Red Cliff: Original Soundtrack Part 1 (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

1. The Beginning
2. Beat on the Battle
3. Just Offensive Attack
4. Precious One
5. Hill of the Refugees
6. Closing In Upon the Enemy
7. Previous Day
8. Tricky Mischief
9. A Hero and a Boy
10. Decision for Justice
11. In Loneliness
12. Battle to Battle
13. Blood Color
14. Beyond the River
15. Shin-Sen~Red Cliff~ (Theme Song)

In 2007, production began on the most expensive Asian film ever created (reports estimate the film to cost around $80 million).

“Red Cliff”, a two part film directed by John Woo and would star Asian talents Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Hu Jun, Lin Chi-ling and Zhao Wei would be released in theaters in July 2008 and January 2009. And the film would make over $248 million.

“Red Cliff” is a Chinese epic based on the “Battle of Red Cliffs” which was a decisive battle at the end of the Han Dynasty and was recorded on the 3rd century historical text “Records of Three Kingdoms”.

Because of the financial magnitude of the film, several international companies had put money into the production.

One of those companies was Japanese entertainment company Avex Group Holdings and thus, the soundtrack was done by their record label Avex Entertainment and the composer of the film would be Taro Iwashiro and the theme song to both films were sung by Chinese/Tibetan songstress alan (who is signed by avex and also sings the theme songs in both Japanese and Chinese).

For the soundtrack release of the first film, a total of 15 tracks are featured and a total of 14 tracks feature composer Taro Iwashiro with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Michiko Akao on solo Japanese transverse bamboo flute with Hide Fukasawa on midi programming.

Iwashiro is known for his television scores but he has also composed for several films which include “Shinobi: Heart Under Blade”, “Azumi”, “Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea”, “Maiko Haaaan!!”, “Memories of Murder”,”The Prince of Tennis”, “Samurai X” and many more films, television shows and video games.

The soundtrack of “Red Cliff” is definitely well done. From the action-driving taiko/bamboo flute song “Beat on the Battle” to the flute driven track “A Hero and a Boy” or the brass/strings driven “Battle to Battle”, the tracks are very upbeat, whimsical and for the most part, worked for the film.

You can easily tell which songs are action-based or emotional. But the song that I absolutely loved was alan’s performance of “Shin-Sen ~Red Cliff~” which showcases her beautiful vocals and just an absolutely wonderful arrangement by Yuta Nakano and strings by Yuko Kajitani strings.

Since I am reviewing the Japanese release of this soundtrack, the Japanese version of alan’s “Red Cliff” is what is included in this Avex Entertainment soundtrack and it is important to note that there is only one vocal track in this soundtrack.

The 24-page CD insert features photos from the film, character information, production credits and lyrics to “Red Cliff”.

Overall, if you enjoyed the film, “Red Cliff: Original Soundtrack Part 1″ is a beautiful soundtrack and definitely a soundtrack worth checking out!

BUY THIS ALBUM from CDJapan.com:

Red Cliff Part 1 Original Soundtrack

Original Soundtrack