Your Favorite Non-Gundam Anime Soundtracks/Songs

[bhayes82]

i'm trying to go back to my favorite anime's that had memorable songs that still hold up well now in 2021

Macross Plus - Information High (the song that plays when Isamu is entering Earth's atmosphere in episode 4)
8 Man After - The Host (the main theme)
Project A-Ko - Explosion
Sonic X - S Team #1 (song plays in episode 1 of subbed japanese version with the police are chasing Sonic)
Bubblegum Crisis - Mysterious Night (Moonlight Rambler) [ENGLISH VERSION]
Fist of the North Start - Heart of Madness / Purple Eyes (instrumental)

[Underrated GM Custom]

i'm trying to go back to my favorite anime's that had memorable songs that still hold up well now in 2021

Are you looking for Mecha Anime songs outside of Gundam? Here are a few that spring to mind:

Evangelion - Great OP & ED, nice orchestral pieces like "The Beast"
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Likewise with "Libera me" being an impressive song in the line up
Escaflowne - Dance of Curse is a phenomenal song
Then if you're in a Yoko Kanno mood there's also Cowboy Bebop and Macross Plus

[tHeWasTeDYouTh]

Serial Experiments Lain : Duvet (opening, it is in English) and also Lain's theme
Texhnolyze: Guardian Angel (opening made by Juno Reactor) and every single track in the OST
Wolf's Rain: Stray (opening) and all the OST with special mention to unreleased tracks like Noble's Theme, Cheza's Song, Heaven's Not Enough Female Ver. and Moonlight Crucible(third OST cd was cancelled and never released so a ton of tracks are lost forever)
Ergo Proxy : Paranoid Android (opening made by Radiohead) and every single track of the OST
Animatrix : unreleased track called Paradise and the entire OST tracks that got released. Paradise is so good you listen to that track and it is like being in a zen place in your mind.
Escaflowne : Chain, A Far Cry and Shadow of Doubt are my favorite tracks but Epistle is also good. The entire OST made by Yoko Kanno is perfect. Sora's Folktale from the movie is also good. Escaflowne is the first anime I ever saw.
Last Exile: Cloud Age Symphony (opening)
Eureka 7: GET IT BY YOUR HANDS is great to listen to when you work out!!!
Elfen Lied : Lilium (opening). great track and it has 11 million views on youtube. the show is pretty violent so watch out if that is not your thing.
Berserk (original 90s anime): Gut's theme and Behelit(people started to use these two on memes so they got big recently). Earth is another great track
Gantz :Super Shooter (opening), Last Kiss (ending) and Death of Nishi. Pie Jesu is an unreleased track that someone on youtube recreated somehow and it is amazing
Ghost in the Shell(90s movie): Floating Museum
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (90s movie): Main theme and Grace Omega theme
Death Note : Entire ost is amazing with Jiken, Lights Theme, L's Theme, Senritsu, Tomonari, Rem, Kyrie, Low of Solipsism and Dirge being my favorites.
Attack on Titan: Three Dimensional Maneuver

[bhayes82]

all Great suggestions. thank you.

Yeah its action themed anime with great music. doesn't need to be mecha based.

I felt the OST/Score to 'Fatal Fury: The New Battle" was pretty memorable.

the English version of the '80s anime 'tank police' theme is pretty catchy.

[Seto Kaiba]

For all the criticism Macross Delta gets, its soundtrack has some great music like "If I Love Only Once", "Absolute Zero Theta Novatic", "Love, Thunder Glow", "Our Battlefield", and "Walkure Won't Stop".

[Dark Duel]

Oh god, easily half my music library on my laptop is songs from anime that I liked, both from Gundam and other series, mecha and otherwise.
Among the ones that I would say are my favorites are anything by Masaki Andoh/JAM Project, Nami Tamaki, T.M. Revolution, or High & Mighty Color pre-2007.
The Fate franchise also has some great songs, like Oath Sign(from Fate/Zero), Brave Shine(from Unlimited Blade Works), and Prover(from Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia).

Also, say what you will about the series, but Nana Mizuki's Kindan no Resistance(from Cross Ange) is an absolutely badass song.

And then, there’s Libera Me From Hell

[Underrated GM Custom]

Nana Mizuki is solid, I enjoy the tempo in every one of her songs.

Good call on Wolf's Rain, forgot about that but I really love her work on that soundtrack. For other Yoko Kanno soundtracks I enjoyed her work on Arjuna and Darker than Black.

[Dark Duel]

Oh, speaking of Yoko Kanno, I've been rewatching Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex(I think I rewatch that one at least once a year), and man, that series has got some badass songs. I think my personal favorites have to be Player(which is actually from the movie), Rise(2nd GiG OP), and of course Run Rabbit Junk

[Underrated GM Custom]

Rise is a great OP song from Stand Alone Complex. I saw Boom Boom Sattelites in concert many years back when they toured in DC, I've still got a Pandora station for them and occasionally Rise will pop up on the playlist. I haven't seen SAC in a long while, definitely worth a rewatch.

[Mafty]

Rebuild of Evangelion Thrice upon a Time: Yumi Matsutoya "VOYAGER ~Hizuke no Nai Bohyo(which actually comes from Sayonara Jupiter 1984)
Galatic Drifter Vifam: HELLO,VIFAM" by TAO.It's quite catchy and is actually sung in English.
Armored Trooper Votoms: Destiny of the Flame" by Tetsuro Oda, very hot blooded and captures the theme of the series quite well.
Votoms Case Irvine:"Hoshi wo Motomete" by Aira Yuuki, another song that captures the theme of the story well, and will get stuck in your head.
Most of the Soundtrack from Metal Armor Dragonar, 80s music at its best mixing together in a nice melody, particularly the second opening Starlight Serenade".
Pretty much EVERY song from Attack on Titan, particularly the openings. They are so energetic, especially if you look at the live concert version.
Heavenly Blue by Kalafina from Aldnoah Zero: Such a great song, particularly if you listen to the lyrics, as they explain the story and motivations of the Martians in a more nuanced way than the show actually did.
LOGH: both the original and remake have awesome songs. Particularly "Skies of Love" from the original and Binary Star from the remake, the latter totally sums up the themes of the entire franchise quite nicely.
Dragonaut the Resonance: Say what you will about the show(though IMO it gets better later on) but the opening "Perfect Blue" by Jazzin' Park, is so awesome and catchy.

[Iris Scope]

I know I am going to be smacked in the mouth by most of y'all for saying this but the first soundtrack that I really liked as well as the songs was Robotech (Macross season mostly at the time including the Minmay songs).

Also Macross Plus especially "Information High".

[Underrated GM Custom]

Macross in general has some really great musical numbers. I'm quite partial to the DYRL version that go wonderfully with the animation but Macross Plus is a close second. Nice futuristic sound that would fit right in a Bladerunner style setting.

[MythSearcher]

Macross in general has some really great musical numbers. I'm quite partial to the DYRL version that go wonderfully with the animation but Macross Plus is a close second. Nice futuristic sound that would fit right in a Bladerunner style setting.

I still liked how they used the lyrics in both Macross DYRL and Macross F.
Minmay just got dumped and the lyrics contains "Not alone anymore" is really hurting, not to mention the lyrics are given to her by her love rival, and Ranka got kinda controlled by the bugs singing this gives another meaning to the lyrics.
Sheryl is dying and sings Lion's "(I) want to live."

I am not going to make a super long list here as my playlist is basically half anime half games with hundreds of hours.
Probably not a popular genre on this forum, but my phone ringtone is Harvest Moon Night from Hakumei and Mikochi's ED, the lyrics basiaclly starts with "The weather is nice, why don't we dine outside?" and then lists different food items and drinks, and how much fun they are having together, ends with "nowhere found but only in this small world. Everyone is connected, forever ever and it will never end, until the morning."

[SonicSP]

Most of the Eurobeat tracks from Initial D. They fit the battles really well and the show singlehandedly got me into listening to this genre (which is not easy get to do with me). For OP/ED songs from there, Dogfight, Noizy Tribe and Blast My Desire from Stage 4, all by M.O.V.E..

Others that I can think off that I really love:

Eyeshield 21's first 4 OP which is Breakthrough, Innocence, Dang Dang and Blaze Line. Then first two ED: Be Free and Blaze Away. There are few great insert songs but can't remember the names, this series got a lot of great songs I can remember the tune despite not having watched it for 14 years.

Howling which is OP1 from Darker Than Black. A few awesome background songs too but I don't know their names.

run rabbit junk (insert) from Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Break Beat Bark, insert song from Sword Art Online movie. Badass song for a badass fight with a great concert sequence. Matches the stakes perfectly. Then, Catch the Moment ED by LiSa.

Mononoke in The Fiction, OP from Kyoukou Suiri Season 1.

Girls on Film (OP1) by Duran Duran, from Speed Grapher.

New Look, ED1 of Re:Creators.

Ready Steady Go (OP2), Rewrite (OP4) and I will (ED4) from Fullmetal Alchemist. Again (OP1) from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Sonic Drive (OP1) and Mirai (ED1) from Sonic X.

Disillusion (OP1), Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni (OP2), Emiya (insert song) from Fate Stay Night (2006 TV Series). I should note Unlimited Blade Works 2014 have some of the worst music I've heard in an anime ever minus Shirou (OP1) and I'm the type to rarely complain about music in anime even if it doesn't sync with me. Glad they changed composers for Heaven's Feel movie trilogy which has a lot of great music.

I'm not partial to any of the OP/EDs of Kimetsu no Yaiba but god the scene music are super good, especially for the Mugen Train movie.

Kindan no Resistance (OP1) and Shinjitsu no Mokushiroku (OP2) from Cross Ange.

Guren no Yumiya (OP1) and Jiyuu no Tsubasa (OP2) from Attack on Titan.

Dynamite Explosion from Macross Dynamite 7.

Macho Anemu (ED) from Dumbbell Nan-Kilo Moteru?

=======

There are probably others but these are the ones for now. Was supposed to be shorter but kept adding lol.

[Quiddity]

First I'll echo the comments on Yoko Kanno tracks, her OSTs for Escaflowne, Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop and Wolf's Rain in particular are amazing.

FLCL's soundtrack is great and my personal favorite anime OST.

Eureka Seven has some pretty good music, in particular the song "Storywriter" and the first OP and EDs. Alas, the later OPs and EDs are rather mediocre.

Code Geass also has a great set of OP and ED songs, in particular the first ones from S1 and those from S2. I didn't care for the second set from S1.

I'll echo the person who mentioned "Heavenly Blue" the OP for Aldnoah Zero; "Breathless" from that show is also a great track.

RahXephon's soundtrack is another amazing one, especially the ED song "Yume no Tamago". I wish the composer, Ichiko Hashimoto did more anime work. She also did an amazing job voicing one of the characters in the show.

Plenty of others out there but tried to focus on mecha only with this post.

[Iris Scope]

I almost totally forgot about Gasaraki with it's OP and ED songs both performed by Tomoko Tane as well as the spectacular nail biting score the series has.

[Underrated GM Custom]

Eyeshield 21's first 4 OP which is Breakthrough, Innocence, Dang Dang and Blaze Line. Then first two ED: Be Free and Blaze Away. There are few great insert songs but can't remember the names, this series got a lot of great songs I can remember the tune despite not having watched it for 14 years.

Eyeshield 21!!! I forgot about that show. I think it was the first sports anime I ever watched, lot of fun and a great cast. I think the only other sports one I've seen was One Outs and the main character had a passing resemblance to Yoichi.