Randomly thought about Macross music today and found that the Labyrinth Of Time songs have been out on iTunes for a while. Bought it. Gave it a listen. And... found I really liked it!
I didn't particularly like Gorgeous from a while back, and Good Job! is fun (and I wish I could find a high quality version of its animated music video...) but a little repetitive and superficial. And Walküre... sure I like a bunch of their stuff but I don't hold it as fondly because I don't hold Delta as fondly...
This though, "Labyrinth Of Time" was really cool. More so than the YouTube preview above let on. The lead in is slow and mysterious. The beginning of the song is kinda adventurous. Then it picks up a nice beat and moves into a really catchy portion as Ranka is almost calling out for Alto and the Frontier fleet ("025-8- and S04 ") then Sheryl and the Galaxy fleet ("021-5- and F09").
But then it shifts and get slower and serious to the point that the delivery becomes heartbreaking. Sadness and loneliness and longing. Ranka sings that she wants Alto or Sheryl to tell her that she's gotten stronger. I really like the sadness and tears and vulnerability in right in the middle.
And then it speeds back up again and mixes the calls to the fleets with little bits of Diamond Crevasse. It was a cool nostalgia hit. It felt like a true Frontier song in a way the previous post-Frontier Sheryl and Ranka stuff never really aimed for. Excitement and longing and bittersweetness... I don't know, it just felt good. I figure everyone else has heard it by now, but... I was pleasantly surprised.
(And, again... sure would be nice to
see it in context. Maybe someday!)