http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsoMhIUg4Hk

Yoko Kanno gets a ton of credit for her musical scores, and deservedly so. It’s worth noting though that she can also write a mean pop song, usually under one of her various pseudonyms. No where is this more evident than with Macross Frontier, with Kanno composing both the score and the majority of the series’ insert songs. Her distinct style is easy to recognize as there is usually some unexpected shift in key or tempo, bringing unique twist to what could otherwise be typical J-Pop.

With music being so critical to the Macross universe, having to be literally powerful enough to change the world, expectations are pretty high for the soundtrack. Songs like Macross Frontier’s first ED, “Diamond Crevasse”, do not disappoint. Boasting Kanno’s pop writing style and giving us our first real showcase of singer May’n’s talents, it’s a big, powerful ballad worthy of its Macross heritage. Rather than track down the original ED, I thought I’d share the performance above, with Kanno playing live and Megumi Nakajima joining on vocals. A truly great song can be appreciated even when it’s stripped down to its most basic elements, and this is my personal favorite rendition of the song.