Evangelion CD/OST
Like with many popular anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion released its original soundtrack composed by Shiro Sagisu on CD. As more entries into the series were released, like The End of Evangelion or the Rebuild series, more CD releases would follow. Various other compilation and arrangement albums were eventually created as well, resulting in music from Evangelion being played in a wide range of different styles and genres.
Original Soundtracks
The Original Soundtrack for the series was released in three separate volumes between November 22nd, 1995 and May 22nd,1996. Each release was produced by director Hideaki Anno with King Record’s Starchild label - a label that specializes in anime, movie, and TV drama music. Apart from the original music composed by Shiro Sagisu, the first album included a director’s edit of the opening theme of the anime, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis”, while all three albums featured a number of variations of “Fly Me to the Moon”, the series’ ending theme. These soundtracks would later be released in North America by Geneon Entertainment in 2004.
On December 21st, 1996, a “bonus” album titled “Neon Genesis Evangelion Addition” was released. This album included 12 tracks that included extra variations of “Fly Me to the Moon”, a second version of the Director’s Edit of “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis”, the classical pieces used in the anime, various movie previews, and a drama track that includes the voice actors of the main cast. The drama track features Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and Misato humorously attempting to decide how to continue the story of Evangelion after its incredible and unexpected surge of popularity. A limited-edition of this particular album also included a movie ticket for the first Evangelion film, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth.
Movie Soundtracks
The first movie, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, had its soundtrack released on June 11th, 1997 and contains a number of tuning tracks and classical music, along with original pieces composed by Sagisu. These tuning and classical pieces are included because, despite Death and Rebirth mainly being a compilation and re-edit of the anime’s first 24 episodes, there are several new scenes that involve the main characters gathering in a room to play in a string quartet. A CD release of the second move, The End of Evangelion, was also released on September 26th, 1997.
As with the first two movies, each entry in the Rebuild of Evangelion movie series (excluding Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, as it is currently still in production) were also released. Each album was recorded in Abbey Road Studios and performed by the London Studio Orchestra. The soundtrack for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (released May 25th 2008) included two songs performed by Utada Hikaru: “Beautiful World” and a cover of “Fly Me to the Moon”. Both of these songs were used to promote the Rebuild series. Two versions of the soundtrack of the second movie (Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance) were released on July 8th, 2009: a regular version and a special edition. The special edition included an extra disc with additional and unedited versions of the tracks among other goods. The soundtrack for Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo was also released on November 28th, 2012.
Compilation Albums
On December 4th, 1998, a limited edition, 7-disc box set that featured all of the tracks from Neon Genesis Evangelion, Evangelion: Death and Rebirth, and The End of Evangelion was released as Neon Genesis Evangelion: S2 Works. This release also included several previously unused and rearranged tracks that were never publicly released before. The “S2 Works” in the title refers to an organ unique to Angels that supply them with a nearly limitless amount of energy.
The Day of Second Impact is another compilation album that was released in Japan on the same day as the fictional catastrophic event of the same name that occurred on September 13th, 2000. It includes 11 tracks from the TV anime series and the first two theatrical movies. Geneon Entertainment also brought this album to North America on September 7th, 2004.
For the 10th year anniversary of Evangelion, Neon Genesis Evangelion Decade was released and included re-recorded versions of the series’ iconic opening theme, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis”, and other background tracks.
Another album titled Evangelion: The Birthday of Rei Ayanami included various tracks associated with Rei and other pieces sung by her voice actress Megumi Hayashibara. While Rei’s official birthdate is unknown, the album was released on Hayashibara’s birthday (March 30th) in 2001.
Arranged Albums
Numerous arrangements of Evangelion music have been released throughout the years and genres for these albums can range anywhere from piano, to wind symphony, to jazz, and even to R&B and Hip-Hop. These albums are all composed by Shiro Sagisu:
Evangelion-VOX: R&B/Hip-Hop remakes of music from Neon Genesis Evangelion and its movies. Released December 3rd, 1997.
Evangelion Wind Symphony No.1 and No.2: Symphonic arrangements of the Evangelion soundtracks. Released December 9th, 2009.
The world! Evangelion Jazz night =The Tokyo III Jazz club=: Released December 24th, 2014.
Live Albums
Two live albums were recorded and released. The first is simply titled Evangelion Symphony and is an orchestral rendition of music from Evangelion that was recorded at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall and released on December 22nd, 1997. The second album is titled Shin Godzilla vs Evangelion Symphony. This album was created as a part of the Godzilla vs. Evangelion collaboration and was also recorded in the Bunkamura Orchard Hall and released after the live performances that were held between March 22nd and March 23rd, 2017.
Links
Music of Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion (soundtrack)
Discogs’ Page on The world! Evangelion Jazz Night = The Tokyo III Jazz Club
Crunchyroll: Giants Collide in “Shin Godzilla vs. Evangelion Symphony” Concert