2005 Soundtrack – Dragonball Z & Z2

Dragon Ball Z & Z 2 Original Soundtrack is the official licensed soundtrack of the first two Dragon Ball Z video games for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube by the same name (known as Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 1 & 2 in English speaking countries). It was released by Team Entertainment on January 19, 2005 in Japan only.

This release was unique in that composer Kenji Yamamoto collaborated with not just the standard Japanese performers of American as well as Japanese artists. American credits include Steve Lukather guitarist of the 1980s rock band Toto and 1970s R&B Soul Funk band Tower of Power who can predominately be heard on tracks 22-24, but despite these credits the album remains a Japanese exclusive. Because this release focuses on the first two PS2 DBZ games, many of Yamamoto’s orchestrated tracks heard in the story modes of both games were left out. Prompting many fans digitally rip music straight from the games themselves. For the most part, the tracks featured are very rock oriented with only a few featuring a jazzy funk vibe thanks in part to Tower of Power’s influence. The back of the jewel casing gives both Japanese and English track listings for the songs, but the English list is not a direct translation of the Japanese. Instead, they are the names that were provided when the games were released as Budokai and Budokai 2. Easily giving the impression that the soundtrack producer anticipated a big demand of importing the album by fans in English speaking countries. Coupled with the soundtrack is a bonus DVD featuring the intro and music videos of the opening theme “Kusuburu heart ni Hi o Tsukero” performed by Hironobu Kageyama, and montage game footage.