I suppose that I should be grateful to see Warner release an 'anime soundtrack' in the US. They even marketed it a fair deal and went so far as to sell a bundle of the Animatrix DVD and CD together. Unfortunately, the disc I bought was more akin to the "inspired-by" albums that accompany most American movies mixed with an Matrix-themed electronica compilation album than an anime soundtrack. (Note that the CD is called "The Album" and not "Original Soundtrack".)

Though most of the songs on the album did indeed appear briefly in a few of the shorts, much of it did not. On top of that, the album is not only missing several excellent electronica songs that appeared more prominently in the shorts than some of those that were included, but also completely devoid of the instrumental pieces by composer Don Davis. I'm not entirely disparaging the album itself. Though much of the music is the repetition-heavy style of trance that doesn't appeal to me personally, I found a few songs that I enjoy. But an opportunity for something more than just another electronic compilation album with a Matrix twist was missed, here.

The few songs that appear untouched, which happens to include the best songs on the album, can be easily be found on stand-alone albums by the artists. (And note that the audio samples I have picked are for the artists I feel worth checking out and not at all representative of the rest of the album.) The remixes, though not found elsewhere, are hardly worth going out of your way for. While I have not heard the original versions of some of the remixes, the ones I have (Who Am I?, Supermoves, and Beauty Never Fades) I feel to be superior in their original form.

Then we have the two songs found only on this album: the last two tracks. The first is Red Pill, Blue Pill, which is entirely composed of dialogue snippets of Lawerence Fishburne's character, Morpheus, in the first Matrix movie. They consist of his distorted voice saying "Take the blue pill. Take the red pill." over and over and over and over again, set to a generic beat. That's it; that's the primary content of the song, with minor variations in the beat and distortion here and there. The album closes with The Real, which is yet more dialogue, primarily of Morpheus, from the Matrix Reloaded, echoed and distorted repeatedly over yet more incessantly homogeneous beats. Even fans of this style of electronica will cringe with me at these two.

The kicker for me was the inclusion of the 'Animatrix Edit' of the fairly lovely, if overexposed (I own the song on at least two other CDs) Who Am I by Peace Orchestra. The version on the album is merely truncated from the original. The real 'mix' of the song that plays during the credits (with the insipid inserts of dialogue from the shorts and movies, which would fit perfectly with the theme of this album) isn't even included!

Even as far as electronica mix albums go, the Animatrix Album is sub-par and there are most certainly better collections out there. Unless you are a Matrix fanatic, there is no good reason to own this album. Even for the few songs that make the album worthwhile to listen to, you would be better served just looking into those artists. (*cough*)

The Animatrix DVD? Yes. The Album CD? NO.