Nostalgic upload: English Pokemon CDs

Back in the day, I used to collect everything Pokemon, including the English music CDs that were released in 1999 through 2001. Recently, I grew nostalgic for these old songs and, realizing that it’s hard to come across the CDs nowadays, I decided to upload the 6 English Pokemon CDs that I have for your listening/nostalgic pleasure XD

In terms of music and CDs, Pokemon is definitely unlike any other anime released in the U.S. Nearly 100 original, full-size songs were composed for the Pokemon TV show and movies and released on about 10 CDs during the height of Pokemon’s popularity in the U.S., between 1999 and 2001. Though this pales in comparison to the number of Pokemon songs and CDs released in Japan, it’s still a record-breaker for an anime series in America, even amongst other American cartoons.

And now for what you really want, the CDs themselves. Let nostalgia abound with these old Pokemon tunes XD Each CD is compressed into a zip file and the songs are in 320kbps mp3 format…

Pokemon 2.B.A. MasterReleased June, 1999

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Theme
02) 2B A Master
03) Viridian City
04) What Kind of Pokemon are You?
05) My Best Friends
06) Everything Changes
07) The Time Has Come (Pikachu’s Goodbye)
08) Pokemon (Dance Mix)
09) Double Trouble
10) Together Forever
11) Misty’s Song
12) PokeRAP
13) You Can Do It (If You Really Try)

The very first English Pokemon CD, and I’m sure most fans will agree, the best. I believe this CD even topped certain music charts when it was released. It includes the full-version of the English Pokemon theme song used in the Kanto episodes, the full-version of the PokeRap, full-versions of the 6 songs used in the Pikachu’s Jukebox segment, and 5 songs that were heard at some point in the episodes or were exclusive to this CD.

Download the Pokemon 2.B.A. Master songs here.

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Pokemon The First Movie SoundtrackReleased November, 1999

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Theme (movie version) [Billy Crawford]
02) Don’t Say You Love Me [M2M]
03) It Was You [Ashley Ballard with So Plush]
04) We’re A Miracle [Christina Aguilera]
05) Soda Pop [Britney Spears]
06) Somewhere Someday [N’SYNC]
07) Get Happy [B*Witched]
08) (Hey You) Free Up Your Mind [Emma Bunton]
09) Fly With Me [98°]
10) Lullaby [Mandah]
11) Vacation [Vitamin C]
12) Makin’ My Way (Any Way That I Can) [Billie]
13) Catch Me If You Can [Angela Via]
14) (Have Some) Fun With The Funk [Aaron Carter]
15) If Only Tears Could Bring You Back [Midnight Sons]
16) Brother My Brother [Blessid Union Of Souls]

An issue that fans have with this CD is that it included songs that have nothing to do with Pokemon; songs by current pop singers and bands, most likely for the promotion of these artists rather than for the Pokemon movie itself. Only about 5 of these songs actually appeared in the movie, and only about 3 could really be called Pokemon-related. But while most of these songs are forgettable, some of them are good.

Download the Pokemon First Movie Soundtrack here.

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Pokemon 2000 The Power of One SoundtrackReleased July, 2000

Track Listing
01) The Power of One [Donna Summer]
02) Dreams [Alysha Antonino]
03) They Don’t Understand [Dream Street]
04) Wonderland [Angela Via]
05) With All Your Heart [plus ONE]
06) The Extra Mile [Laura Pausini]
07) Flying Without Wings [Westlife]
08) Pokemon World (movie version) [Youngstown and Nobody’s Angel]
09) Blah, Blah, Blah [Devotion 2 Music]
10) Polkaman [“Weird” Al Yankovic]
11) The Chosen One [The B-52s]
12) One Heart [O-Town]
13) One [Denisse Lara]
14) Comin’ to the Rescue [O-Town]
15) Dance of the Bellossum (from Pikachu’s Rescue Adventure Score)
16) The Legend Comes to Life (from The Power of One Score)

Perhaps fans’ complaints about the first movie soundtrack were taken into account, since this second movie soundtrack includes a lot more songs centered around Pokemon or the “power of one” theme of the movie. We even get something that rarely occurs for any American cartoon series; inclusion of instrumental-only tracks on the CD. “The Legend Comes to Life” score is beautiful and very much based on the original Japanese melody. But though the theme of this CD is more focused, the majority of songs are still pretty mediocre. Some are good, but in my opinion Donna Summer’s powerful song blows the others away XD

Download the Pokemon 2000 soundtrack here.

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Totally PokemonReleased January, 2001

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Johto
02) Pikachu (I Choose You)
03) All We Wanna Do
04) The Game
05) He Drives Me Crazy
06) You and Me and Pokemon
07) Biggest Part of My Life
08) Do Ya Really Wanna Play
09) Song of Jigglypuff
10) Two Perfect Girls
11) Never Too Far from Home
12) Pokerap GS
13) Pokemon Johto [karaoke]
14) Pikachu (I Choose You) [karaoke]
15) All We Wanna Do [karaoke]
16) You and Me and Pokemon [karaoke]
17) Song of Jigglypuff [karaoke]
18) Two Perfect Girls [karaoke]
19) Pokerap GS [karaoke]

The largest of all the U.S. Pokemon CDs, this one includes the full-version of the Pokemon Johto theme song, the GS PokeRap, full-versions of the 5 songs from the Pokemon Karaokemon segment, and a few other extra songs. And, amazingly similar to the Japanese CDs, karaoke versions of 7 songs! This has got to be one of the few English TV show CDs that includes karaoke versions of songs. Though this is common in Japan, it’s quite rare in the U.S. As a whole, I think the songs on 2.B.A. Master are better, but these ones are still fun.

Download the Totally Pokemon songs here.

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Pokemon 3 The Ultimate SoundtrackReleased April, 2001

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Johto (movie version)
02) To Know the Unknown
03) Pikachu (I Choose You)
04) All We Wanna Do
05) He Drives Me Crazy
06) You and Me and Pokemon
07) Song of Jigglypuff
08) Pokemon GS
09) Two Perfect Girls
10) Pokemon Johto
11) Biggest Part of My Life
12) Medley from Spell Of the Unown
13) Pikachu (I Choose You) [karaoke]
14) Song Of Jigglypuff [karaoke]
15) You and Me and Pokemon [karaoke]

This CD is one of the first signs of Pokemon’s decline in the U.S.; not only was it the last English Pokemon movie CD, it included only 3 new tracks. The rest were all recycled from the Totally Pokemon CD. But it was nice to get another instrumental track, and “To Know the Unknown” is one of my favorites of the English songs.

Download the Pokemon 3 soundtrack here. Just note, the file only includes the tracks exclusive to this CD – 01, 02, and 12. The rest I’ve already uploaded in the Totally Pokemon file above.

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Pokemon Christmas BashReleased October, 2001

Track Listing
01) Pokemon Christmas Bash
02) I’m Giving Santa a Pikachu for Christmas
03) Winter is the Coolest Time of Year
04) Nobody Don’t Like Christmas
05) I Keep My Home in My Heart
06) The Christmas Song
07) Under the Mistletoe
08) Must Be Santa
09) The Night Before Christmas
10) Christmas Medley
11) I’m Giving Santa a Pikachu for Christmas [karaoke]
12) Christmas Medley [karaoke]

After the disappointment of the third movie soundtrack, I was glad that this last English Pokemon CD goes out with a bang. What makes this CD so great? It’s the most like a Japanese anime CD in the fact that all the songs are sung by the actual voice actors of the characters! (two karaoke tracks were even thrown in as well =D) Yes, the talented and much-loved 4Kids Pokemon voice actors perform all the songs on this CD. The only other previous English Pokemon songs to be sung by the voice actors themselves were “Double Trouble” and “Two Perfect Girls.” Although this CD was not promoted very much, I think it was great to finally have the actual characters sing the songs. But unfortunately, being the last English Pokemon CD, this is the only time we’ll ever see something like this with a U.S. anime CD.

Download the Pokemon Christmas Bash songs here.

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Besides these 6 CDs, there were a handful of other English Pokemon CDs released during the time, but I believe these were the best and most popular ones. Pokemon was definitely unlike any other anime released in the U.S.; Sailor Moon, Digimon, DragonBall Z, and Yu-Gi-Oh! maybe had one or two CDs each, but I don’t even think there was any American-made cartoon show that received so much musical promotion in just a few years like Pokemon did. Unfortunately, since 2002 and beyond, Pokemon’s popularity in America has never been what it used to be in those first 3 years. But there’s no doubt that it was a major help in opening up the door for anime’s subsequent popularity in the U.S.

Well, I hope you enjoy the nostalgia of these songs from nearly a decade ago ^^ Let me know if you experience any problems with the files.