S2 Works (Evangelion BGM Box Set)

This is undoubtedly the rarest of all the Neon Genesis Evangelion Soundtracks. The S² Works (Shirô Sagisu's works) is also known as the Evangelion BGM Box Set and contains 6 CD's featuring essentially all the background music from the whole series. There is also a special bonus CD containing tracks from both movies as well as a few inspired by the series. Most of this music was either written or arranged by Shiro Sagisu.

This incredible package not only contains the original songs but numerous remixes of each which gives you more Evangelion Music than you could ever need. The list of tracks is as follows, all tracks are encoded with a letter and a number, so repeats of that code means that there are remixes of that specific track.

Disc 1

1. A-1 Rei I
2. A-2 Background Music
3. A-3 NERV
4. A-3 (without harp)
5. A-3 (rhythm only)
6. A-4 Borderline Case
7. A-4 (synthesised voice only)
8. A-5
9. A-6 I, Shinji
10. A-7 Angel Attack II
11. A-7 (rhythm and synthesiser only)
12. A-7 (synthesiser only)
13. A-7 (bridge)
14. A-8
15. A-9 Angel Attack III
16. A-9 (synthesiser only)
17. A-10 Mother is the First Other
18. A-10 (synthesised voice only)
19. A-11 Depression
20. A-11 (synthesised voice only)
21. A-12 Introjection
22. A-13 Separation Anxiety
23. A-13 (rhythm only)
24. B-1 Hedgehog's Dilemma
25. B-2 In the Depths of Human Hearts
26. B-3 Background Music III
27. B-4 Fly Me To The Moon
28. B-4 (strings and piano only)
29. B-4 (strings only)
30. B-4 (piano only)
31. B-4 (guitar and piano only)
32. B-4 (guitar and piano only, mellow)
33. B-4 (piano only, mellow)

Disc 2

1. B-5
2. B-6
3. B-7 When I Find Peace of Mind
4. B-8
5. B-9 Infantile Dependence, Adult Dependency
6. B-9 (without rhythm)
7. B-10
8. B-10 (without guitar)
9. B-12 Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win
10. B-13
11. B-14 The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still
12. B-15
13. B-16 Misato
14. B-16 (rhythm only)
15. B-17 Asuka Strikes!
16. B-17 (rhythm only)
17. B-18
18. B-18 (flute only)
19. B-18 (slower tempo)
20. B-18 (slower tempo, flute only)
21. B-19
22. B-20 Rei II
23. C-1
24. C-1 (without Latin percussion)
25. C-2 Barefoot in the Park
26. C-3
27. C-4 Waking Up in the Morning
28. C-5 Ritsuko
29. C-6 A Crystalline Night Sky
30. C-7 Tokyo-3
31. D-1
32. D-2
33. D-3
34. D-4
35. D-5
36. D-6
37. D-7
38. D-8
39. D-8 (piano only)
40. D-9
41. D-10
42. D-11

Disc 3

1. E-1 Decisive Battle
2. E-1 (rhythm only)
3. E-2
4. E-2 (without brass)
5. E-3 EVA-01
6. E-4 EVA-02
7. E-5 EVA-00
8. E-5 (rhythm only)
9. E-5 (faster tempo)
10. E-5 (faster tempo, rhythm only)
11. E-6 Angel Attack
12. E-7 Marking Time, Waiting for Death
13. E-8 Pleasure Principle
14. E-9 A Step Forward Into Terror
15. E-9 (without intro fanfare)
16. E-9 (rhythm only)
17. E-10
18. E-10 (rhythm only)
19. E-11
20. F-0
21. F-0 (without speech)
22. F-0 (speech only)
23. F-1
24. F-1 (without speech)
25. F-1 (speech only)
26. F-2
27. F-2 (light version)
28. F-4
29. Title words A type
30. Title words B type
31. A-13A type
32. A-13B type Crime of Innocence
33. A-13C type Hostility Restrained
34. A-13D type
35. A-13E type
36. A-14 Rei III
37. A-14 (faster tempo)
38. A-15 She Said, "Don't Make Others Suffer ..."
39. A-15 (rhythm only)
40. A-15 (drum only)
41. A-15 (slower tempo)
42. A-15 (slower tempo, rhythm only)
43. A-15 (slower tempo, drum only)
44. A-16
45. A-16 (rhythm only)
46. A-16 (strings only) Background Music II

Disc 4

1. B-21 A Moment When Tension Breaks
2. B-21 (rhythm only)
3. B-21 (guitar and piano only)
4. B-21 (faster tempo)
5. B-21 (faster tempo, rhythm only)
6. B-21 (faster tempo, guitar and piano only)
7. B-22A type Fly Me To The Moon
8. B-22B type
9. B-22C type
10. C-55A type
11. C-55B type
12. C-55C type
13. C-55D type Three of Me, One of Someone Else
14. C-55E type
15. C-55F type
16. E-12
17. E-12 (rhythm only)
18. E-13 Thanatos
19. E-13 (rhythm only)
20. E-14
21. E-14 (rhythm only)
22. E-15 Magmadiver
23. E-15 (rhythm only)
24. E-15 (faster tempo)
25. E-15 (faster tempo, rhythm only)
26. E-16 The Beast II
27. E-16 (rhythm only)
28. E-16 (faster tempo)
29. E-16 (faster tempo, rhythm only)

Disc 5

1. F-3 Take 1
2. F-3 Take 2 Childhood Memories, Shut Away
3. OP-1
4. OP-1 (strings only)
5. OP-1 (strings only, slower tempo)
6. OP-2A type
7. OP-2B type
8. OP-2C type
9. OP-2D type Good, or Don't Be
10. ED-1A type Fly Me To The Moon
11. ED-1B type
12. A-4 (different version)
13. A-4 (zaka zaka version)
14. A-4 (strings version)
15. A-4 (mellow version)
16. A-4 (mellow version, with piano)
17. A-4 (mellow version, with piano, mellow unison)
18. A-4 (violin solo)
19. A-4 (piano solo)
20. A-4 (piano, normal version)
21. A-4 (piano, mellow version)
22. A-4 (piano, freestyle version)
23. E-13 (short version 1) Thanatos
24. E-13 (short version 2, with piano)
25. E-13 (short version 2, without piano)
26. E-13 (short version, faster tempo, with piano)
27. E-13 (short version, faster tempo, without piano)
28. E-13 (rhythm only)
29. M-2
30. M-3
31. M-3 SUITE
32. M-4
33. M-4 (chorus only)
34. M-5

Disc 6

1. M-6 (slower tempo)
2. M-6 (slower tempo, without guitar)
3. M-6 (slower tempo, rhythm only)
4. M-6 (faster tempo)
5. M-6 (faster tempo, without guitar)
6. M-6 (faster tempo, old version rhythm only)
7. M-6 (faster tempo, new version rhythm only)
8. M-6 (faster tempo, remix)
9. M-7B
10. M-7B (without woodwind)
11. M-7B (new mix)
12. M-8
13. M-8 (chorus delay)
14. M-9
15. M-9 (remix)
16. M-10 Komm Süsser Tod
17. M-10 Director's Edit. Version
18. M-11 Everything You've Ever Dreamed

Bonus Disc

1. Cello Tuning
2. Suiten fur Violoncello solo Nr. 1 G-Dur
3. Dvorzak (Original Complete Version)
4. Violin Tuning
5. Partita III fur Violino solo E-dur, BWV. 1006
6. Viola Tuning
7. Tuning atmosphere
8. Kanon D-dur (normal)
9. Kanon D-Dur (W Quintet)
10. Kanon D-dur (Quintet)
11. Kanon D-dur (Quintet, without chamber barroque)
12. II Air (ORCHESTRAL SUITE in D Major) (slow)
13. II Air (ORCHESTRAL SUITE in D Major)
14. Jesus bleibet meine Freude (with strings, fast)
15. Jesus bleibet meine Freude (with strings)
16. M-10 (no intro, A type)
17. M-10 (no intro, B type)
18. M-13 Take 1 (Incomplete version)
19. M-13 Take 2 (Incomplete version)
20. M-14 (unedited)
21. M-14 later half (unedited)
22. M-15 (incomplete version)
23. Thanatos - If I Can't Be Yours

Note: S² Works (Evangelion BGM Box Set) is the official full title of the CD. See Evangelion Music for further information about namespacing issues.

I was ready to plop down the 60 dollars the comic book store was asking for this little relic, since it had been so heavily hyped to me by fellow Evangleion fans. After "sampling" it on MP3, I'm glad I saved my money. I'm a huge fan of the music from Evangelion, but this collection is basically comprised of tracks found on the other CDs in the Eva musical canon, plus reduced forms of some of the background scores (recordings of the songs with only certain instruments playing, for example, or slightly accelerated or decelerated versions that never appeared in the actual series). Although perhaps it has some esoteric value for being so rare and obscure, the money would be better spent buying Evangelion VOX, Evangelion Refrain, and the Death and Rebirth and End of Eva soundtracks (in addition to the three OSTs, of course).

Don't get me wrong; I spent a great deal of money getting random Eva merchandise, just to do it (I even purchased a copy of the S2 works after deciding it wasn't worth the money). Be warned, however, that this collection has very little intrinsic value compared to the rest of the CDs available (sidestepping, for the moment, the argument that no music has intrinsic value).