Ranking POWER RANGERS Themes Part 1 - Zordon Era
At the beginning of February, most seasons of Power Rangers were removed from Netflix and then we found out that Hasbro will be uploading the various seasons to YouTube, but that process seems to be taking forever to do. While I wait an eternity for Hasbro to do this, I thought I’d take some time to do a different Power Rangers ranking series. I want to go through the different theme songs and talk about what I like and dislike about them. Before we get started, let’s lay some ground rules.
The first rule is that this is purely my opinion. You may disagree with things I say, and that’s okay. Let me know what your thoughts about the different themes in the comments. Second, I have decided to break them down by era. I will start with the 4 themes from the Zordon Era, move to the rest of the Saban Era, then the Disney era, etc. The Hasbro Era will then be added on as new seasons are released. My third important rule is that I will be using only the versions of the songs used in the actual opening credits of the shows. You can also find the extended versions on YouTube as well which don’t have a lot of extra sound effects thanks to people like Morphin’ Legacy.
I also want to put something out there. I am not immune to bias. In fact, this whole series will depend on biases that I have. I will try to keep my feelings for the seasons separate from the themes, but I am a big fan of rock music, so the more rock themes will probably have a leg up. Without further ado, here is the first part of Ranger Theme Rankings.
Mighty Morphin Power/Alien Rangers
I am grouping these two themes together since they are identical except instead of “Power Rangers,” one says “Alien Rangers.” I know many will not know how to trust me with this blatant oversight, but I hope we can still get along. This theme is the most iconic one ever in the history of Power Rangers. When you ask someone about Power Rangers, this is probably what plays in their head when you start talking about theme songs. It’s an awesome rock track with plenty of distorted guitars, drums, and solid bass lines. Ron Wasserman knew what he was doing and is a legend. That being said, it’s also very simple. The only lines are “Go Go Power Rangers” and “You Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.” Of course, there are more lyrics in extended editions, but those don’t count towards our list. It’s a great start to a legacy, but definitely leaves room for improvement.
Power Rangers Zeo
Zeo is a personal favorite season of mine and it has a good theme song as well. Wasserman starts this out very different. There are actual words to this one! What’s even better is that the words help set the tone. “Stronger than before,” “Higher than can soar,” etc. help fans feel that things have elevated and evolved. At the beginning there’s a callback to the original theme and then the end repeats part of the original theme because it’s so iconic and it works! Plus, the double-bass pedal on the drums between verses is freaking awesome. I’m not the biggest fan of the choir-like vocals, but it could’ve been worse.
Power Rangers Turbo
Many fans agree that Turbo has problems as a season. That being said, I absolutely love the theme song. The almost staccato singing of the lyrics during the verse works really well. Once again, the lyrics help set the tone for the season. This is more of a 90s pop-rock song as well which I personally appreciate and it just has me headbanging along the entire time. While not as prominent, the iconic Power Rangers riff is present as well to give you that sense of familiarity. This is a brilliant song in my opinion.
Power Rangers In Space
Often heralded as one of the best seasons, In Space has a lot to offer. That being said, I’m not a huge fan of the theme. It’s not bad necessarily, it’s just not my cup of tea. Once again, the lyrics help set the mood for the season, but I feel like the they’re not quite up there with hyping the season as previous themes. The music itself also feels slower than some of the other themes and while I still enjoy it, I’d rather have Turbo or Zeo play during a fight than In Space.
All of these themes are great. If any of these is your favorite, I couldn’t really fault you for it. However, only one can be king. Here are my rankings for the first four Power Rangers theme songs.
Power Rangers Turbo
Power Rangers Zeo
Mighty Morphin Power/Alien Rangers
Power Rangers In Space