Review Summary: You'll love this more then "downward dog", & "cobra" with the "rabbit".
An elevator going up, a man with white hair waiting with a large revolver in one hand and a triple layered beam katana in the other hand, the elevator hits floor 12, and the white haired man open fires. However realizing the elevator was empty spins around to meet the murderer of his brother, and the man reveals himself to be none other then Travis Touchdown. The man in white hair then launches an attack, and Travis decapitates him only to have his head spin in the air and then land on his shoulders as if nothing happened. Travis then sets out on a killing spree to avenge the death of his best friend.
This is what opens you in the video game of which the soundtrack stems from, soundtracks usually have 1 fatal flaw, and that's the fact that the music was made to go with the action and get you pumped in whatever your playing/watching. Upon listening to the soundtrack stream (my fanboy-ism of NMH knows no bounds) and was surprised of how well it sounded without the action to distract me, in fact it's almost a completely different soundtrack. Instead of the dark, & gory side of No More Heroes, the soundtrack devotes to the fun loving, joking, partyboy side of the series. Most of the tracks usually have strong pop punk/straight-forward punk directions, with a side of electronica, metal, and plenty of other genres.
(In the game's 30+ tracks, to save space, and your precious time I shall only hit a few tracks, that aren't meant to be background music). "Nathan Copeland's Theme (Nathan is Our Boss)" is a Japanese rap-song, which is very repetitive (as it is in a 8min. loop) yet it does well as to give you something bob your head to. I'd skip after a few minutes, or when you have your fill. "Margaret's Theme (Moonlight)" was directed by Akira Yamaoka which basically means this sounds like something straight out of Silent Hill, and that's not a bad thing at all. It's eerie, and yet so serene, a very beautiful and mellowing song. "Beam Katana" is an electronic samurai-movie influenced piece (the theme of the first game), it manages to be very catchy and easy to bop your head to. "Jasper Batt Jr. pt.2" is roughly a song that combines punk rocking guitars with electronic beats, and turntable swiffs and woodles. Probably the most fun song to listen to on the entire soundtrack, this is the one song that managed to stand out even during the hectic boss battle at hand. "Death Match" sounds similar to an aggressive Nine Inch Nails instrumental, and "It's Killed or Be Killed" is a lounge song that heavily accompanies the game (the words "No More Heroes" are used throughout the chorus), with a small rap appearance that is however ignorable. "Airport 51" can be easily mistaken as an old anarchistic punk/metal song of the 80's, it sets the mood of bikers and their leather jackets as they grab their women and get ready to go to an underground bar to smack up any wondering fool to dares enter their lair, the bass in this song deserve special mention, despite being chunky and of poor quality it still manages to send off a pretty awesome groove. "Bizarre Jelly 5" is a J-Pop song that could easily be put as a poor anime theme in the vein of Sailor Moon (much like the titular show it goes with), a fun song that pokes at it's genre. "No More No" is the ending theme, and gives you the visual of walking into the sunset, with very moody vocals, and gives an almost western feel.
You're probably noticing I bring up playing the game alot, but that's the goal of the soundtrack is to accompany the game and give it that extra edge. However this soundtrack manages to shine with, and even outshines the explosive action that is blowing up on your TV screen (and that's an impressive feat. considering how hectic things can get). The tracks manage to sound professional, and provide excellent music, that sound great on it's own. Which isn't a feat easy to be done.
