Which Soundtrack To Buy?

[NIkkolas]

So I was glancing at the wiki page about the various OSTs of the original anime and I was hoping someone who owns these CDs could help me.

Does the S² Works 7-CD set contain all the tracks from the 3 EVA OSTs? Or should I actually go ahead and buy those individual albums plus the End of Evangelion OST?

[chaosakita]

Yes, the S2 works pretty much contain every single song found in Evangelion (maybe not some things like Fly Me to the Moon).

[Caliburn]

It depends what you want. Here's some suggestions to help wade through what's out there.

For the Scholarly Fan: S2 Works + perhaps Evangelion: Decade

[URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/S%C2%B2_Works]S2 Works[/URL] is meant to be a very comprehensive collection of Shiro Sagisu's score and contains tracks that no other albums have (minor themes, variants, unused material) as well as almost everything on the regular albums. However, it places those tracks in an order meant to highlight the subtle variants, so you will get series of tracks in a row that are basically the same material orchestrated differently.

For example:
39. "A-15 Rhythm Only"
40. "A-15 Drums"
41. "A-15 Slow Tempo"
42. "A-15 Slow Tempo/Rhythm Only"
43. "A-15 Slow Tempo/Drums"

This could become quite tedious depending on your preferences. If you want to assemble your own listening experience, or if you want to have everything Sagisu wrote, S2 is an excellent buy. If you want the album maker to assemble an enjoyable and varied listening experience for you, or if you want only the most interesting or frequently used music, S2 might not be for you.

While generally comprehensive, S2 lacks some notable vocal tracks. The vocal version of Cruel Angel's Thesis is not present (Disc 5, Tracks 3-9 are instrumentals). Neither are the many vocal versions of Fly Me to the Moon (Disc 1, Tracks 27-33; Disc 2, Tracks 17-20; Disc 4, Tracks 7-9; and Disc 5, Tracks 10-11 are instrumentals). S2 also lacks Soul's Refrain, the ending theme of Death & Rebirth. And of course S2 -- along with all the other albums I'll discuss -- lacks all music (vocal or instrumental) composed for the new Rebuild movies.

The vocal songs that are included in S2 Works are Komm Susser Todd, Everything You Ever Dreamed (an unused song cut from EoE), and Thanatos.

Which brings us to [URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/Evangelion:_Decade]Evangelion: Decade[/URL]. The song Soul's Refrain that I mentioned was released as a single, or you can go to [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li-La]Yoko Takahashi's album Lil-La[/URL], Refrain of Evangelion (discussed below), or Evangelion: Decade for it. The advantage of Decade is that it has [URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/Yoko_Takahashi]several Eva-related Yoko Takahashi songs[/URL], even including some which were used in Eva games but not the show. A few of these are on OSTs II and III also. I'd think of Decade as more of a compilation/tribute album than a soundtrack, per se. Still, if you want S2 Works but are concerned about the missing vocal tracks, Decade could be a good companion, as it gets you Cruel Angel's Thesis, Soul's Refrain, Claire's version of Fly Me to Moon, and many bonus songs in one fell swoop.

I believe the only things you miss with the combination of S2 Works and Evangelion: Decade are:
1) the shorter, TV length edits of Cruel Angel's Thesis and Claire's version of Fly Me to the Moon, rather than the longer versions on Decade
2) the many, many other vocal versions of Fly Me to the Moon besides Claire's
You need the show OSTs for these. So if you're a real completionist, you have to buy the show OSTs as well as S2 Works, but this would get pretty redundant as far as all the other music goes.

For the Average Fan: Show and EoE OSTs

For someone who wants the main music from original, non-Rebuild Evangelion, but doesn't want to go to the completionist lengths of S2 Works, I would probably rank:

[URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_OST_I]NGE OST I[/URL]
[URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_OST_II]NGE OST II[/URL]
[URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/End_of_Evangelion_(Soundtrack)]End of Evangelion OST[/URL]
[URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_OST_III]NGE OST III[/URL]

...in that order of importance. These have less music than S2 Works, but they hit the most memorable stuff and the track order is designed for an enjoyable listen. These also have the vocal version of Cruel Angel's Thesis and the many Fly Me to the Moon vocals that S2 Works does not. They lack Soul's Refrain just as S2 Works does. Komm Susser Todd and Thanatos are on the EoE soundtrack just as they were on S2 Works, but Everything You Ever Dreamed isn't (because it was unused).

For the Casual Fan: Refrain of Evangelion

For the casual fan (which I'm assuming is not you, since you led off by asking about S2 Works), the "greatest hits" soundtrack [URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/Refrain_of_Evangelion]Refrain of Evangelion[/URL] is probably the best way to get several key pieces of music from the show and EoE on a single disc. But this still misses out on a lot of good stuff, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you want a one-disc sampler.

For Fun: Evangelion Symphony and Ever Jazz

Delving into re-arrangements, I'm also fond of these other two albums: [URL=http://wiki.evageeks.org/Evangelion_Symphony]Evangelion Symphony[/URL] and [URL=http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009DGUGZG]Ever Jazz[/URL]. But those obviously aren't meant to be the original soundtracks as heard in the show.

Good luck!

[chaosakita]

Ever Jazz technically isn't really an Evangelion soundtrack; they've done work for Ghibli as far as I can tell.

[Caliburn]

Yeah, Ever Jazz is unofficial, perhaps I didn't make that clear enough -- I just like it and couldn't miss the chance to give it some more exposure. It's by a jazz trio called All That Jazz, and they've also done albums like Anime That Jazz and Ghibli Jazz. But all the songs on Ever Jazz are from Evangelion.

Evangelion Symphony was produced by Shiro Sagisu, so it is more official, but it still isn't the original soundtrack.

[NIkkolas]

Thanks so much for your amazingly detailed post, Caliburn! It's everything I needed to know.

I dunno if I'd consider myself "scholarly"... I'm just a guy who likes to dive into new things with high expectations that I'll love them and start immersing myself in all aspects of it. It's why I made sure to start NGE by getting the Platinum volume sets and Art box as per a lot of feedback on this very site.

So I guess I might go for S2 Works and Decade. Here's hoping the EVA fandom is for me because if I end up really liking the anime, this is one series I know I'll be able to discuss with other people and buy new stuff for forever.

[Caliburn]

You're welcome. I chose the word "scholarly" to make clear that the pleasures of S2 Works are more in analyzing all the minutiae and subtle differences than in standard listening. It's a catalog of the behind-the-scenes process of making the music. So bear in mind that even an obsessive Evangelion fan, who is more interested in listening to the music than analyzing it, would likely be perfectly content with the OSTs, rather than S2 Works. The OSTs are themselves quite comprehensive, with all the major themes of the show, and most of what isn't there is very minor stuff most people wouldn't miss. In that regard, the range of people who'd prefer the OSTs may extend far beyond "average" fans, but I wasn't sure what else to call this middle range into which most Eva fans fall.

FYI, if you do buy S2 Works, you should verify that you are getting the 7-Disc version (with the bonus disc). Apparently, there is a 6-Disc release as well (no bonus disc), so don't mistake the one for the other.

Also, NIkkolas, are you still in the middle of watching the show? If so, I'd probably wait on getting soundtracks until you've finished the show and seen the movie The End of Evangelion, though I guess you're telling me it's your tendency to dive into things on faith. Just letting you know because Evangelion, and EoE in particular, can be very polarizing. EoE might change your life (seriously), or it might sour you on the show, or it might just befuddle you or leave you somewhere in the middle.

Here's hoping the EVA fandom is for me because if I end up really liking the anime, this is one series I know I'll be able to discuss with other people and buy new stuff for forever.

Ha ha, that is true.