Slayers: Return is the second of the Slayers movies from the mid '90s. The story involves Lina Inverse and Naga getting involved in saving a village from a demonic invasion, but then they find out about some treasure nearby, and you know that nothing can keep Lina from going after treasure. The story is standard Slayers fare, with silly slap-stick gags and lots of comedy. In fact, Return is my favourite of the Slayers movies, probably because Saleena (that's her with the blue hair on the cover) is such a likeable character.

Overall, the soundtrack album for the movie is likeable, as well. While not the greatest soundtrack album ever, the music is of good quality, both in composition and performance, and it can make for an enjoyable listening experience. The one problem the album has, which is not an uncommon fate for soundtrack albums, is that much of the music doesn't stand all that well on its own, when divorced from the context of the show. Before we dwell on that, though, let's look at the music itself.

The majority of the tracks are instrumental, performed by a full symphonic orchestra. The balance of music is roughly 1/3 happy, upbeat tracks, and 2/3 solemn or dramatic tracks. This is an interesting mix, as the movie itself isn't all that serious. They must have re-used the happy tracks a bunch of times in the movie. Because of this balance, Slayers: Return is not that great of a "sit down and chill out" kind of album. Unfortunately, it isn't all that great for introspection, either. You will have about 5 minutes of serious music, enough to really get into a mood, and then those triumphant trumpets kick in and all is right with the world. This happens quite a bit, in fact, as the exact same musical theme (triumphant trumpets, soaring strings, the whole bit) shows up four different times. It is, in fact, basically the same song, just with different lengths and some difference in the ending flair. Track 7, "Lina and Naga are Here," is a great example of this theme.

For the more serious music, there isn't one sole example, as there is a good bit of variety to things. Tracks 5 and 6, for example, hint at danger to come, while track 11 has the danger come at you full bore. Most of these tracks are unique, and I personally appreciate the repeated use of timpani throughout the album. While all of this music is good, there isn't a real "stand out" track to grab your attention. You will get a good sense of unease, but there really isn't anything to make you sit up and pay attention.

There are a number of vocal tracks on the album, as well. In fact, the album starts with two separate pieces by Megumi Hayashibara, herself. Interestingly enough, they put the ending theme, "Just Be Conscious," as the opening song, while "Run All the Way!," which appears early in the film, gets relegated to second place. Both tracks are typical Megumi pieces, consisting of synthy dance-pop with some good electric guitar lines. A third vocal song, "Seriously!," also appears on the album, but I can't tell you who is singing in it. You would think that the liner notes would include information like that, but you would be mistaken. The song itself is rather forgettable, and to be honest with you, I can't even remember where it shows up in the actual movie. Each vocal track actually has two versions of it on the album: the original version, and a secondary version. This consists of remixes/special edits for the Megumi songs, and a karaoke version of "Seriously!" It's not anything great, but if you really like the songs, then having another version of them won't bother you.

In the end, Slayers: Return is a good, but not great, album. The music was quite good in the movie itself, but outside of that immediate context a lot of the tracks fall flat, and don't stand well on their own. While this is not an uncommon malady for soundtracks, it means that Return doesn't ultimately pack much punch, and I can only recommend the album to serious Slayers fans.