fail.
It's Moon Over The Castle or nothing. I had owned the GT import for about 4 months when I got the american version. I died a little when that techno crap started playing instead of the orchestral intro. The awesome fusion soundtrack of the japanese game gave GT a feel that was completely different from any other racer. It just felt classy.
Aside from the racing music, the menu music was also changed into something completley horrific. At least THAT has been kept as-is from the japanese games in all the other GT games.
I still have my original soundtrack CD to cope with the loss.
To be honest at this point I think it's a matter of worldwide rights over Masahiro Andoh's compositions. I just think it's fucking strange that SCEA eliminates virtually every remnant of his compositions.