Best Yoko Kanno Soundtrack

[Soviet Heavy]

The queen of anime music herself, Yoko Kanno has had a massively successful career composing the soundtracks for several acclaimed series.

But you already knew that. So which soundtrack is your favorite?

My picks are Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop and GITS: Stand Alone Complex.

 

[Zak757]

The vocals are Scott Matthew but the music is all Yoko Kanno. One of the few songs that has brought a tear to my eye.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Love it, love it, love it.

Always cheers me up. I'd count the GitS OST, as well as the Cowboy Bebop OST, some of my favourite music ever.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I'd also add the soundtrack Grace/Omega from Jin-Roh The Wolf Brigade, but it only counts if you subscribe to the theory that the singer Gabriela Robin is a pseudonym for Yoko Kanno, who was married to the film's composer (Hajime Mizoguchi) at the time.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Cowboy Bebop. So many good tracks. Space Lion, Forever Broke, Road to the West, The Farewell Blues...

 

[Dwarfman]

Can't I like all of them?

Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Macross (Moon in particular) and my God G.I.T.S.

They are all amazing tracks. LOve 'em!

 

[Casual Shinji]

Yeah, Macross Pluss has some amazing tracks. I also love the haunting soundtrack for Magnetic Rose.

 

[Ipsen]

Cowboy Bebop is a lifelong favorite, and I listen to a good portion of it every couple of years. Overall, I have to say Wolf's Rain is my favorite; it was another example of Kanno providing a plethora of variety to the world the anime resided in, and it wrote her in my good book from then on. Coração Selvagem, Valse de la Lune, Face On, Shi no Mori, and just to bring you back...

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I love pretty much ALL of Yoko Kanno's soundtracks but yeah... gotta go with Bebop for it's Genre Defining Awesomeness... also Tank is an amazing jazzy tune.

But other favourites are Macross Plus, Turn A Gundam, Darker Than Black, Macross Frontier, Visions of Escaflowne...

My all time favorite track from Kanno though would have to be After In The Dark from Macross Plus (it was the ending theme), just so amazing...

 

[SckizoBoy]

Basically, anything she's done with Ilaria Graziano... Yoko wrote the music... sweet... Ilaria sang it... fucking hell, best combo ever... =.=

 

[FPLOON]

So, where all in agreement that anything involving Yoko Kanno is the best? ...Okay, then...

With that said, my personal favorites comes down to Cowboy Bebop, G.I.T.S, Macross Plus/Frontier (I just really like Macross), and Darker Than Black... (That's in the order of first listening/watching said anime series...)

My best friend's personal Yoko Kanno favories boil down to Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain (which he labels as the best from his list), and Turn A Gundam (which he considers that to have the best Gundam music overall... I have no comment on that... for reasons...)

But, overall... Yoko Kanno for best anime-related music... period...

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

There are plenty of other good anime composers... Kotaro Nakagawa (Code Geass, Gun X Sword), Kouji Nakamura (Eureka 7 AO), Hiroyuki Sawano (Gundam Unicorn, Attack on Titan) and the amazing team behind Samurai Champloo but Kanno is one of the best and her work is hard to ignore.

 

[deth2munkies]

GITS because it's more consistently the best. Cowboy Bebop has its ups and downs but is close, the rest are good but not spectacular.

 

[Talaris]

My choice isn't a full soundtrack, but Yoko Kanno did the opening and closer for RahXephon which are a joy to listen to.

 

[FireAza]

Seconding the love the first few people expressed for the "Stand Alone Complex" soundtracks. They're so damned good, even five years plus after I first heard them, they're still among my favorite albums. My favorite songs would probably be "Inner Universe", "Stammina Rose" and "Rise". And then there's the glory of "Tank!"...