2.B.A. Master

The original soundtrack accompanying the Pokemon TV show, containing memorable songs like the Pokemon Theme and the Pokerap as well as other, less memorable songs. The whole thing was thrown together in less than a month by producer John Loeffler, who also has a writing credit on most songs. The music is as trendy and accessible as possible. How do these songs hold up decades later?

In short, it really depends on your tolerance for 90s pop music, because that's all you're getting here. The opening track is an outlier, rooted firmly in rock, but the rest is new jack swing, hip-hop, and eurodance. The songs themselves are competently crafted, with most of the melodies being catchy and memorable. Most of the lyrics barely have anything to do with Pokemon, especially in the latter half of the album. To make up for this deficit, the producers occasionally drop in clips from the show to remind you you're not listening to some random vocalist's album but the Pokemon album. In short, if you love Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, and the Backstreet Boys, you will probably enjoy these songs. There's no real reason for someone who isn't a Pokemon fan to check this out, but it's probably nostalgic if you were around when the anime premiered.

I'll go through the songs, list the credits, interesting facts about them, and review them.

Pokemon Theme

What is there to say? An incredible song beginning with the thesis statement for the anime, and arguably the series: "I want to be the very best like no on ever was."

2B A Master

Ah, do I have mixed feelings about this one. It has a sick bassline and a catchy chorus, in addition to a then-trendy production style. But it also has cosmic levels of cringe. It not only has a children's choir, but they are referenced in the song. It reminds you in the starkest way that this is meant to be amusing music for children to listen to. The lead vocalist also has the oddest inflections, from the exaggerated way he screams "go" as "gaw" to the way he yells "don't forget about PSYCHIC!" It very much feels like a novelty song about Pokemon as opposed to a song that happens to be about Pokemon.

The song takes a different turn halfway through where a mysterious voice questions your ability to handle the Elite Four. Unlike the verses, this is played completely serious, with an ominous undertone. Unfortunately, that seriousness is also applied to the slogan reminding you that you've "gotta catch 'em all." The brief interlude is then finished, returning to the chorus and all the previous issues.

There is little to write about the lyrics, which are competent but forgettable fluff from the perspective of Ash. Perhaps the lowest point is when we are suddenly reminded that different Pokemon types exist. This concept is fully fleshed out on the later track "What Kind of Pokemon are You?", so here it feels as if it's been shoved in as filler.

Viridian City

https://greenfieldcity.neocities.org/pokemon/2bamaster

This forms a welcome contrast to 2B A Master. Both are extremely 90s in their production style, but Viridian City plays itself completely straight. There are no silly vocal bends to amuse children here. The vocalist treats it as seriously as any other contemporary pop song would have been, and it's all the better for it. The vocalist has a high, smooth tone with clear belts. It's a perfect match for this upbeat song. Bolstering his performance are the backing singers, who pad out the chorus with soaring harmonies.

If you've played the Gen I Pokemon games, you may be surprised there is an entire song about going to Viridian City, since Route 1 is not just extremely short, but literally the baby starting route for players new to the franchise. Does it really merit such a pumping song? I write more about it here, but in short, I doubt it is about Route 1. This is an example of the issues with this album, which is that the lyricists appear to have a limited understanding of the world of Pokemon. Like yeah, the type chart is discussed, the Indigo Plateau and Elite Four are mentioned, but much of the writing is about a sort of general striving and determination to "be the very best." This is fine - none of the lyrics here are memorable, and it's easy for it to become cringe as it does in 2B A Master. But it feels a little like a missed opportunity to make them make a little more sense. Viridian City is on the verge of making sense.

But enough of that - this is a song that can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of whether they're a Pokemon fan or not. The central theme of the song can be found in the pre-chorus: "we keep on trying, and then we try some more to stay together, find a place worth fighting for." It's not just a good Pokemon song, but a good song, at least in its genre of fluffy contemporary pop.

What Kind of Pokemon Are You?

Here we see one of the troubled attempts at incorporating hip-hop into the soundtrack. The rapper's flow is straight out of the 1980s, reminiscent of party rap songs like the opening to "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." There is, however, nothing wrong with it like there is with the approach in 2.B. A Master. It simply cannot escape the goofiness that comes from using a then-transgressive genre to wax rhapsodic about the type chart in a children's tv show. If we can escape that inherent goofiness, we find that, like Viridian City, everyone in this song takes what they're doing seriously.

The chorus is very smooth with a pretty little melody and gentle vocals. It honestly feels like it comes from a better song, perhaps a reject from the Backstreet Boys or Britney Spears. This makes it quite funny in contrast with the verses. The song has a sense of humor to it, with little silly moments like "don't you bug me with a Caterpie" and "make one wrong move and it'll kick your grass."

My Best Friends

Ray Greene brings a thick, soulful vocal to this wistful song. There's an awkward bridge featuring a 50s progression that feels compeltely out of place with the rest of the song, but ignoring that, it's a good song. Though it's a real anthemic song, it's got a sort of sadness to it.

Everything Changes

You don't fool me: this one is just a straightforward power ballad! Probably the one with the least relation to Pokemon. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be about. It's nominally about evolution, as the shoehorned sample from the show reminds us (did you know Metapod evolves into Butterfree?), but the actual lyrics don't seem to have anything to do with evolution. It's more about the impermanence of things, the constantly changing nature of existence. Downright philosophical, at least for this album. Sheila Brody delivers a great performance for this one. This is another one that feels like it was originally meant for another artist like Christina Aguilera before being used for this project. However, unlike the other teenybopper songs, this one has a sense of maturity to it, from the deceptive cadence ending the chorus to the vocal delivery to the lyrical ambiguity. If you want to listen to one of the not-Pokemon-themed ones from the album, this is the one to try.

The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)

This one feels like a power ballad from the 80s, weirdly dated for how trendy this album is trying to be. The lead singer has a distinct raspy voice which is still pleasant to listen to. The melody is predictable, but her performance brings some level of life to it.

Pokemon (Dance Mix)

It is somewhat surprising that there are 2 hip-hop tracks and several influenced by new jack swing, and yet none in Eurodance, a very popular genre of the time. This is a high energy song with soaring vocals. The lyrics are generic and kind of pointless, but most Eurodance music has stupider lyrics, so it doesn't actually make a difference. You don't listen to this song to ponder the lyrics; you play it because you want to break it down on the dance floor. This seems like something that would go over well at some kind of Pokemon themed party.

Double Trouble (Team Rocket)

This song goes hard and they knew it went hard because they reused it for the Pokemon Live show. The verses with the voice actors attempting to speak rhythmically are a little awkward, but the singers do a great job pushing the song forward with energy.

Together Forever

I often call these songs leftover teen pop songs, but this one really does feel like something that would have been pitched to Backstreet Boys or NSYNC. The vocal stylings, the chord progressions, it's uncanny. Were it not for the sample of Ash, Misty, and Brock bantering, you really would not know this has anything to do with Pokemon.

Misty's Song

Yvette Labow's squeaky vocal is a strange choice for this, and I wonder if the producers realized it too as they decided to double her vocals with backing singers during the chorus. The song is supposed to be romantic, and the arrangement definitely gives "slow dance at high school prom" vibes, but the lead vocal is an awkward fit. The melody is also a little repetitive, carried by its chord progression.

PokeRAP

This rap is done right because it is nothing but the names of Pokemon. There's no room for forced jokes, nothing but the rapidfire delivery of 150 Pokemon names. It's a novelty, of course it's a novelty, but it's a novelty that feels fun instead of cringe because it doesn't give itself room to indulge in its own goofiness. And the melodic bits are sung with a surprising amount of force for a silly song like this. The delivery of the names is neither monotonous nor over-forced, allowing the listener to fall into a sort of trance as the rapper spits out the Pokemon names. Each section also has a slightly different arrangement, keeping it fresh throughout the track.

You Can Do It (If You Really Try)

The only song sung by the producer of the whole album, John Loeffler. This one is a ballad starting with fingerpicked guitar and culminating in a big chorus with a lot of vocals happening. It's fine, but the relation to Pokemon is definitely distant and the song is forgettable and messy by the time it gets to the chorus.