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All rights reserved.Batman: Music From the Motion Picture - Prince (CD 1989)
Do the Batdance!Review created: 08/12/03
by: moonwalker84 -- a member of Epinions
Pros:
Classic Prince - original, creative, brilliant and overall damn funky.
Classic Prince - original, creative, brilliant and overall damn funky.
Cons:
<i>The Arms of Orion</i>. <i>Lemon Crush</i> isn't great either.
<i>The Arms of Orion</i>. <i>Lemon Crush</i> isn't great either.
Only Prince could've made this album. He was an unlikely but perfect choice to do the soundtrack for the 1989 blockbuster Batman (the one with Michael Keaton). Prince, being the oddball genius that he is, did a strange, brilliantly different take on the film on this CD.
If you skim the liner notes, Prince only credits himself on vocals for two lines in the album: "Hey Ducky, let me stick the 7-inch in the computer" and "Stop!" at the end. Even though he sings the rest of the album, Prince credits vocals on all the other songs to a Batman character ("Lead Vocal by the Joker"). Each track is from the point of view of a certain character, with Prince playing their role - almost like a musical.
It's been said that you could take any track from this album (except Batdance) and put it on another Prince LP, and they would all still be completely relevant. How many soundtracks can you say that for?
The Future is sung by Batman, vigiliant defender of the law. The song has such abstract, thought-provoking statements as "I've seen the future and it will be/I've seen the future and it works" set to laid-back, almost depressing funk. "If there's life after, we will see/So you can't go like a jerk...". Clearly, Gotham City is desperately in need of non-official law enforcement.
Electric Chair is one of three appearances by the Joker, probably the most interesting character in the Batman series. The villain of the piece, the Joker declares, in an almost mocking way: "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind/Gimme the electric chair for all my future crimes!". A great piece of guitar-based rock/funk.
The Arms of Orion is simply awful. The only bad track on the whole thing. A soppy and cliche-ridden romantic duet, give this one a miss.
Partyman - The funkiest damn thing I've ever heard! In the video for this, Prince dresses up as the Joker, painting his face half-black-half-white and donning a tight green suit. Another Joker track, where he calls himself "the new King in town". Prince at his best - Unmissable!
Vicki Waiting is an exploration of the Bruce Wayne/Vicki Vale relationship in the movie. Vicki calls Bruce, asking him "2 come 2 the crib", and Wayne ad-libs conversation. His secret is keeping him away from opening himself up to Vicki, keeping her "waiting".
Trust - A very cool song! "Trust! Who do ya?" This is perhaps most like a combination Baby I'm A Star (an uptempo number Prince gets the crowd pumped with at the end of Purple Rain) and Q In Doubt (an rare instrumental track on the b-side of Diamonds and Pearls). Whenever I hear this song, I see ballet dancers prancing around in my mind, as I first encountered this song on the simply godawful Prince ballet video Billboards - nonetheless, the song is damn funky and a lot of good fun.
Lemon Crush - One of the album's weaker cuts. Not terrible, but not great either. Vicki Vale gets lead vocal on this one, and it's one of Prince's sleazier songs. Possibly some of the worst lyrics of all time:
Everytime U do me, such a rush
Nay I can't resist thee, lemon crush
All it takes is a little bitty
Of your ooh! pretty pretty
And I'm the wildlest in the city...
Instrumentally, though, it's pretty well worked out with a good beat.
Scandalous - Batman and Vicki's slow, "tonight's the night I seduce you" ballad. Somewhat like a classier, chilled-out version of Do Me, Baby from Controversy, or maybe like Janet Jackson's Someday is Tonight. Beautiful make-out music, whatever it is.
Ahh, the Batdance! This one would set a dancefloor on fire! The album's No.1 single, it's like a musical kaleidoscope of the film - snippets of dialogue and samples from previous songs are mixed seamlessly into a funky-as-all-hell 6 minutes 13 seconds. At the beginning, there's a sequence of infectious beats while Prince yells "GET THE FUNK UP!", followed by a choir singing "Batman!". It all stops, Prince says "Keep bustin'" and it goes on. I have an uncontrollable urge to get up and dance for most of this song. Later in the track, there's sequences of The Future and Electric Chair worked into the song.
I must say, I did not expect this from the Batdance. I was expecting something like Seal's Kiss From A Rose - a glorious ballad to play over the credits of the film, like Purple Rain with a Batman theme. Nonetheless, Prince did a damn fine job of the Batdance, arguably the highlight of the LP. At the last second of the album, Prince shouts "STOP!" and it's all over. Wow!
Should you buy the Batman soundtrack? It's certaintly essential for Prince fans, and maybe a good starting point for newbies. Enjoy it!
If you skim the liner notes, Prince only credits himself on vocals for two lines in the album: "Hey Ducky, let me stick the 7-inch in the computer" and "Stop!" at the end. Even though he sings the rest of the album, Prince credits vocals on all the other songs to a Batman character ("Lead Vocal by the Joker"). Each track is from the point of view of a certain character, with Prince playing their role - almost like a musical.
It's been said that you could take any track from this album (except Batdance) and put it on another Prince LP, and they would all still be completely relevant. How many soundtracks can you say that for?
The Future is sung by Batman, vigiliant defender of the law. The song has such abstract, thought-provoking statements as "I've seen the future and it will be/I've seen the future and it works" set to laid-back, almost depressing funk. "If there's life after, we will see/So you can't go like a jerk...". Clearly, Gotham City is desperately in need of non-official law enforcement.
Electric Chair is one of three appearances by the Joker, probably the most interesting character in the Batman series. The villain of the piece, the Joker declares, in an almost mocking way: "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind/Gimme the electric chair for all my future crimes!". A great piece of guitar-based rock/funk.
The Arms of Orion is simply awful. The only bad track on the whole thing. A soppy and cliche-ridden romantic duet, give this one a miss.
Partyman - The funkiest damn thing I've ever heard! In the video for this, Prince dresses up as the Joker, painting his face half-black-half-white and donning a tight green suit. Another Joker track, where he calls himself "the new King in town". Prince at his best - Unmissable!
Vicki Waiting is an exploration of the Bruce Wayne/Vicki Vale relationship in the movie. Vicki calls Bruce, asking him "2 come 2 the crib", and Wayne ad-libs conversation. His secret is keeping him away from opening himself up to Vicki, keeping her "waiting".
Trust - A very cool song! "Trust! Who do ya?" This is perhaps most like a combination Baby I'm A Star (an uptempo number Prince gets the crowd pumped with at the end of Purple Rain) and Q In Doubt (an rare instrumental track on the b-side of Diamonds and Pearls). Whenever I hear this song, I see ballet dancers prancing around in my mind, as I first encountered this song on the simply godawful Prince ballet video Billboards - nonetheless, the song is damn funky and a lot of good fun.
Lemon Crush - One of the album's weaker cuts. Not terrible, but not great either. Vicki Vale gets lead vocal on this one, and it's one of Prince's sleazier songs. Possibly some of the worst lyrics of all time:
Everytime U do me, such a rush
Nay I can't resist thee, lemon crush
All it takes is a little bitty
Of your ooh! pretty pretty
And I'm the wildlest in the city...
Instrumentally, though, it's pretty well worked out with a good beat.
Scandalous - Batman and Vicki's slow, "tonight's the night I seduce you" ballad. Somewhat like a classier, chilled-out version of Do Me, Baby from Controversy, or maybe like Janet Jackson's Someday is Tonight. Beautiful make-out music, whatever it is.
Ahh, the Batdance! This one would set a dancefloor on fire! The album's No.1 single, it's like a musical kaleidoscope of the film - snippets of dialogue and samples from previous songs are mixed seamlessly into a funky-as-all-hell 6 minutes 13 seconds. At the beginning, there's a sequence of infectious beats while Prince yells "GET THE FUNK UP!", followed by a choir singing "Batman!". It all stops, Prince says "Keep bustin'" and it goes on. I have an uncontrollable urge to get up and dance for most of this song. Later in the track, there's sequences of The Future and Electric Chair worked into the song.
I must say, I did not expect this from the Batdance. I was expecting something like Seal's Kiss From A Rose - a glorious ballad to play over the credits of the film, like Purple Rain with a Batman theme. Nonetheless, Prince did a damn fine job of the Batdance, arguably the highlight of the LP. At the last second of the album, Prince shouts "STOP!" and it's all over. Wow!
Should you buy the Batman soundtrack? It's certaintly essential for Prince fans, and maybe a good starting point for newbies. Enjoy it!
Review ID: 10000000000230020
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