Batman: Music From the Motion Picture - Prince (CD 1989)

I like to think of Prince as 3 different people - the early, little-known Prince (up through "1999"), the big star Prince ("Purple Rain" through "Lovesexy" (or thereabouts)), and the older, more consumer-friendly, symbol-named Prince ("Diamonds & Pearls" onward). Of course, there are exceptions to these guidelines, but for me, that's about how it works.

Of course, being a 27-year-old, I'm a die hard fan of Prince #2. "Purple Rain" (the album) is a staple of my generation, and I'll always think back fondly on "Raspberry Beret", "Sign O' The Times" and "Alphabet Street".

But at one point in time, Prince dipped into a very much more electronical kind of style, which, in my opinion, he should not have abandoned for the less aggressive and edgy feel of his later records. The most solid and developed music of this "sub"-period can be found on the great soundtrack record for "Batman".

Though the songs are written around the movie, and take their lyrical themes from it, it is a solid album in its own right, and no knowledge of (or love for) the movie is required.

Most people remember the last song on the album, "Batdance", but what you miss without the record is significant. First, upon listening to the full record, you discover that "Batdance" is a composite of all the other songs before it (that is, it is written around samples from the other album tracks). You also get the pleasure of reading along with the printed lyrics (in the CD version, anyway) and realize that it's written like a play - each "line" of the song is spoken by a different character. If you can get past the potential cheesiness of it, the architecture of the song becomes quite a lot more interesting and the true brilliance of it begins to shine through. "Batdance" is a lot more than a dance tune - in my opinion it's what all dance tunes should be - a very complex and thick layering of great samples and drama. It's a very effective close to the rest of the record...

...which is also very great. "The Future" and "Electric Chair" are both great funk/ pop/ electronica tunes, though a little dated by today's standards. "The Arms of Orion" is nice enough, as is "Vicki Waiting". Even "Partyman" and "Trust", the weakest tracks on the record, are pretty good based on my current opinion of Prince's music.

"Batdance" aside, the two tracks most worthy of mention are "Lemon Crush", a wonderfully complex and artfully arranged synth-dance tune with tons of juicy samples and slick programming, and "Scandalous", one of the most inspired and least known Prince tunes around (if you can stomach the overtly sexual overtones - which you should be able to anyway as a Prince fan!)

Anyway, with the "Batman" soundtrack, Prince was at his best - as down-to-earth and focused as he ever was, not bogged down by image and mysteriousness, and just as cool as ever. What I'd give to have Prince #2 back again!