Robotech: Love Live Alive Music Notes

I'm not going to do a full write-up for Robotech: Love Live Alive, since the vast majority of it is simply a clip show from Robotech's final 23 episodes, 6 of which I just rewatched this week. All of the scenes where I remembered any music that was used in the original at all was exactly the same here. Now, to be completely fair I must confess that I only watched it in full the first time when it came out in 2013, and on this rewatch I just watched anything that seemed to have the slightest bit of something new in it and skimmed over the obvious clip show parts.

Also along those lines, the TV footage used here is (understandably) from the Remastered version. I mention this because I've set this guide up using the standard version. This is another reason why some music may have been changed, but since I'm not taking my usual fine-toothed comb to it then it may have slipped past me

Still, there's some interesting points worth mentioning:

• The DVD menu loops the beginning guitar portion of "Deep Space Swagger," an unused piece of Sentinels music. So while it never made it into any of the animation, it is technically new music. It is included on the 30th Anniversary Soundtrack as part of the Sentinels music, two tracks before the Robotech: Love Live Alive music.

• The opening scenes are the only new music actually used in the animation, so the two tracks Robotech Main Theme (Love Live Alive version) and Zentraedi Theme (Love Live Alive version) on the 30th Anniversary Soundtrack make the soundtrack complete as far as this sequel is concerned.

• The new animation segment showing Lance Belmont and Yellow Squadron going into battle features the "Enemy Attack/(Confrontation)/Resolve" edit as used on the 1996 Robotech Perfect Soundtrack (but without the Resolve portion. From there it goes into "Look Up"). So while it isn't really new music, it gives that odd mash-up a little more validity for now having been used onscreen that way.

• In one of the new clips where the image is frozen as Lancer's narration introduces the cast, "Cliffhangers (d)" is used, which is pretty rare. It was only used complete in the TV series three times (and incomplete once).

• When Lancer says goodbye to Rook, Rand, and Annie before the battle at Reflex Point, his line of "In the meantime you can always buy my records" has been changed to "In the meantime you can always buy my recordings."  Sign o' the times.

• "Only a Fool" seems to be edited to reuse some of the instrumental parts in the beginning to better fit the end credits, which is a pretty standard practice. (And speaking of which, why was "Only a Fool" chosen over "Underground" here anyway? Being sung by Michael Bradley, just like all the Yellow Dancer songs, makes it a much more logical choice to use for the end credits of a Lancer-centric video. Go figure.)


...And lastly, I have to editorialize just a bit here: the original Mospeada: Love Live Alive used new versions of classic Mospeada songs in addition to new songs, which then lead to a new soundtrack release. Michael Bradley has already made new versions of the Yellow Dancer songs (available at his website, michaelbradleymusic.com). Those albums were done and released before the Robotech: Love Live Alive project was even started. This was a perfect opportunity to use them here and maybe even commission some new songs, which could have led to another soundtrack. They did it with Scott Glasgow for the BGM, so why not do it for Yellow Dancer as well? It could be that they didn't want to spend the money when they already own the original versions. Or it could be because sadly Harmony Gold has been infamous for not paying royalties to their artists, which has led to bridges being burned and thus no new Yellow Dancer music, for this project or any other. Either way, it's an absolutely heartbreaking loss, and Robotech: Love Live Alive will always feel like a missed opportunity to be something more than it was.

87. Robotech the Movie Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in Robotech: The Movie. Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: The obvious pieces of new music used in Robotech: The Movie are the six new songs made specifically for this movie (five of which were sadly left off of the Robotech 30th Anniversary Soundtrack). But there are quite a few more hidden gems in here.

For starters the music from the songs "Saved by Science" and "Only a Fool" are both also used as instrumental background music. For the first use of "Underground," it includes the vocals for the verses but then goes to instrumental for the chorus to accentuate the movie dialogue, and then uses just the chorus by itself later in the movie.  There was a 12" single mix of "Underground" released back in 1986 that does include an instrumental chorus at one point, so it's arguable that portion of the music has been released even if it was edited differently-- but it's certainly never been released on a Robotech soundtrack.

We've also got a slew of other pieces, about half of which are more unreleased Sentinels music, and the other half are from Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years. Two of the Sentinels pieces are included on the soundtrack, "The Sentinels" and "Into the Unknown." "Into the Unknown" and the unreleased "Sentinels Sales Pitch" were also used in the Sentinels Sales Reel, but you can decide for yourself which of these two appearances counts as its first "official" usage. The piece that I've referred to here as "Reckless Cycle Driving" is a more high-energy, almost comedic version of the theme used in "The Sentinels" and "A Penny for Your Thoughts," and was also the second piece that Michael Bradley briefly streamed on MySpace back in 2008.

Now I'm not saying there's enough new material here to justify the expense and work of adding a fourth CD to the soundtrack, but all the tracks exclusive to RtM, including both the regular versions, instrumental versions, and the 12" single version of "Underground," plus the unreleased background music comes up to a total running time of 46:34. And that's basing it on the usage they got in the movie, presumably some of the tracks might run longer (assuming they even still exist). Disc 2 of the Robotech 30th Anniversary Soundtrack, by comparison, runs 45:18. It's also worth noting that just the 6 RtM songs themselves (including "Only a Fool" which was used in Robotech: Love Live Alive and thus included on Disc 3) runs a total of 25:58, and Disc 2 has 34 minutes worth of unused space. You do the math.

As with The Sentinels, all titles used for the unreleased tracks were completely made up by me. For some of the more prominent Harlock tracks I took a page from the Robotech soundtracks and started naming them after Harlock episode titles.

Robotech Theme (Enhanced Version)
Black Magic
The Raid
Boobytrap
Call On Me
Special Bulletin music - unreleased
The Point of No Return
Special Bulletin music - unreleased
Mark's TV BackGround Music - unreleased
Intrigue
The 15th Squadron
Cliffhangers (b)
In My Heart
 Suspense
Reckless Cycle Driving - unreleased (aka Michael Bradley's "Sentinels 1")
Underground - (includes unreleased portion where the chorus vocals were removed and played as instrumental background music to accentuate the movie dialogue)
Roy Fokker's Theme
Alien Attack
Escalations (f1)
Private Time Theme (b)
The Robotech Masters
Earth Government Debriefing
Earth Government at Work (a)
(Alien Attack) Resolve
Mission Accomplished
Expeditionary Debriefing
Saved by Science (instrumental) - unreleased 
The Future is Now
Only a Fool
Invid Theme (Flower of Life Instrumental)
The 15th Squadron
Black Magic
Call On Me
EVE Explains - unreleased (Harlock music?)
Across the Universe
Showdown
(Alien Attack) Resolve
Desolation
BD Andrews Counter-Explains - unreleased
Escalations (a)
Underground (chorus vocals)
Only a Fool (Instrumental) - unreleased
In My Heart
Memory Matrix Upload Update - unreleased  
Into the Unknown - [Previously only used in the Sentinels Sales Reel]
Broken Heart
Black Magic
Rocket Science
Private Time Theme (b)
Saved By Science
The Point of No Return
Zeb's Escape Attempt - unreleased, used twice in The Sentinels.
Catastrophe
Private Time Theme (a1)
Black Magic
Cliffhangers (b)
Reconstruction Blues
Hellcats
Escalations (f2)
Showdown
Biomechanical
Reconstruction Blues
Black Magic
Sentinels Sales Pitch - unreleased  - [Previously only used in the Sentinels Sales Reel] 
Cat and Mouse [Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years] - unreleased
The Sentinels
Saved by Science (Instrumental) - unreleased 
Attack on the Airport - unreleased [Harlock? It sounds very Gogaesque.]
Battlestations
The Raid
The SDF-1
Roy Fokker's Theme
Incoming
To Catch a Captain [Harlock] - unreleased
Crisis
The Future Is Now

86a. Robotech II: The Sentinels Sales Reel Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the Robotech II: The Sentinels Sales Reel. Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: This promotional video (which also made the rounds at conventions before the first Sentinels video was offically released on VHS) featured three pieces of music not used in the final Sentinels video. The two that can still be heard in the home video release are included on the 30th Anniversary Soundtrack; however the final "Sentinels Sales Pitch" segment was completely removed for the home video release. The only record of this piece of music that I know of is an old cassette tape that I used to record the preview at the Creation Robotech Convention in King of Prussia, PA in October 1986. You can listen to it here.


Robotech Theme (Enhanced Version)
Into the Unknown
The REF March
The Raid
The Mystery of Protoculture
Hellcats
Sentinels Sales Pitch - unreleased

86. Robotech II: The Sentinels Music Guide

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

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  Before I even get started, I have to address the question of which came first, Robotech II: The Sentinels or Robotech: The Movie? On the one hand, I've read that the only reason they were able to record the new "Robotech Theme (Enhanced Version)" was because of Robotech the Movie, so that would imply it came first. But on the other hand, Robotech: The Movie heavily reuses music that we know was written first for The Sentinels. I suspect there was all this crossover because they were both being worked on at more or less the same time in 1986. Counting which one comes first would then seem to depend on which one was released first, but even that isn't cut and dry. Robotech: The Movie did premiere in 35 movie theaters in Texas and ran for at least three weeks, but thanks to Cannon Films' reaction to that Texas run it failed to ever get a nationwide release in the United States, leading many people to consider it as unreleased to this day, while The Sentinels has been released twice on VHS and multiple times on DVD (although I think only one time uncut). So Sentinels wins, right? Well, not really, because Robotech: The Movie did get a nationwide home video release by Rank Home Video in the UK in 1987 (thanks, Memory Matrix!) beating The Sentinels to any kind of wide release by at least nine months!

So here's my verdict: Harmony Gold did release The Sentinels on home video worldwide first, and did not give Robotech: The Movie a worldwide release until the edited version in the 2011 box set. So as far as this blog goes, The Sentinels wins. If you disagree, well then... feel free to arrange your MP3s differently! It's all good.

With that out of the way, let's talk Sentinels music!

The new "Sequel Music Collection" disc in the Robotech 30th Anniversary Soundtrack is the best collection of Sentinels music ever released. It doesn't cover everything, but it comes damn near close, and gets major bonus points for including tracks that were never used. (So why didn't they include all the music used in the Sentinels video if they had room left over for the unused music? My guess is they don't have it anymore. The HG staff have been very open about how much of their original master tapes have been lost over the years.) All titles given to the unreleased tracks in this listing are (as usual) completely made up by yours truly.

Some of the music on the CD seems to have been taken not from the original master recordings of the actual music, but from the Sentinels video itself. This explains why "A Penny for Your Thoughts" makes such a dramatic and obvious cut at the very end of the song; it completely mirrors the way the track was used in the video, and that was where the music needed to change because the scene ended. (I'm guessing no one checked with the composer Michael Bradley himself, because he briefly streamed the complete piece on his MySpace page (remember MySpace?) back in 2006, along with another unreleased piece of  Sentinels music. At the time he seemed to be under the impression that neither piece had been used, but they both had, one here and the other in Robotech: The Movie. It's a shame that Harmony Gold has burned their bridges by not paying royalites to their artists, and having a soundtrack with an edited song when the full version still exists is sadly another example of how it's hurt all of us in the long run.)

"Procession of the Invid" seems to have a similar situation, but it's an odd bird. The CD release runs 1:11. From 0:00 - 0:50 it sounds like one piece of music, and then it starts to change its tone into a different piece, with a more upbeat tempo and different melody.  The transition is so natural I'm inclined to believe that it was originally composed that way; perhaps the upbeat part is the musical "bridge" portion of the song and it would have gone back to the first part? We'll probably never know, because it fades out pretty quickly on the CD.

But here's where it gets weird-- the upbeat part is the one that's used when the Regent's shuttle arrives earlier in the video, but the video version runs longer! And this isn't just the part on the CD being looped, this is a new portion of the song not included on the CD. And just to make things even more confusing, the entire set of both pieces is used later in the video when the Regis and Regent are arguing with each other, including the transition to the upbeat part-- but then the first part of the song just starts again over top of it! So I'm inclined to believe that "Progression of the Invid" as it appears on the CD is taken from the Sentinels video master print, but whether that itself was originally a creative editing of two songs or just the song being cut in half and used in two locations, I have no idea.

And lastly, there's the Captain Harlock issue. There's two pieces of music used in this video that were both heavily used in Harmony Gold's Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years. Harlock credited Jack Goga for "Theme and Principal Music" in its opening credits, and James L. Hart for "Incidental Music" in its closing credits. And Harlock recycled very little music from previous projects; it reuses the "Intrigue (final notes)" sting that was used so often in the second half of Robotech, but otherwise it was all original, and very much all had the same feel. And lastly, the end credits establish a copyright for the music dated 1985. So when The Sentinels came out and it featured two pieces in it that I recognized from Harlock, I just assumed both pieces were recycled. The Sentinels video credits do include Jack Goga along with Michael Bradley, Steve Wittmack, Arlon Ober, and Ulpio Minucci, which would seem to back that up.

So I was very pleasantly surprised to find one of those Harlock tracks (specifically "Crisis") included on the 30th Anniversary CD, and credited to Bradley and Wittmack! I don't honestly believe it's correct; either Harlock Music Editor John Mortoratti fell in love with this one piece of Sentinels music and mixed it in with Goga and Hart's music and failed to credit Bradley & Wittmack, or this piece was just pulled from the Harmony Gold Music archives and used in the Sentinels, and upon its recent rediscovery was miscredited to Bradley & Wittmack. The style is much more in tune with Harlock then Sentinels in my opinion, so I believe it's the latter. But I may never know for sure.


Robotech Theme (Enhanced Version) - TV length still unreleased; CD version has been extended. 
The Young Warriors
Reprimand
Earth Government at Work (a)
Private Time Theme (a1)
Bliss Theme (a)
Private Time Theme (b) 
Incoming
Intrigue 
Zeb's Escape Attempt - unreleased
 Hellcats
Procession of the Invid (second portion - 0:50-1:11, includes unreleased music) 
The SDF-3
Robotech Love Theme I
The Zentraedi
Rick Hunter's Theme
Minmei's Theme
The SDF-3 
Expeditionary Debriefing
The REF March
Incoming
The Point of No Return
Hellcats 
Crisis 
Procession of the Invid (main portion (0:00-0:50) plus brief usage of second portion before going back to the first portion.)
Hellcats (intro only) 
Rocket Science
The SDF-3
The REF March
Black Magic
 Private Time Theme (c)
The Way to Love (Minmei Version)
Dissension
Expeditionary Love Theme
A Penny for Your Thoughts (Soundtrack version has the same edit as is used in the video.)
At the Alter
Reflections
Robotech Love Theme I
Reflections
At the Alter
The Raid
Invid vs. Bioroid Battle - unreleased
Expeditionary Debriefing
Zeb's escape attempt - unreleased 
Interrogation - unreleased 
Tirol Has Fallen - unreleased
At the Alter
The REF March 
Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years Victory Music - unreleased
Together
It's You (Piano Version)
The SDF-3
It's You
The Regent
Robotech Theme (Enhanced Version)

85. Symphony of Light Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 85: "Symphony of Light." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
When "Red Alert" is used for the final time at the 12:50 point (in the scene where the decision is made to launch the Neutron S missiles) the track is very sped up. I've always found this to be very jarring no matter how many times I've seen this episode. The music cues are often sped up or slowed down to better fit the scene or convey the mood, but it's usually very slight and not noticeable, and after hearing this piece 81 times over all 85 episodes to hear it so radically altered always throws me. I assume their goal was to to ramp up the tension for such a climactic scene; whether it was successful or not I leave up to the individual viewer.

And so we come to the end. Robotech closes on a new song, "The Way to Love (Yellow Dancer version)," which is fitting for a series so tied to music. It's a third-person love song, which works well with Yellow Dancer having just revealed she's really Lancer to the audience, and it's also a cover of a Minmei song, although we wouldn't realize it until a couple of years later.

For more on that, be sure to tune in tomorrow... Robotech may be over, but the Robotech Perfect Memory Soundtrack Project hasn't reached the end quite yet!

Robotech Theme
Alien Attack
Red Alert
Battlestations
The 15th Squadron
Khyron's Theme
Reflections
Zentraedi Theme
Rick Hunter's Theme
Reflections
Eyecatch
Alien Attack
The Robotech Masters
Red Alert (very sped up)
The 15th Squadron
Roy Fokker's Theme
Biomechanical
United Earth Government Theme
We Will Win (Yellow Dancer version)
The Way to Love (Yellow Dancer version)
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Titles

84. Dark Finale Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 84: "Dark Finale." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: Normally in an episode you get one or two of the battle themes, but this one brings them all out, which is fitting for the beginning of the climax of the series.

Also, the final "sting" notes of "Intrigue" seems to have completely won over music editor John Morttarotti, as it's now being used pretty much exclusively over any of the "Shocked" pieces.

Robotech Theme
Battlestations
The SDF-1
Red Alert
Cyclone Theme
Zentraedi Theme
Showdown
Alien Attack
Invid Theme (Flower of Life Instrumental)
Intrigue (final notes)
Eyecatch
Red Alert
Invid Theme (Flower of Life Instrumental)
Zentraedi Theme
Invid Theme (Flower of Life Instrumental)
Musica's Theme
Roy Fokker's Theme
The Robotech Masters
Battlestations
Khyron's Theme
Musica's Theme
Intrigue (final notes)
The Robotech Masters
Alien Attack
The Point of No Return
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Titles

83. Reflex Point Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 83: "Reflex Point." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

Robotech Theme
Invid Theme (Flower of Life Instrumental)
Showdown
Desolation
Intrigue (final notes)
Escalations (a)
Cliffhangers (c)
The Point of No Return
Boobytrap
Khyron's Theme
Eyecatch
(Red Alert) Resolve
Musica's Theme
Escalations (f1)
Intrigue
Battlestations
Alien Attack
The 15th Squadron
Boobytrap
The Point of No Return
Broken Heart
Intrigue (final notes)
Reconstruction Blues
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Titles

82. The Big Apple Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 82: "The Big Apple." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: No new music in this one, but we do get three Yellow Dancer songs, so that's a big plus.

Robotech Theme
Private Time Theme (b)
Boobytrap
Private Time Theme (a2)
Victory
Private Time Theme (a1)
Lonely Soldier Boy
Robotech Love Theme II (closing note only)
Intrigue
Ineptitude
Intrigue (closing notes only)
Imbeciles
It Don't Get Any Better
Khyron's Theme
Zentraedi Theme
Red Alert
Eyecatch
Biomechanical
Alien Attack
Roy Fokker's Theme
Cyclone Theme
Look Up (The Sky Is Falling)
The SDF-1
Rick Hunter's Theme
The Robotech Masters
Robotech Theme
Victory
Look Up (The Sky Is Falling)
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Titles

81. Hired Gun Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 81: "Hired Gun." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: "(Alien Attack) Resolve" and "Reconstruction Blues" fall in the same order on the soundtrack as they do at the beginning of this episode.

Robotech Theme
Khyron's Theme
The 15th Squadron
(Alien Attack) Resolve
Reconstruction Blues
(Red Alert) Resolve
Alien Attack
Showdown
The Point of No Return
Reflections
Robotech Love Theme I
Lonely Soldier Boy
Shocked (d)
Eyecatch
Broken Heart
Private Time Theme (a2)
Hard Times
Red Alert
Boobytrap
(Alien Attack) Resolve
Intrigue (closing notes)
The Robotech Masters
Alien Attack
Intrigue (closing notes)
The 15th Squadron
Khyron's Theme
The Point of No Return
Reconstruction Blues
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Titles

80. Birthday Blues Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 80: "Birthday Blues." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: The big one is we have a new track this episode, as Lancer's version of "We Will Win" makes its debut.

The first two uses of "The Point of No Return" use only the closing climactic notes, and in the second case it's been slowed down to fit the length of the scene. The third time it's used complete.

Robotech Theme
Broken Heart
Zentraedi Theme
Victory
The Point of No Return
Khyron's Theme
Intrigue
Cyclone Theme
Reflections
The Point of No Return (slowed down)
The Point of No Return
Cliffhangers (a)
Victory
Bliss Theme (a)
Boobytrap
(Alien Attack) Resolve
Robotech Love Theme I
Ineptitude
Khyron's Theme
Biomechanical
Khyron's Theme
Red Alert
Roy Fokker's Theme
Victory
We Will Win (Yellow Dancer Version)
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Titles

79. Frost Bite Music Guide

What follows is a list of all the music that appeared in the standard version of Robotech episode 79: "Frostbite." Bold text denotes that this is the first appearance of that piece of music.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: We hear Minmei's vocal version of My Time to Be a Star for the first time since way back in episode 30, Viva Miriya. And we hear Broken Heart for Marlene again. Yes, I'm keeping score.

Robotech Theme
Boobytrap
Intrigue
The Point of No Return
Musica's Theme
Private Time Theme (a1)
Cliffhangers (c)
Robotech Love Theme II
Shocked (b)
Robotech Love Theme I
It's You (instrumental version) [Only available on the It's You EP]Robotech Love Theme II
Eyecatch
My Time to Be a Star
Lifeline (instrumental)
The Hive
Private TIme Theme (c)
Shocked (b)
Broken Heart
The Hive
Zentraedi Theme
Alien Attack
Robotech Theme
The SDF-1
Catastrophe
Musica's Theme
Robotech Theme (next episode preview)
Robotech End Titles