Bat-Music

There have been numerous albums put out in connection with the Bat movies. Some were better than others, but all of them had their own qualities.

Batman



For the first movie, only one artist was used on the soundtrack. All the songs on the album were done by Prince. This was the only Batman movie soundtrack with only one artist featured on it. The album was unique because it used quotes from the movie as transitions between songs, as well as parts of songs. No other album to date has done this.




Track Listing:
Songs featured in the movie designated by a *

1. The Future*
2. Electric Chair
3. The Arms of Orion
4. Partyman*
5. Vicki Waiting
6. Trust*
7. Lemon Crush
8. Scandalous*
9. Batdance
Time: 42 min.

The score for the movie was Done by Danny Elfman and was a masterpeice. You can listen to this score and picture in your mind exactly what is going on in the movie. That is how vivid the album is. The opening theme music is electrifying and is always recognizable as the Batman theme. The finale is brilliantly scored, and is so good that it was still used in the trailers for both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin even though new music was made for those movies.



Track Listing:

1. The Batman Theme
2. Roof Fight
3. First Confrontation
4. Kitchen, Surgery, Face Off(contains part of Prince's Scandalous)
5. Flowers
6. Clown Attack
7. Batman to the Rescue
8. Roasted Dude
9. Photos/Beautiful Dreamer
10. Descent Into Mystery
11. The Batcave
12. The Joker's Poem
13. Childhood Remembered(bonus track)
14. Love Theme(Scandalous)
15. Charge of the Batmobile
16. Attack of the Batwing
17. Up the Cathedral
18. Waltz to the Death
19. The Final Confrontation
20. Finale
21. Batman Theme(Reprise)
Time: 55 min.

Batman Returns


The second movie only had one album released. It was called the soundtrack album, but consisted entirely of scored music except for the closing song - Face to Face. This was the only soundtrack from the movie series done in this manner. The album contained mostly all scored music because, unlike Batman, there were only two real songs in the movie. Both of these songs occured at the ball hosted by Max Shreck - Face to Face and an instrumental version of Superfreak. Danny Elfman did the scored music on the album and it was excellent again. The Batman theme was reprised but with a much darker tone to fit the movie. The Penguin and Catwoman both had individual themes as well, both based on their characters. The final song on the album, Face to Face, was done by Siouxsie and the Banshees and portrayed the theme of duality beautifully.

Track Listing:

1,2. Birth of a Penguin
3,4. The Lair
5,6. Selina Transforms
7. The Cemetary
8. Cat Suite
9. Batman vs. the Circus
10,11. The Rise and Fall From Grace
12. Sore Spots
13,14. Rooftops/Wild Ride
15. The Children's Hour
16,17. The Final Confrontation
18,19. The Finale
20. End Credits
21. Face to Face - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Time: 70 min.

Batman Forever

The third movie returned to the two album format and started a new trend as well. The Batman Forever soundtrack had 14 different songs done by 14 different artists. This was a new strategy for the format of the soundtracks. The album boasted such stars as U2 and Seal as well as others. Seal even won a Grammy for his addition - Kiss From a Rose. Having a decidedly alternative sound fit well with the new style of the movie and took the Batman soundtrack music in a different direction from the pop style of Prince on the Batman soundtrack.





Track Listing:
Songs featured in the movie designated by a *

1. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me - U2*
2. One Time Too Many - P.J. Harvey
3. Where are You Now? - Brandy*
4. Kiss From a Rose - Seal*
5. The Hunter gets Captured by the Game - Massive Attack with Tracy Thorn
6. Nobody Lives Without Love - Eddi Reader
7. Tell Me Now - Muzzy Star
8. Smash it Up - Offspring*
9. There is a Light- Nick Cave
10. The Riddler - Method Man
11. The Passenger - Michael Hutchence
12. Crosing the River - The Devlins
13. 8 - Sunny Day Real Estate
14. Bad Days - Flaming Lips*
Time: 60 min.

The score for the movie was done by Elliot Goldenthal and gave us a new take on the Batman theme as well as the style of the music. Much more brassy than the string filled works of Danny Elfman, the opening theme was a type of fanfare. With the radical change in style of the third movie, a new style of scored music was appropriate. Even the titles of the songs are drastically unique, some even using German and French. All in all, the style change was good in most aspects, even though Elfman's Batman theme was missed. The trailer for the movie, however, consisted of Elfman's work including the spectacular finale sequence from the first movie. In general it was a good blend of the two styles.



Track Listing:

1. Main Titles and Fanfare
2. Perpetum Mobile
3. The Perils of Gotham
4. Chase Noir
5. Fledermausmarschmusik
6. Nygma Variations(An Ode to Science)
7. Victory
8. Descent
9. The Pull of Regret
10. Mouth to Mouth Nocturne
11. Gotham City Boogie
12. Under the Top
13. Mr. E's Dance Card(Rhumba, Foxtrot, Waltz & Tango)
14. Two-face Three Step
15. Chase Blanc
16. Spank me! Overture
17. Holy Rusted Metal
18. Batterdammerung
Time: min.

Batman & Robin

The fourth movie returned to the one album format of Batman Returns. The difference for this movie was that it was a soundtrack album with 15 vocal songs like a normal soundtrack, unlike the mostly scored Batman Returns version. Following the tradition set by Batman Forever, the soundtrack contained works done by an even greater number of well-known artists: The Smashing Pumpkins, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, R. Kelly, R.E.M., Jewel and The Goo Goo Dolls. The soundtrack also contained a track by the returning composer for the movie, Elliot Goldenthal. The problem was that it was just a rehash of the music scored for Batman Forever. This was the case for the movie as well, with most of the scored music being the same as in Batman Forever(examples: opening theme same as Forever but streched to accomodate Robin getting dressed, Riddler's music used for scenes where Barbara Wilson is talking about staying at Wayne Manor and when she sneaks out, there is even a hint of the music from the ball hosted by Edward Nygma in the scene where Batman and Robin host a ball). Since there was very little new scored music for the film, no scored album was released. The soundtrack, however, was very good. The two songs by The Smashing Pumpkins were excellent, as were the two ballades done by R. Kelly and Jewel. There is even a remake of the oldies song, Poison Ivy, by Me'Shell Ndegeocello.

Track Listing:
Songs featured in the movie designated with a *

1. The End is the Beginning is the End - The Smashing Pumpkins*
2. Look Into my Eyes - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
3. Gotham City - R. Kelly*
4. House on Fire - Arkarna
5. Revolution - R.E.M.
6. Foolish Games - Jewel
7. Lazy Eye - Goo Goo Dolls*
8. Breed - Lauren Christy
9. The Bug - Soul Coughing
10. Fun For Me - Moloko*
11. Poison Ivy - Me'Shell Ndegeocello
12. True to Myself - Eric Benet
13. A Batman Overture - Elliot Goldenthal*
14. Moaner - Underworld*
15. The Beginning is the End is the Beginning - The Smashing Pumpkins

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