Years before The Right Stuf and ADV Films started releasing domestic versions of anime soundtracks, JVC Musical Industries in Los Angeles put out a few soundtracks of their own. This particular album, while a few years old and out of print, is perfect for another look because of the recent release of the You're Under Arrest OAVs on DVD by AnimEigo (the OAVs are on the first disc in the series), along with the first television series (the rest of the discs in the series).

This soundtrack contains all of the music from the 4 episode OAV series, originally released in Japan in 1994 and 1995. The music in the show is primarily electronic keyboard work, though some tracks use other instruments, such as real drums, a trombone, or a saxophone. The opening and ending themes also lean very heavily on keyboards, though you can detect some other instruments filling out the sound.

Let's start with the above-mentioned theme songs. Similar to the vocal themes from the Ah, My Goddess! OAVs, the Japanese voice actresses for the two main characters sing the opening and closing themes, rather than professional singers. The opener, 100mph Courage, stands on its own, though it's pretty standard fare and doesn't really grab me. It's fun to listen to, but as a stand-alone song I like the ending theme, With All the Passion I Have, better. It uses special keyboard playing in the beginning to mimic a police siren, which you might think wouldn't work well, but it actually works very well and gives it a unique sound and feel. It is a little more reserved than the opener, but not by much, and it is definitely a catchy tune. I find myself humming this song in random places (the elevator, the Metro station, the bathroom), so you can tell it has burrowed its way into my brain.

The background tracks are a different story. As one would expect for background music, some of the music is gentle filler for slower parts of the story, some of it is peppy to provide backing to humorous conversations, and some of the music is aggressive to backup chase scenes and other action elements of the show. What I didn't expect was the repetition in the soundtrack. A number of the tracks are the exact same song as a previous track on the album, but with a different edit or arrangement. Let me give you two examples: Bokuto Police Department is the same song as On Patrol, but with a different arrangement and length. In the same vein, Natsumi Takes a Shortcut is the same song as Chase, but with a different arrangement and length. I could give more examples, but you probably get the point. There's nothing inherently wrong with this (I really like the arrangement for On Patrol), but you will likely experience some deja vu when listening to this album the first time.

As a pure listening album, this album does not work very well for me. When I pay close attention to the individual songs, I am generally not impressed with their musical quality. The songs are perfectly serviceable little songs, but that's about it. I really like some of them, like New Partner and Ken-Chan to the Rescue, but most of them are over too quickly, and you are not given enough time to really get into them. However, as general background music when you're doing something else, like writing a letter or reading a good book, the album works much better. When you aren't focusing on the individual songs the album blends together pretty well. Even though many of the musical themes show up multiple times, for the most part they are placed apart from each other on the album. There are a few exceptions to this rule (e.g., the Typhoon songs are too close to each other), but for the most part it holds true.

This is what the album's best use is; general background music. It's not the best soundtrack I have, but I enjoy enough of it to make it worth pulling out and listening to on occasion. If you have never seen the You're Under Arrest OAVs then you probably won't find much to like here; there is definitely more exciting stuff elsewhere. If you have seen and like the show, then this album is a nice thing to have playing in the background from time to time. You won't be blown away by the music, but you will smile to yourself from time to time as the songs make you remember parts of the show.

Notes on packaging and domestic vs. import version: First, the liner booklet includes a note from original story creator Kosuke Fujishima. It's not really important, but for Fujishima nuts like myself it's a nice touch. Second, you get translated lyrics for the opening and ending themes, which is cool. Lastly, if you want to get this album but can't find a copy of the JVC domestic release, you might be able to find a copy of the Japanese release, which is entitled "You're Under Arrest original soundtrack 1 1/2." The reason for the "1 1/2" is because it comes with a second CD (a 3-inch CD, I believe) that includes some audio dramas with the main characters from the show. If you're totally in love with the voice actresses, you might prefer the Japanese version.