What's everyone's problem with the English music?

[Zarathustra]

I really, really love the Faulconer BGM I've listened to both scores various times, and so far the only scene that I have to say I prefer the original over Funi is Gohan's SSJ2 transformation. Spirit VS Spirit fits rather well.

Everything else, Bruce is the man! It adds so much more to my enjoyment of the anime..Builds some fantastic ambiance, imo.

[Ahiru77]

^ Agreed.

I got nothing but mad love for Faulconer's music.

No problem.

[GamingBuddha]

I enjoy Faulconer and Kikuchi's music equally, but I do feel more nostalgic towards Faulconer because of the Legacy of Goku series. I disagree when people say that the Japanese soundtrack fits the show perfectly though. I really hate the "What Happened Last Time" at the beginning of an episode where they always play that really cheery music no matter how serious of a thing just happened.

[VegettoEX]

I really hate the "What Happened Last Time" at the beginning of an episode where they always play that really cheery music no matter how serious of a thing just happened.

Doesn't the second replacement score in FUNimation's English dub of DBZ have the exact same type of thing -- a single recap track that plays no matter what they're showing from last episode, what its mood was, etc...? Which transitions into its title card music?

So... that's not really much of a downside in comparison either way. At that point it's down to a matter of taste.

[Gaffer Tape]

I've never been a big fan of the replaced English score. Even when it first came out in 1999, I felt it was disappointing compared to the Shuki Levy script that came before it. But the original score always blew me away, even before I knew what that was. But then I realized that it was the original and would have preferred it simply on principle of accuracy even if I didn't already love it.

But the cool thing is is that even though this site and this forum caters more to fans like me, dub fans are absolutely welcome here too. Hell, one of the ACTUAL composers from Faulconer Productions is a poster here and frequently has insight to add in this Music sub-forum. I'm sure you'd find his posts quite enlightening, JBoogie. Again, I can't fairly call myself a fan, but I still love reading his posts and getting new insight into what was going on back then. I'll probably never be a fan of the replaced score, but it has helped me to appreciate it ever so slightly.

[GamingBuddha]

I really hate the "What Happened Last Time" at the beginning of an episode where they always play that really cheery music no matter how serious of a thing just happened.

Doesn't the second replacement score in FUNimation's English dub of DBZ have the exact same type of thing -- a single recap track that plays no matter what they're showing from last episode, what its mood was, etc...? Which transitions into its title card music?
So... that's not really much of a downside in comparison either way. At that point it's down to a matter of taste.

Well in the dub recap, the music doesn't really add to the scene since it's pretty neutral. But in the original recap, the happy music adds to the regular feel of the show but it takes away when something fairly serious is going on, like Krillin's death. Seeing him get killed with that happy music doesn't seem to fit.

Also, I wasn't trying to make it a downside by comparison, just a downside by itself. I've noticed this in other series too where they use one track for the recap/preview and it just sounds out of place. For example, in One Piece, after SpoilerAce diesSpoiler, they play really cheery music in the preview talking about more really bad stuff that's going to happen.

[Mosaic]

Well in the dub recap, the music doesn't really add to the scene since it's pretty neutral. But in the original recap, the happy music adds to the regular feel of the show but it takes away when something fairly serious is going on, like Krillin's death. Seeing him get killed with that happy music doesn't seem to fit.

I never really saw the recap music as cheery. The dub music on the other hand, always had some sort of "HARDCORE. EXPLOSIONS. GUITAR." sound to it. If anything, to me the original recap music is neutral. It has the adventurous tone the rest of the BGM has.

[Casual Matt]

When it comes to Bruce Faulconer's music, I've always enjoyed it. There are definitely a few tracks I like to listen to.

That being said, even though I heard Faulconer's stuff before I started watching the series in Japanese, I have since fallen in love with the Japanese score. I was actually first exposed to Kikuchi while watching a dub (the Blue Water dub, I believe) of the original Dragon Ball on YTV. I really liked the music, and the first thing I actually watched in Japanese was Dragon Ball Z Movie 1, which used music cues similar to those in the original series which I had heard.

So yeah, it was actually the Kikuchi score in DBZ Movie 1 that got me to start watching the Japanese version, and it didn't take long for the script to keep me there.

But despite the fact that I actually find it hard to watch the show dubbed at this point, I can still go back and listen to the Faulconer tracks on their own. Specifically the ones from the Cell Arc, I think he really found his groove.

Now if we talk about the FUNimation dub music from Dragon Ball GT or the DBZ Ultimate Uncut Editions, then that's a different story. They were both so boring and monotone, they didn't really convey any emotion.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

From my experiences on this forum, most people don't actually hate Faulconer Productions' score. That is, they don't think the music he composed was bad. They just hate how it was placed in the series. And that's understandable. The synchronized scoring was an aural atrocity. Not to mention how overused some tracks were in the Freeza saga.

[cRookie_Monster]

From my experiences on this forum, most people don't actually hate Faulconer Productions' score. That is, they don't think the music he composed was bad. They just hate how it was placed in the series. And that's understandable. The synchronized scoring was an aural atrocity. Not to mention how overused some tracks were in the Freeza saga.

My experience is a lot of people do hate the Faulconer Productions score.

Some random quotes I just dug up (various people)

"I hate Faulconer's score but...<something about a sandwich?> "

...OMG, MY EARS!!!

...never-ending Casio keyboard stylings...

"...abominable Casio "music",..."

...I describe this score is "soulless"....

And yes, editing 20 solid minutes of music with nothing but 8 about episodes of source music as source and no keyboard to help smoothing things...doesn't make for a great result...hence the Frieza saga's sound =\ NOt to mention how repetitive the scenes themselves were. Same scene over and over...yep same music....the library just wasn't that big yet. And of course the assignment was to fill every moment and use character themes.

[cRookie_Monster]

Server error, accidentally double posted.

[Zarathustra]

I agree with one of the above posts. Faulconer's music during the Cell Arc was sublime.

[MetaMoss]

I grew up on the Faulconer music, but in more recent times I have come to accept the Kikuchi score as the definitive DragonBall Z music. Honestly, to me the Kikuchi score feels very nostalgic, even more the score I was raised into thinking was the DBZ music score.

[Codarik]

I love Faulconer, Johnson and Menza's dub music, so much that I don't get the dragon boxes cause they don't have their music. The English dub was meant to be heard with the dub music not the original. Though I do understand completely why people can hate it.

[Zarathustra]

I love Faulconer, Johnson and Menza's dub music, so much that I don't get the dragon boxes cause they don't have their music. The English dub was meant to be heard with the dub music not the original. Though I do understand completely why people can hate it.

On the same boat. I haven't gotten the Dragon Boxes because it doesn't have the Faulconer music.

[Zarathustra]

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[Ultimate_DB_Fan]

Most fans hate the dub score because they feel it's an insult to their intelligence, it never shuts up, because it's synth, etc., etc.

Whether or not you like it is, of course, your opinion. I personally feel it's better, with the actual exception of there never being any silence.

To another point, people (Funimation employees included) can say all they want how it was "the right decision" to not include Faulconer's BGM on the DBoxes. Fact is, most casuals and dubbies both grew up with that score, and feel that DBZ goes with it. So it's no wonder they're not selling quite well.

[Coycoy88]

To another point, people (Funimation employees included) can say all they want how it was "the right decision" to not include Faulconer's BGM on the DBoxes. Fact is, most casuals and dubbies both grew up with that score, and feel that DBZ goes with it. So it's no wonder they're not selling quite well.

(This is just my humble opinion) A near perfect DBZ release for both the Japanese and original Funi English dub fans would basically be the Orange Brick Season Sets, but with Dragon Box footage/masters, instead of Funi's over-saturated, cropped pile of shit footage. Now that would be badass, aha. If you hate the Faulconer score you just simply switch to the Japanese dub, or English Dub with Japanese BGM. It works for both sides.

I still think they should of included Faulconers score as an option, but still keeping the main focus on the Japanese version as they intended.

[Cipher]

To this day, I rather enjoy elements of the Faulconer Productions score (I assume we're talking about that one, because the Johnson and Menza scores are just too bland to discuss). I dig its use of character themes, and some of it's very catchy on its own. I probably have four main misgivings with it as it's used in the series though:

1) It doesn't capture the kung-fu movie aesthetic that Kikuchi's does. This is also my main gripe with Yamamoto's Kai score. It just misses an essential element of Dragon Ball. Kikuchi blesses the series with a genre-specific sound.

2) It Mickey Mouses it too much and never stops playing. I understand this was a Funimation mandate, but still, yikes.

3) It's not consistent with Dragon Ball.

4) General griping about how it's not kosher to replace a series' soundtrack during adaptation.

So the Faulconer score and I get along just fine. But it's not what I prefer to accompany my Dragon Ball Z anymore. Even when I feel like watching the English dub, I still prefer the Kikuchi score. It's just too ingrained.

[cRookie_Monster]

2) It Mickey Mouses it too much and never stops playing. I understand this was a Funimation mandate, but still, yikes.

uh, that's actually just um...someone's particular style...Faulconer put a lot of emphasis on matching shots and I think some of us(with the initials M.L.S) got a weee lil bit carried away. I love me some M.L.S...dedicated my second album to him but yeah He's talked trash about me too haha.

The first time I heard the term "Mickey Mousing" was when Julius was hired and he slammed us with that term almost immediately. He was totally right.

oh and the never stops playing bit was Funi, at least that's what Bruce said...