If we are going to talk about the opening themes, then we must talk about the opening theme of Dragon Ball, Makafushigi Adventure (translated in English as Mystical Adventure)! Listen and enjoy!
The credits theme of Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure was lifted into an insert song, "Dragon Ball Densetsu". In the context of the actual series, it serves as a phenomenal recap song following the World Martial Arts Tournament.
Check out Piccolo's entrance music in Dead Zone at about 2:35. Old-school epic. Here's the track itself. Here's that DBZ Battle Theme from the clip posted.
Battle Point Unlimited ∞ when Trunks goes SSJ before Freeza. The song is one of Kenji Yamamoto's best songs. However, the song is made of three different songs from an album released by the German band Propaganda. Due to plagiarism, Battle Point Unlimited ∞ is officially excluded from all new soundtrack collections and caused several soundtracks to be replaced from video games.
M1307, unofficially known as "The Deadly Cell Games", was played in nearly every fight from the Android saga onward. Why? Because it's awesome.
Hironobu Kageyama being one who has his own section in the Awesome Music department made a large number of hits for Dragon Ball, starting with "Spirit vs Spirit", which is the theme that reflected Gohan's emotions when he fought Cell.
"Mind Power ... Ki", which plays during one of Future Trunks' flashbacks, perfectly captures the hopelessness of his ruined future, yet also his unbroken determination.
While not epic like most of the songs on this list, the first two ED themes for Dragon Ball Z - Detekoi Tobikiri Zenkai Power!, a sprightly and catchy cheer to encourage Gohan, and We Were Angels, a song of remembrance - are both just so fun and upbeat it's hard to get them out of your head.
Regardless of what you think about the English dub of Dragon Ball Z, Faulconer Productions wrote some pretty epic music for it. Highlights include: Vegeta - Super Saiyan, which usually meant Vegeta was doing something totally awesome, Ginyu Transformation, generally played when a major villain died or during other particularly epic moments, and SSJ3 Power-Up which is a superhero victory tune if ever there was one.
Pretty much everyone's "Power's Up" music is going to be a crowning moment. Even Krillin, who unfortunately didn't get too many moments to shine as the series went on, gets an amazing one.
Also pretty much all of Cell's music, which goes from epic to creepy depending on the mood he's in, especially Perfect Cell Runs and Imperfect Cell Theme. And then there's the epic redoing of Perfect Cell Runs that plays after he comes back from blowing himself up, stronger than ever.note Brought down slightly by the fact that while it's the perfect length to fit from the point Future Trunks is shot to the end of the episode as Cell's return is revealed, the editing team decided to use the standard end-of-episode track instead, and didn't use "Cell Returns" until the beginning of the next episode, where its placement wasn't as dramatically fitting.
One of the numerous American bands utilized in the U.S. releases of the DBZ movies, in this case the first Cooler Movie.
Piccolo's theme sets the tone for pretty much every moment that Piccolo has, whether it be getting ready to go to a fight he's not sure he'll survive, to watching over the world as everything goes to hell. It's serious and determined, yet calm and serene. A perfect match for his character, and one of the most awesome songs in the show.
Garlic Jr's Theme. Proof that even filler villains deserve good music.
Goku's Super Saiyan theme is pretty rocking too. It sounds like the battle on Namek reaching its climax.
Shuki Levy's music for the Saban era isn't too bad, definitely more atmospheric than melodic. Check out the early episodes' tracks like "The World's Strongest Team" or "Gohan's Hidden Powers" (it's rumored that Ron Wasserman of Power Rangers fame helped compose and perform this early music, which may explain why they have a Power Rangers vibe). Though officially unreleased, Goku had a very angelic motif that played during both his arrivals in the Saiyan and Namek sagas.
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo has "Power of Dreamer". Especially awesome in that they brought Hiroki Takahashi (the singer of Makafushigi Adventure) back to sing it.
The Archipelago theme from Budokai 3. Really makes you wanna beat the crap out of the AI. The opening theme also deserves recognition.
The absolutely butt-rocking intro to Budokai Tenkaichi 3, "Super Survivor".
What happens when you make a Dragon Ball game with a creator that's well-known for absolutely incredible music? You get the score to Dragon Ball Fighter Z, in which Arc System hit it out of the park once more with the music. Check out the game's page here if you want the full details on just how good the soundtrack is.
The French dub theme, extremely light-hearted but catchy all the same. The Blue Water dub used a drum and bass rendition of this theme for its Toonami UK airings, and despite it not fitting the tone of the original series, it still sounds pretty kickass.
The Italian dub had some kick-ass themes for Dragon Ball, Z, and GT.
Problems aside, Dragonball Evolution did have one thing going for it: the director wanted a Japanese singer to do the movie's theme song since it was based off a Japanese property, so who does he get? Ayumi Hamasaki. Admittedly, Brian Tyler's score for the whole thing does make it seem a little more epic.
The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans OVA had some astonishing tracks.
Grand Battle lets you know some ass is gonna get kicked.
Four Emperors is an eerie, ominous tune that just says "Something evil this way comes".
The Chosen Warriors, which plays during the first SSJ3 transformation and the failed attempt for the Super Saiyan God. The successful attempt at summoning it is here.
As mediocre as the obscure Filipino dub is, its music is nothing to sneeze at (even if the lyrics are kinda cheesy). Such examples include "A World Filled With Love" (a cover of "Romantic Ageru Yo") and their rendition of "Cha La Head Cha La".
With the third trailer for Dragon Ball Super: Broly came the movie's awesome theme: Blizzard. The singer, Daichi Miura, is no stranger to hit songs, since he did the opening theme and the movie theme for Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.
With DBS Broly comes a new version of "Cha-la Head Cha-la". It was even played during the appearance of Goku's float at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
(translated in English as Mystical Adventure