clips, quotes, the sound effects from old video games, hip-hop style musical backing and the occasional snippet of soundtrack music to create a meeting of the minds that no superhero in his right mind would want to face - or at least hear from all at once.

The villains we’re talking about here are sound clips from classic Galactica’s Baltar and his Cylon minions, Gargamel, Skeletor, Ming the Merciless, and even Mezmeron, the overlord of the animated Pac-Man’s ghost monsters. And those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Music from all of those shows seep into the proceedings, along with sound clips from Atari 2600 games like Missile Command, Yars’ Revenge, and Space Invaders. In short, the stuff that world and/or universal domination in the ’70s and ’80s was made of. - bad guys you love to hate.

But will you love to hate Supervillains? I’ve found it best to try to absorb this occasionally hilarious sound-montage-over-breakbeats in small doses. I’d probably have to be on something to take the whole CD in one sitting. Many of the clips are hysterically funny out of context, mashed up against each other and pureéd into a big foamy mess of nostalgia. After just a few tracks, though, it becomes readily apparent that most of these songs are drawing from the same material, and only the emphasis is changing.

But in small doses? Supervillains is diabolically funny stuff.

1. Intro (2:04)
2. Supervillain Fanfare (3:35)
3. Traitors In The Midst (1:21)
4. March Of The Suckbots (3:45)
5. Powergrabs (3:33)
6. Eternia’s Greatest (5:12)
7. Cobra Stops The World (5:02)
8. Mean Ol’ Wizard (4:03)
9. Ball Of Evil (4:41)
10. Gremlin Dust (5:35)
11. Behold, Galvatron! (4:15)
12. Plots And Schemes (2:45)
13. The Malice Of Mezmeron (3:11)
14. Master Of The World (2:50)
15. Villain Invader Break (1:22)
16. Hail Ming! (Ruler Of The Universe) (6:01)
17. Trial By Stone (3:33)
18. Galactic Super Battle (3:59)
19. The Price (6:05)
20. Bonus Track: The Nightmare (2:36)

Released by: Suckadelic Records
Release date: 2004
Total running time: 75:28

While just about every Star Wars fan knows about Meco and his classic Music Inspired by Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk album, most are unaware that he produced this holiday-themed Star Wars album after writing directly to George Lucas for permission to do so. Apparently, Lucas did not feel disillusioned enough following The Star Wars Holiday Special and gave the project the go ahead.

What resulted is exactly what you’d expect; a bunch of super-sugary sweet Christams-y songs that refer to elements of the Star Wars universe. For the most part, it’s the droids that get the attention, as Anthony Daniels as C-2PO and the sounds of R2-D2 introduce all the songs and Daniels sings (or speaks) a few himself.

The only original song that really stands out and deserves any kind of long-term re-play is “What Can You Get A Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)?”, which fulfills all the promise that preposterous title indicates. The rest are worth a chuckle or two, but mostly produce groans from all but the youngest Star Wars fans. The non-original tracks (”Sleigh Ride” and “A Christmas Sighting”) work better, as they are solid novelty versions of classic well-worn material.

I should make note of this album’s other claim to fame: the fact that it features the first recorded material by Jon Bon Jovi. Credited under his birth name, John Bongiovi, he sings lead on “R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry
Christmas” four years before Bon Jovi’s debut album. He’s virtually unrecognizable, not only because he was younger, but his voice is slightly altered (as all the voices are - to sound like elves, I guess). Still, if you’re a fan, you should get ahold of this little piece of Bon Jovi history.

Ultimately, Christmas In The Stars proves to be less than it could have been. It is neither a timeless work (like Meco’s Galactic Funk) nor a monumental, so-bad-it’s-fantastic disaster like the Holiday Special. It’s a wacky novelty album that kids will love and adults can chuckle over. Star Wars fans will want it for completeness, but playing it at Christmastime is a tradition more likely to be honored in the breach than in the observance.

1. Christmas In The Stars (3:17)
2. Bells, Bells, Bells (3:15)
3. The Odds Against Christmas (3:04)
4. What Can You Get A Wookiee For Christmas (When He Already Owns A Comb)? (3:24)
5. R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas (3:16)
6. Sleigh Ride (3:36)
7. Merry, Merry Christmas (2:09)
8. A Christmas Sighting (’Twas The Night Before…) (3:43)
9. The Meaning Of Christmas (8:08)

Released by: RSO
Release date: 1980
Total running time: 33:52

The second volume of music from Steven Spielberg’s short-lived TV anthology series Amazing Stories presents the complete scores from another dozen episodes, boasting the most diverse musical talent gathered on any of Intrada’s three volumes of music from the show.

After one of John Williams’ alternate takes on the show’s main theme, the late Jerry Goldsmith’s single contribution to the show - at the behest of director (and Gremlins collaborator) Joe Dante - kicks things off. Boo! starred Robert Picardo in one of his most obnoxious roles (and that’s saying something), and it seems like whenever I happen to catch a rerun of Amazing Stories, this is the episode I’m most likely to see for some reason. Goldsmith’s music here isn’t quite up to Gremlins standards, though - it’s very much a novelty piece, and - at least in this listener (and Goldsmith fan)’s opinion - not one of his better ones.

Billy Goldenberg’s score for What If…? is a bit more serious, but lovely, pleasant stuff - though it’s associated with an episode that I always felt was more heartbreaking than anything else. Dorothy And Ben, an episode I don’t recall ever having seen, certainly sounds heartbreaking; Georges Delerue was one of Amazing Stories’ most prolific composers and certainly seemed to be the go-to guy for those installments that wore their hearts on their sleeves. The Main Attraction embraces its setting by combining marching band music with occasional moments of tension and synthesizer musical effects-as-sound effects. David Newman (Galaxy Quest, Serenity) contributes the music for Such Interesting Neighbors (which stands next only to Boo! as the episode of which I’m most likely to see a rerun), and as one his earlier works it succumbs to a film scoring cliche or two, but he uses his orchestra well and comes up with what I’d describe as a fond homage to the John Williams style.

Thanksgiving, scored by Bruce Broughton (another musical frequent flyer on this series), goes down as my favorite episode of Amazing Stories, simply because it’s the one installment that reminded me, more than any other episode, of the great anthologies that started it all - The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits - complete with a macabre but poetically just sting in its tail. It’s probably my favorite suite on this anthology as well, with Broughton pouring on bravado (for David Carradine’s belligerently macho character) and wonder in just the right places.

David Shire is back for Hell Toupee on the second CD, a big, brassy homage to the way movies used to be scored, while Johnny Mandel (M*A*S*H, Being There) gives us almost cartoon-esque music for One For The Road. Arthur B. Rubenstein (Blue Thunder, WarGames) tackles the all-star Remote Control Man, an episode - predating the John Ritter movie Stay Tuned - about a guy whose new remote has some magical properties, and in this case it seems to bring characters to life who hail almost exclusively from the Universal Studios/NBC stable circa 1985/86. Rubenstein thus gets to hint at a number of theme tunes from that era, after an opening act of decent mysterioso music.

John Addison is up next with The Greibble, which darts madly between mystery and comedy every time the titular critter makes an appearance. Leonard Rosenman (Star Trek IV) cranks up the tension with the WWII-themed No Day At The Beach, which combines typical war movie action sequences with more somber passages. Another member of the Newman family gets in on the Amazing Stories action, with Thomas Newman lending a humorous, Christmas-carol-inspired score to Santa ‘85.

Again, the packaging and liner notes detailing each episode and its music are almost worth the price of admission alone. Though there are plenty of familiar faces here, this second 2-CD set is also packed with composers who only did a single score for Amazing Stories, making it a completely different experience from the first volume, but still very worthwhile.

Disc one
1. Amazing Stories Main Title, Alternate #1 (1:03)

   Boo! - music by Jerry Goldsmith

2. The House / Sheena (0:36)
3. Those People / Practice / Strange Feelings (2:57)
4. Sharp Teeth / Let’s Scare ‘Em (1:50)
5. What Fun / It’s OK / Jungle Zombie (1:57)
6. Zombie Attack / Each Other (1:21)
7. The Bike (0:26)
8. The Jewelry (1:12)
9. Catch Us / No Fall (1:35)

   What If…? - music by Billy Goldenberg

10. Bubbles / Nails / Kitchen Odyssey (4:34)
11. Obnoxious (1:47)
12. Pregnant Lady (0:57)
13. Crossing Guard / Steve / Born (5:04)

    Dorothy And Ben - music by Georges Delerue

14. Twenty Three Thousand Dollars (0:47)
15. Wrinkles (0:38)
16. Be Quiet / Ben Leaves (2:45)
17. Face Changes (0:59)
18. Dorothy (4:49)

    The Main Attraction - music by Craig Safan

19. Brad’s March / Brad’s Parking Space (1:58)
20. Shirley (1:42)
21. Meteor / Brad’s Fear / Attracting / Attractions (4:10)
22. Brad Runs / Locker Room / Brad’s Honor (2:07)
23. Magnetic Love (2:01)

    Such Interesting Neighbors - music by David Newman

24. Al Driving Home (1:30)
25. Water Vibrates (0:51)
26. Through The Window / Off To Meet The Neighbors / Glad To Know You / Rose Eater (5:20)
27. May Have Something (0:41)
28. Microwave And Meatloaf / Off Kilter (2:54)
29. Heat Seeker On Al (0:43)
30. Emotional (2:31)
31. Wide-Eyed Reaction (2:23)

    Thanksgiving - music by Bruce Broughton

32. Momma’s Breath / The Package (2:39)
33. Dora’s Message (2:12)
34. Dora’s Gifts / Calvin Returns (2:33)
35. Chicken Preferred / Turkey (4:42)

Disc Two
1. Amazing Stories Bumper #2 (0:04)

   Hell Toupee - music by David Shire

2. I’m Harry Valentine (0:30)
3. Can’t Remember / …As A Woman (2:47)
4. Hell Toupee (0:17)
5. Scratched Head / The Escape (2:00)
6. Toupee Shop / Change Your Life (1:49)
7. What Is It? / The Chase (5:10)
8. Finale (0:53)

   One For The Road - music by Johnny Mandel

9. Brainstorm (0:42)
10. Free Drinks All Around (0:30)
11. The Cupboard Was Bare / Pass The Oil (1:58)
12. To Your Health (2:06)
13. The Banquet (1:36)
14. The Bridge (1:02)
15. Reincarnation (0:30)

    Remote Control Man - music by Arthur B. Rubenstein

16. Walter (1:47)
17. From The Forties (0:34)
18. Right Away (0:51)
19. Super Over Source (0:50)
20. Neon Signs And Fog (1:15)
21. Something Just For You / Queen And Mrs. Cleaver (4:00)
22. Simmons (0:45)
23. Enjoying Yourself? (0:24)
24. No Mice (0:35)
25. To Bed (0:58)
26. Pop Off (0:28)

    The Greibble - music by John Addison

27. Off To Work / Tidying Up (1:40)
28. Daily Soap (1:00)
29. First Encounter / Is It Dangerous? (3:44)
30. Lamp Eater (1:08)
31. Nummy, Nummy (1:36)
32. Hardware Dump (2:10)
33. Gun Threat (0:58)
34. Friends (1:10)
35. Revelation (1:54)

    No Day At The Beach - music by Leonard Rosenman

36. No Day At The Beach / Picking Up Cards / Turkey In The Face (2:06)
37. Hey Casey / Get Some Sleep (1:32)
38. Battle Stations (0:25)
39. Gun Fire (0:22)
40. Charging Pill Box (1:54)
41. Dead Arnold (0:16)
42. He Never Got Off The Boat (4:11)

    Santa ‘85 - music by Thomas Newman

43. From The Sky Above The House / From The House To The Within / From The Chimney And In Through The Window (5:42)
44. Caught By The Law (1:42)
45. The Reindeer / No Fingerprints / From The Jail To The Chase To Left Off (5:18)
46. The Ray Gun (0:50)
47. By Candlelight (0:28)
48. Amazing Stories End Credits (0:29)
49. Amblin Logo - Christmas Version (0:15)

Released by: Intrada
Release date: 2006
Disc one total running time: 78:03
Disc two total running time: 76:28

Is there anything that songstress Yoko Kanno can’t do? Starting out as a video game composer in her 20+ year career, she quickly moved on to other avenues such as anime series and films. Her ability to combine styles and influences such as jazz, classical, electronic, and rock music give her a unique and delightful sound.

Be Human, which serves as the 4th (!!!) soundtrack album for the anime series Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, contains more of Kanno’s signature sound. This album, however, focuses on the robots of the series, called Tachikomas, and carries this underlying theme throughout the whole album. For example, the leadoff song, the titular “Be Human”, is a dreamy pop song complete with mechanical whirring and beeping. “Trip City” shows off Kanno’s rocker side, with lyrics from longtime Kanno collaborator Tim Jensen. “Cream” combines a drum-and-bass rhythm with violin strings, while Japanese hip hop lyrics are sung over that. “What Can I Say?” instantly brings to mind the slow, moving songs from the old musicals of yore. But those are the good parts.

The rest of the album, quite frankly, feels like it consists of filler. Although the music itself is very good (and it’s hard not to like an album that jumps from the techno of “Patch Me” to the whimsical “Tachikoma No Iede (Runaway Tachikoma)”, which includes a flute solo), it often feels incomplete; like fragments or snippets of actual songs instead of a full soundtrack. And that’s what Be Human ultimately is, a collection of B-sides punctuated by an actual song or two.

Be Human, then, should be recommended to fans of the show or fans of Yoko Kanno (who, in all honesty, are probably to be the one and the same). Otherwise, people who are just starting to listen to Yoko Kanno’s works should probably get a Seatbelts album to find out why Kanno’s music is much lauded in the anime world.

1. Be Human (4:05)
2. Trip City (3:55)
3. Patch Me (1:33)
4. Tachikoma No Iede (Runaway Tachikoma)
(1:55)
5. Osanpo Tachikoma (Tachikoma Out For A Walk)
(2:03)
6. Bang Bang Banquet (2:00)
7. Fax Me (1:26)
8. Rocky Wa Doko? (Where’s Rocky?)
(4:25)
9. Spotter (5:56)
10. Let’s Oil (0:45)
11. Cream (3:54)
12. Spider Bites (0:44)
13. Good By My Master (2:09)
14. Piece By Ten (2:50)
15. What Can I Say? (1:11)
16. Hi! (0:05)
17. I’m Not Straight (1:23)
18. AI Sentai Tachikomans (AI Combat Team Tachikomans)
(1:05)
19. Pro Bowler Tachikoma (Professional Bowler Tachikoma)
(0:38)
20. Don’t Sponge Me (0:36)
21. Po’d Pod (1:02)
22. Ciao! (0:07)

Released by: Bandai Entertainment
Release date: 2003
Total running time: 43:47

Better known for covering Cole Porter tunes and Broadway standards, John Barrowman takes his first swipe at mainstream pop - largely from the ’70s and ’80s - and reaches for the same earnestness and grandeur with that material. He manages to hit a few right out of the park, too - his covers of Billy Joel’s “She’s Always A Woman” and Elton John’s “Your Song” are winners. I’m not saying they’re replacing the originals in my musical affections, but they’re top-flight as reinterpretations go. There are even a few songs whose original records I don’t care for, but do enjoy here - Air Supply’s “All Out Of Love” and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, “Feeling Good”, a musical number that takes on an almost sinister air with Barrowman’s performance. I don’t know if that was actually the intention, but something about the arrangement and his vocal take on the song screams “seedy & dangerous” to me, which isn’t something that I get from the lyrics alone. (I’ll fess up here that I’m not a great consumer of musical theater, so I may be missing something in that context that has though in the know saying “Duh!” to me at this point.)

A few of these songs don’t quite soar that far, though - while they’re competent enough performances, the covers of the Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”, Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” just don’t do much for me. Nice enough to listen to, but I didn’t go back and listen to them again immediately like I did “Feeling Good” and some of the others. The cover of Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now” knocks the song down a few keys to fit Barrowman’s range (which certainly doesn’t seem to be lacking anywhere else on the album), and while it’s pleasant enough, a big part of the original song was its production; it’s an interesting reading, but Peter Cetera need not quake in his boots.

The album seems to peter out a little bit toward the end - Eric Carman’s “All By Myself” is a song I’ve always considered to be a flat attempt at a faux-epic power ballad, and it’s just not a favorite of mine, to put it charitably (I will fess up to also having a blind spot for break-up songs). Even Barrowman, making his best attempt, can’t elevate that material for me, and I wind up skipping that track quite a bit (or at least hitting stop early, since it’s the last thing on the album) and thinking dude, sing something else - anything else. Your mileage may vary, however - I admit upfront that I’ve not a fan of that number in general.

Overall, I find Another Side very enjoyable. Golden Throats, it ain’t - Barrowman has a renowned career in musical theater, whenever he’s not traveling in the TARDIS or taming treacherous terrors with Torchwood - but it is a departure for Barrowman’s standard-centric recording career. Still, the guy can flat-out sing, and I could probably tick off about a dozen more songs I’d like to hear him tackle.

1. All Out Of Love (3:55)
2. You’re So Vain (3:55)
3. She’s Always A Woman (3:23)
4. Time After Time (3:59)
5. Weekend In New England (3:47)
6. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (2:33)
7. If You Leave Me Now (3:43)
8. Your Song (3:19)
9. Please Remember Me (4:22)
10. Heaven (4:04)
11. Being Alive (3:13)
12. Feeling Good (3:59)
13. All By Myself (4:25)

Released by: Sony / BMG
Release date: 2007
Total running time: 48:37