27. Force of Arms Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 27: "Force of Arms." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: Ahh, the big one. "We Will Win," in all it's glory.

This episode is another case where the original broadcast version varies from what became the standard  version. In the standard version, as Rick and Minmei watch the Earth being destroyed Minmei says "Mother... Father..."  and Rick mourns "Lisa..." The scene then cuts to a flashback of Rick and Minmei's visit back to Earth and her family as we hear Minmei sing "To Be in Love," which fades into the current Earth as a desolate ruin. When the song reaches the lines "A world of things we've never seen before, a world of--" Minmei breaks down into tears. It's probably the most dramatic, heart wrenching usage of "To Be in Love" in the entire series, driving home the destruction of the Earth on a personal level.

However the original version works just as well, but in a completely different way. In the original broadcast version, after Rick says Lisa's name, Minmei begins singing the last verse of "It's You" instead (without the Yokohama flashback): "If you still think of me, how did we come to this? Wish that I knew it is me that you miss..." and then she starts crying. After the conversation they just had where Rick told her they never would have worked out anyway because they live in separate worlds now, it conveys that Minmei finally realizes that Rick hasn't been sitting around waiting for her. She's lost her home, she's lost her family, and now she's realizing she's even lost Rick. It may not be as grand as the standard version, but still a crucial turning point on a deeper, more intimate level. Interestingly enough, the It's You EP uses photos from this scene in the CD booklet.

The other thing about this is when assembling a "Perfect Memory" soundtrack, it also affects the order of the songs. Going by the original broadcast version "It's You" would come before "We Will Win." But I've been compiling this list to follow the standard version, which means we won't hear "It's You" until the next episode. Since I have no idea where "The Man in My Life" falls in the original broadcast version, I'll be sticking with the putting them in the standard version order.

Another change in the two versions is in the final scene, when Rick and Lisa hear Minmei's music as the SDF-1 returns to Earth. In the original version, "To Be in Love" was used, while the standard version uses the ending lines of  "We Will Win." The standard version is the only place in the series to use that part of the song.

Robotech Theme
Red Alert
Reflections
Battlestations
Minmei's Theme
Private Time (b)
Alien Attack
Desolation
To Be in Love
Minmei's Theme
(Alien Attack) Resolve
The Point of No Return
Showdown
Victory
Eyecatch
Private Time Theme (a2)
We Will Win
Alien Attack
We Will Win (radio effect)
Minmei's Theme
The Point of No Return
Roy Fokker's Theme
We Will Win
Robotech Love Theme I
We Will Win
Victory
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Title

26. The Messenger Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 26: "The Messenger." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: This is of course the episode where Exedore sings "My Time to Be a Star" to explain to Captain Gloval the power Minmei has had on the Zentraedi. Although this technically counts as dialogue, I'm counting it as new unreleased music for the sake of being complete.

Robotech Theme
The Point of No Return
Battlestations
Alien Attack
Intrigue
Earth Government at Work (a)
Imbeciles
Macross Anthem
Earth Government at Work (a)
My Time to Be a Star (Exedore a capella) (unreleased)
Minmei's Theme
Escalations (f1)
Eyecatch
Private Time (a2)
Private Time Theme (d)
Intruder
The Robotech Masters
(Alien Attack) Resolve
Reflections
Battlestations
Escalations (f1)
Khyron's Theme
Minmei's Theme
To Be in Love
The Point of No Return
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Title

25. Wedding Bells Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 25: "Wedding Bells." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: For not having any new music, I have an awful lot to say about the music in this episode!

First, about "Drumroll (unreleased)" - this episode once again uses an unreleased drumroll. When comparing it to the one used in "Miss Macross," I found that they were pretty much the same except that one ran a little longer and had an echo effect added to it, since it was being played in an auditorium for the contest. This version runs a little shorter but has the benefit of having no dialogue over the majority of it. I'm considering them the same piece of music just edited differently.

Secondly, regarding "The Man in My Life" and "To Be in Love" - one of the reasons I refer to these episodes as the "standard version" in my introduction is because what Harmony Gold refers to as "the original broadcast versions" are actually the second broadcast versions. When the show first aired in 1985 several pieces of music were different. Somewhere between its original syndication run and the release of the F.H.E. 6-tape Macross Saga Box Set they remastered the show, changing some of the songs to rely on "To Be In Love" less heavily. (They also messed up the way the video footage was centered, but that's another story.) This is the way these episodes were presented from then on, until the release of the Remastered Edition.

"Wedding Bells" is one of the episodes where the music was changed for what would become the standard edition. The original broadcast version of this episode used "To Be In Love" instead of "The Man in My Life."

I didn't own a VCR back then, so I recorded the series on audio cassette instead. I still have the cassettes, but they're packed away and I can't access them at the moment, which is frustrating because I'd really love to hear what was originally used when this version uses "To Be In Love"! I honestly believe that they just played "To Be In Love" straight through without the dialogue announcing that Minmei was going to sing a second song, but until I can get my hands on those tapes I won't know for certain. I do, however, still have a clip of the original audio where "The Man In My Life" is now used, so I can confidently confirm that change.

(And for what it's worth, I think all the cases where they changed the music were an improvement over the original.) 

Thirdly, in this episode Gloval yells "This is a red alert!" and then "Red Alert" promptly starts. I have no idea if that's coincidence or if the piece of music was given its name from this scene!

And fourth and finally, the preview for the next episode starts very noticeably speeding up the Robotech Theme, and seems to continue speeding it up more and more the longer it goes on! Very odd.

Robotech Theme
Showdown
Khyron's Theme
Confrontation
Shocked (b)
(Alien Attack) Resolve
Broken Heart
Private Time Theme (a2)
Robotech Love Theme II
Victory
The Robotech Masters
Love Triangle (To Be in Love Instrumental)
Earth Government Debriefing
Love Triangle (To Be in Love Instrumental)
Victory
Minmei's Theme
Eyecatch
Khyron's Theme
Drumroll (unreleased)
Miss Macross (My Time to Be a Star Instrumental)
The Man in My Life
To Be in Love
Zentraedi Theme
Red Alert
Robotech Theme
Alien Attack
Zentraedi Theme
Earth Government Debriefing
Imbeciles
The Cosmic Harp (c2)
Robotech Theme (next episode preview - speeding up)
Robotech End Title

24. Showdown Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 24: "Showdown." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: We get the fourth and final piece of "Private Time Themes" used for the first time, when Claudia says goodbye to Lisa. And although a brief clip of "Daydream" was used in "First Contact" when Max infiltrated the Zentraedi ship, this is the only episode where this beautiful piece of music really gets its chance to shine, as the majority of it is used when Claudia speaks to Rick and tries to steer him away from Minmei and towards Lisa.

Returning to the "Is it music or is it a sound effect?" department, we've got the music used in the "Battroid Attack!" video game in this episode. Checking the original Macross episode, I can report that the game music is the same-- making it count as a sound effect, and therefore not a part of the Robotech soundtrack. (And arguably an unreleased piece for a Macross Perfect Memory Soundtrack... but that's a different project).


Robotech Theme
Across the Universe
Private Time Theme (a2)
Earth Government at Work (a)
Private Time Theme (d)
Broken Heart
The Point of No Return
Alien Attack
Red Alert
Robotech Theme
Across the Universe
Robotech Love Theme II
Boobytrap
The Point of No Return
Eyecatch
Earth Government Debriefing
Private Time Theme (a2)
Lifeline (Instrumental)
Boobytrap
Earth Govenrment at Work (a)
The 15th Squadron
Escalations (f1)
The 15th Squadron
Robotech Theme
(Alien Attack) Resolve
Cliffhangers (a)
Private Time Theme (d)
Private Time Theme (b)
(Red Alert) Resolve
Reflections
Daydream
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Title