3 out of 5

Label: Polydor / Teslakite

Produced by: Susumu Hirasawa

With Detonator Orgun 1 composed alongside Virtual Rabbit, that marks it as the time period just before Susumu Hirasawa would reinvent and reconsider his solo stylings for Aurora, a few years later.  Setting out to prove that anime soundtracks could be serious undertakings, Orgun’s sound – studied across its first two installments, which I listened to as one disc in the decades-spanning Halydon Dome boxset – ends up being a representation of that sound shift for Susumu, and the internal struggle between variations on his grandiose style.

Orgun 1 is very rooted in electronic sounds, coming across as more of a video game score than one for a film or show, as Susumu can’t quite settle on whether to underscore events – looping music as in games – or go for more bombast.  When he opts for the latter, which brings in full orchestration, things get pretty damn interesting.  And when he finds a balance between the two, both a ‘live’ and electronic sound, it’s temporarily thrilling, and very fitting for a mecha-filled anime (that I admittedly haven’t seen)… though this proves difficult to maintain for longer than a few pleasant bursts on the disc.

Orgun 2 is interesting, but offers less dramatic rewards.  Hirasawa grows more comfortable with the balance between the two styles he’d pursued on 1, wending them together pretty effectively throughout.  Some dark and moody vibes embellish his Orgun theme positively, but the experience feels very ephemeral.

Both the scores amount to ideas for which Susumu didn’t feel settled on how to apply them.  You’ll pick up notes of later projects / albums, and there are some definite bright spots where he discovers a really fascinating theme or arrangement, but Orgun 1 and 2’s scores, more often than not, amount to background music.