Cool & Eva-related: Where Sagisu Shiro got his ideas fro

[jakewashere]

Or at least one of them.

I find it incredible (in the sense of being beyond belief) that I might be the only person ever to watch Eva who's caught this, but... One of Shiro's better-known cues from Evangelion is a direct and incredibly BLATANT homage to John Barry, a film composer best known for writing the James Bond theme.

Here's the aforementioned S^2 piece. It's called "Decisive Battle" on the OST; anyone who's watched the series more than once ought to find it at least somewhat familiar.

Now here's a piece written by John Barry and performed by his ensemble. It's called "007" and I'm reasonably certain that it shows up in all of the Sean Connery-era Bond movies.

The rhythm is extremely close, and the orchestration - brass, timpani and other percussion, strings - is DEAD ON. Not to mention that both tracks are among the few I've heard that manage to make major chords sound ominous ("Decisive Battle", 01:11 and 02:09; "007," 00:20 onward). The one great variation is in the melody, which SS rewrote.

It was a shock the first time I heard them using "Decisive Battle" on Eva - as far as I could tell, I was hearing something out of a Bond film, and this right in the middle of a TV series that's about as far from James Bond as you can possibly get. It was so CLOSE, to my caught-unawares ear, that I thought John Barry would have had good grounds for a plagiarism case... As of right now, my assumption is that Sagisu Shiro is a big John Barry fan and wrote "Decisive Battle" as an homage to Barry's Bond-film work; I'm beginning to wonder where he got some of his other ideas.

A bit heady for a first post, but I'm new here and absofreakinlutely FILLED with the desire to impress...

--Jake was here

PS. I linked this stuff off my personal website. Feel free to poke around and find whatever you can there.

[Kaioshin_Sama]

Well I've noticed this for the longest time actually, but I think other people either haven't seen many James Bond themes, are to hung up on EVA while watching the episodes to make the connection, or just don't care.

It is one of the most blatant ripoffs I've ever heard though and the first time I heard it I felt much the same as you. I was wondering what the heck a James Bond song was doing in Evangelion and if it wasn't a practical joke made by the encoders.

[pikadourei]

I've never watched James Bond movies but in Shiro Sagisu's 'A Crystalline Night Sky' from the second soundtrack, the part at 1:23, really reminded me of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody..

[thedarkorb]

Yea I've noticed this for awhile too, but I wouldent say it's a rip off. Seemed like a homage more because it isn't a note for note copy.

[felineki]

It's been noted before that "Angel Attack" is reminiscient of a piece of BGM from the original Gundam series (usually referred to as "Kyuuchi ni tatsu Gundam" or "Gundam's Standing Dilemma").

[NAveryW]

I recognized it as 007 the first time I saw it, as my father is a very large John Barry fan (no girth jokes, please). I also noticed this post when I first saw it almost eight months ago, but, ah... I just... didn't... feel... like... responding...

Another song which takes clear influences from others is Komm Susser Tod. You can definitely tell where it took parts from A Whiter Shade of Pale and Hey J00d.

[thedarkorb]

It's been noted before that "Angel Attack" is reminiscient of a piece of BGM from the original Gundam series (usually referred to as "Kyuuchi ni tatsu Gundam" or "Gundam's Standing Dilemma").

hmm...sorta, but I did notice that a lot of his stuff for Evangelion did sound like a lot of the classic Gundam scores.

[Reichu]

Well I've noticed this for the longest time actually, but I think other people either haven't seen many James Bond themes, are to hung up on EVA while watching the episodes to make the connection, or just don't care.

I could never watch Bond movies, but I always thought "Decisive Battle" sounded like "secret agent music". That good enough?

[Coded to the Core]

Shiro's also working on the Rebuild's Soundtracks ! So more like james bond tunes comming soon ;P

[No. 44]

what is the name of the song at the end of the EoE preview on Death/Rebirth? it was sang in Japanese and had the awesome guitar solo

[Sheer Heart Attack]

what is the name of the song at the end of the EoE preview on Death/Rebirth? it was sang in Japanese and had the awesome guitar solo

That would be Tamashii No Rufuran, (or Refrain of the Soul as I've seen it called) with Yoko Takahashi on vocals. At least Manga had the sense to leave that little gem in, huh?

I've never consciously made any connection between Shiro Sagisu's Eva compositions and John Barry's work for the Bond films, but I can see the resemblance. Though, as mentioned, cheesy super robot music was definitely an influence too.

[No. 44]

ah i need to find it i ordered EoE soundtrack as far as i know it isn't included though

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i dont know Japanese but i love the music

[MisatoRitsukoFan]

I swear Misato's theme sounds similar...can't think of what though.

[LeoXiao]

The music is similar. And it works really well.

[NAveryW]

I catalogued all the similarities/pastiches/homages/ripoffs I could find in this thread. I think the most blatant/inarguable copying of music is in "Decisive Battle" and "Background Music II".