Thanks to a certain user-friendly information database that has changed the face of the Internet, the world has been introduced to one of the coolest words ever to grace the English language: disambiguation. Seriously, don’t you wish you had known that word much earlier in life? It would have made explaining certain things so much easier.
But there’s one thing it may not so readily help us with: the m(a/e)n, the mystery, the Kenji Yamamoto. After the jump, learn more about the man/men who composed the music for Metroid and Dragon Ball Z.
Well, actually, Wikipedia is helpful here. Because apparently, the only two “Kenji Yamamoto”s of note are both video game composers! It would be as if there were only two famous “John Williams” people in the world, and they both did film score.
One Yamamoto did the Metroid series (and a number of other Nintendo games), and the other Yamamoto did music for Dragon Ball Z … video games. Not the anime, just the games. Those among us who actually read Japanese can see that there is a difference in their names, though not phonetically. The kanji for Kenji is different. The DBZ Kenji is spelled out as “健司” and the Nintendo Kenji is “健誌” … yeah. Different names (it’s the “Ji” that’s different). But to the untrained eye (and the Romaji-only reader), it may as well be the same guy. In VGM circles, for many years, we poor Gaijin thought he may well be the same guy. This article’s here to let you know the difference.
The “Nintendo” Kenji Yamamoto has had a lot more exposure in the West, mostly because of the solid lineup of games Yamamoto has composed for. But Yamamoto’s music is truly, truly excellent. Anyone who has played Metroid Prime knows that “Phendrana Drifts” is one of the best ambient pieces written in the entire Metroid series. In fact, this Yamamoto did a lengthy interview with “Music4Games Staff” (known to a few of us as “Jayson Napolitano”) regarding Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Good, good stuff.
The DBZ Yamamoto is less well-known, perhaps because some of the earlier DBZ games did not come to America. It took some time before Dragon Ball Z‘s popularity moved from one side of the pacific or the other. I’ve reviewed one of his earliest albums on RPGFan, though most people agree his work on the “Budokai” series trumps it by quite a bit.
Two men, two different styles, one name. May the Yamamoto legacy live on!
Tags: Dragon Ball Z, Editorials, Kenji Yamamoto, Metroid, Nintendo
Yeah, it was only recently that these two people were separated in the minds of VGM fans abroad. Pretty interesting story! I think of that interview as my greatest contribution, and am glad to hear that people still enjoy reading it. Thanks!
I knew they were different because their music styles sound very different. However, many songs in the Dragonball Z game series sound alot like that of Nintendo’s Kenji work. Dragonball Z Kenji has a more western and asian feel to his music, and Nintendo’s Kenji has lots of references to classic roack which he said he was inspired by in Jayson’s interview. But they are both very great composers. I have both their discographies, And listen to them frequently. May the Yamamoto legacy live on!
I meant classic Rock, not roak, in my last comment 🙂
I was the person who split up the articles on Wikipedia. Yay, me!
[…] also add to the spacey ambiance, and the live choir bits had me wishing that Nintendo had given Kenji Yamamoto a real choir to work with instead of the horrible sounding General MIDI choir pads. Maybe […]
Kenji Yamamoto of dragonball budokai was with hironobu kageyama in the budokai music project and he his the pioneer of the japanese progressive rock.His soundtrack Challengers is fantastic and i think that kenji dragonball is a great composer and he does a gener that is similar at Stratovarius , but he is plus rock.But Kenji of Metroid is bad.I’m italian so my english is not perfect arrivederci
“Most people” might agree that DBZ Yamamoto’s work on the Budokai series trumps his older work, but after having listened to it I have to said I prefer his previous works. The new tracks are… I dunno, a little too much like generic J-rock themes to me. I do tend to prefer more classically inspired tracks, or SNES/PSX-era VGM though. I found the tracks in Super Gokuuden Totsugeki-Hen/Kakusei-Hen are surprisingly awesome for someone of such little repute. The arrange albums are brilliant – an ode to all the hours I spent struggling through those games in Japanese in early adolescence. Hell yeah!
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