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==Screenshots== |
==Screenshots== |
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RTD0.png|The ''Stand by for Dragon Ball Z'' intro |
RTD0.png|The ''Stand by for Dragon Ball Z'' intro |
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RTD1.png|The ''Stand by for Dragon Ball Z'' intro |
RTD1.png|The ''Stand by for Dragon Ball Z'' intro |
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RTD18.png|Originally from ''Dragon Ball Z'' episode 19 "[[Tien Goes All Out!!]]" |
RTD18.png|Originally from ''Dragon Ball Z'' episode 19 "[[Tien Goes All Out!!]]" |
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RTD19.png|Originally from promotional Japanese footage |
RTD19.png|Originally from promotional Japanese footage |
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| − | RTD20.png|Originally from the Japanese opening "[[Cha-La Head-Cha-La]]" |
+ | RTD20.png|Originally from the Japanese opening "[[Cha-La Head-Cha-La]]" Androids Saga versiom. |
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Revision as of 22:51, 10 November 2018
Main Title,[1] usually referred to as "Rock the Dragon", is the theme song heard during the opening and closing sequences of the FUNimation/Saban produced Ocean Group dubs of Dragon Ball Z episodes 1 to 53 and the Funimation dub of episodes 54 to 102. The song appeared on the 1997 album Dragon Ball Z: Original USA Television Soundtrack. It is also heard in the opening credits for the North American version of the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai.
The opening sequence featured scenes from Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest, Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, and the Saiyan Saga.
Background
Composition and musical style
On Dragon Ball Z: Original USA Television Soundtrack and the end credits of Dragon Ball Z, the composers are listed as being Shuki Levy (the head of Saban Entertainment's music department) and Haim Saban, under the alias Kussa Mahchi. An uncredited Ron Wasserman composed the song in 1996, with Jeremy Sweet (also not credited) providing the vocals. Both are well known for creating various Power Rangers theme songs from the 1990s and 2000s.
Unlike the previous pop-based Japanese and international openings, the song drew from a more aggressive punk/metal sound. When asked about "Rock the Dragon" in an 1996 Animerica Magazine interview, FUNimation said, "It was done in Los Angeles [By Saban] and it's a very distinctive sound".[2]
History
The song was originally featured in the Ocean Group dubs, produced while Ocean Studios dubbed the series under a joint venture between Saban Entertainment and FUNimation, however when Saban ended this deal, FUNimation could no longer afford Ocean Studios' work and thus began dubbing the series using an in-house team, and soon replaced Saban's soundtrack with music by Bruce Faulconer and his team of musicians.
On peer-to-peer music sharing sites, the song is often falsely credited to the nu-metal group Linkin Park. Additionally, even after Funimation started doing their own dub version and music, the instrumental end-credit version of the song still played over the end credits when the Frieza Saga was shown on Cartoon Network.
The 2013 Ocean dub box set Dragon Ball Z: Rock the Dragon Edition was named after the song.
Lyrics
[Intro]
Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon Ball Z!
[Verse 1]
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Come get me!
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Come get me!
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Come! A-come get me!
[Hook - instrumental]
Dragon Ball Z!
[Verse 2]
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Come get me!
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon, Dragon! Rock the Dragon! Come! A-come get me!
[Hook - instrumental]
[Outro]
Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon Ball Z!
Dragon Ball Z!
Screenshots
Trivia
- A Hindi-language version of this song is used as the opening for the Hindi dub.
- The theme for the AB Groupe produced Ocean dub of episodes 108 to 276 recycled a substantial amount of footage from this opening.
- Ian James Corlett (Goku's original English voice actor) can be heard doing two power up screams for scenes from The World's Strongest in this opening. When the film was eventually dubbed into English in 1998, Corlett had been replaced by Peter Kelamis as Goku.