Why did Mark Menza's replacement score of GT not live up to my expectations?

[DBZAOTA482]

Seriously, he did good with stuff like the Gogeta theme but his tracks for DBGT were ungodly, repetitive ear-diarrhea. I mean, just listen to the theme song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNEGA4nxWtY

I'd rather listen to the squeals of Tiffany Volmer's Bulma running on four amplifiers for a 1 minute than 10 seconds of that theme "song".

[LordCrumb]

That's a horrendous theme imo, its four seconds and then loops. Faulconer could have done so much better.

Anyway, I think they changed it because they wanted to try and make it darker than it actually was, which was a huge mistake.

[Hellspawn28]

Funimation wanted to repeat the same success that they had with DBZ with GT. They wanted the music to appeal to American kids and wanted something to feel more extreme! They also probably thought the Japanese GT music would be too dated as well. Mark Meza is a nice guy and all, but I think his music for GT was awful.

[Kakacarrottop]

I think the main issue was the ill-fitting and repetitive nature of Menza's music, which was entirely due to the Funimation/Barry Watson creative influence. It suddenly gave GT this very dreary, operessive atmosphere, in stark contrast to the upbeat Saturday Morning Cartoon-ish Tokunaga score which everyone loved. Funimation's music editors also didn't allow any silence, which exaggerated any faults in the score. If they scored GT similar to how Toei did then Menza would be a little more bearable, since some of his guitar riffs were pretty good.

But still, Ron Wasserman, Bruce Faulconer and the recycled Mega-Man music were leaps and bounds better in terms of variety and overall creativeness. All those soundtracks had a lot of upbeat and mischievous music, which helped offset the edgy rock/synthesizer stuff.

[TheAldella]

Hm...Well at least they pronounced Goku correctly.

[Naruto6583]

Seriously, he did good with stuff like the Gogeta theme but his tracks for DBGT were ungodly, repetitive ear-diarrhea. I mean, just listen to the theme song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNEGA4nxWtY

I'd rather listen to the squeals of Tiffany Volmer's Bulma running on four amplifiers for a 1 minute than 10 seconds of that theme "song".

Didn't dave moran and nathan johnson compose for movie 12?

[floofychan333]

Hm...Well at least they pronounced Goku correctly.

They pronounced so many other names incorrectly though.

[TheAldella]

Hm...Well at least they pronounced Goku correctly.

They pronounced so many other names incorrectly though.

There are no other character names in the GT rap. It just baffles me that they said Goku with the emphasis on the u for once.

[Anime Kitten]

I'll be some variation or another of "that guy" and say that I like Mr. Menza's score, though I will gladly acknowledge its repetitiveness.

There are no other character names in the GT rap.

Pilaf is mentioned as well as Goku.

[TheAldella]

I'll be some variation or another of "that guy" and say that I like Mr. Menza's score, though I will gladly acknowledge its repetitiveness.

There are no other character names in the GT rap.

Pilaf is mentioned as well as Goku.

oh yes that is correct i kinda didn't notice that one because the singer's flow is so bad haha

[TeeHallums]

They just wanted it to seem more ~edgy~

No but really, a lot of it comes down to a particular tone/direction they were handing down to Menza. A composer is only as good as his direction (though I don't personally think he is that great anyways.)

[TheGreatness25]

The problem is that they wanted something edgy and extreme for GT... and yet, Menza's work was neither. Yes, most people are in the camp that you shouldn't touch the original score, but if you're going to, at least have it be decent. While the score for Z was unbearable during most scenes (anything to do with comedy or transitional material had awful music), at least the pre-battle, anticipatory, and power-up themes were generally well done (though they could have used a more orchestral touch if you ask me). GT was awful. It was the same drone thing over and over and over again. The GT rap in the beginning -- as horrendous as it was -- was one of the two most exciting songs in the series; the other being the outro. I actually liked the beat for the outro and as sick as this sounds, sometimes till this day, it pops into my head. The music just needed to be pumped up and more exciting. It came off as flat, dull, drone, and almost torturous. I'm fairly certain that the music played a huge role on me, as I know that I couldn't stand watching GT when it aired on Cartoon Network. And I don't even hate the show. I bought the singles and watched the Japanese version with great enjoyment. I even like the Funimation dub with original score (ala green bricks). Thus, I know that music completely soured me and turned me off from the GT dub. It was almost depressing to watch it.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

I think the main issue was the ill-fitting and repetitive nature of Menza's music, which was entirely due to the Funimation/Barry Watson creative influence. It suddenly gave GT this very dreary, operessive atmosphere, in stark contrast to the upbeat Saturday Morning Cartoon-ish Tokunaga score which everyone loved. Funimation's music editors also didn't allow any silence, which exaggerated any faults in the score. If they scored GT similar to how Toei did then Menza would be a little more bearable, since some of his guitar riffs were pretty good.

But still, Ron Wasserman, Bruce Faulconer and the recycled Mega-Man music were leaps and bounds better in terms of variety and overall creativeness. All those soundtracks had a lot of upbeat and mischievous music, which helped offset the edgy rock/synthesizer stuff.

I really couldn't listen to Menza's music. Considering how painfully generic it always was whenever it was used. Where it sounded like one of those basic demo tempo beats off an electric keyboard, where every tune sounded the same and rolled on and on. It actually worsened my experience with GT's Dub. Though problem with it specifically was that every tune sounded the same and derived from the same slow, synth drum and mellow guitar. It actually sounds comparatively like a poor man's version of Nathan Johnson's BGM.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I think Menza is great, but for some reason (probably FUNimation's direction) most if not all the tracks he did for GT sound the same. Like, not exactly the same, but the same sound with the same ingredients (guitar, bass, drums, occasional strings and a weird electric piano that keeps popping up). The main reason why I'm willing to defend the Faulconer score artistically is because of how varied it is, but I can't do that with the GT score.

[Soppa Saia People]

I unabashedly love "step into the grand tour". As a song, it's a fucking embarrassment, but I can't help but love it. Same way I feel about the Space Jam song, which, well much better, is still awful.