Batman (album)

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Batman
Image:Prince Batman.jpg
Soundtrack by Prince
Released	June 20, 1989
Recorded	Paisley Park Studios; June 1988–March 1989
Genre	Pop, Rock, Funk
Length	42:29
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Prince
Professional reviews
All Music Guide Image:2.5 stars.svg link
Prince chronology
Lovesexy (1988) Batman (1989) Graffiti Bridge (1990)

Batman is a soundtrack for the 1989 film Batman by musical artist Prince. As a Warner Bros. stablemate, Prince's involvement in the soundtrack was designed to leverage the media company's contract-bound talent as well as fulfill the artist's need for a commercial (if not critical) revival. The result: yet another successful cross-media enterprise by Warner Bros. in the vein of Purple Rain.

The album was quickly recorded in six weeks from mid-February to late March 1989, however Prince used three tracks recorded earlier. "Electric Chair" was recorded in June 1988, "Scandalous" in October 1988, and "Vicki Waiting" in December 1988. The album was performed entirely by Prince with a few exceptions. Sheena Easton duets with Prince on "The Arms of Orion". "Trust" features a sampled horn part by Eric Leeds and Atlanta Bliss. "The Future" features strings by Clare Fischer sampled from the (then unreleased) 1986 track "Crystal Ball". "The Future" also samples the Sounds of Blackness choir. "Batdance" includes a sample of Prince's technician Matthew Larson, and "Partyman" features the vocal performance of then girlfriend Anna Garcia^[1] (credited as Anna Fantastic^[2][3].

The ownership of the "Batman" franchise is complex, and the hit singles from this album were not allowed on any of Prince's hits collections. Even on the concert t-shirts which listed all Prince's album titles to date had the song "Scandalous" rather than Batman. Despite this, Prince has performed a number of the album's tracks in concert over the years. (Update: the 2005 2-DVD edition of the Batman movie contains Prince's related videos as a bonus feature.) Wedged between Lovesexy and Graffiti Bridge, the soundtrack serves as Prince's final album contribution of the 1980s.

Critically, the album was not particularly well received at the time, with many reviewers labelling it as mechanical and dull. Indeed many reviewers suggested that Prince was just using the soundtrack as a means of jettisoning some of the excess tracks that had built up in the Paisley Park vaults over the years. In 1990, it won a Brit Award for best soundtrack/score. The album also debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts and went multi-platinum in the United States. The album sold 11 million copies worldwide

This soundtrack is not to be confused with Danny Elfman's orchestral score for the same movie. The two albums can be distinguished by their covers: the Prince album features the same stylized, black-and-gold Bat-symbol image used for promotional posters and home video releases of the film, while the Elfman score's cover displays a still image from the film of the Batwing aircraft silhouetted in front of a full moon in a symbolic echo of the Bat-signal. ^[4]

Contents 1 Charts 2 Track listing 3 Singles and Hot 100 chart placings 4 Trivia 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	1
U.S. Billboard R&B Albums	1
UK Albums Chart	1

[edit] Track listing

1. "The Future" – 4:08
2. "Electric Chair" – 4:13
3. "The Arms of Orion"(Prince/Sheena Easton) – 5:03
4. "Partyman" – 3:11
5. "Vicki Waiting" – 4:47
6. "Trust" – 4:24
7. "Lemon Crush" – 4:15
8. "Scandalous"(Prince/John L. Nelson) – 6:15
9. "Batdance" – 6:13

[edit] Singles and Hot 100 chart placings

• "Batdance" (#1 U.S., #1 R&B, #2 UK)

1. "Batdance (The Batmix)" (maxi-single)
2. "Batdance (Vicki Vale Mix)" (maxi-single)
3. "200 Balloons"

• "Partyman" (#18 U.S., #5 R&B, #14 UK)

1. "Partyman"
2. "Feel U Up"
3. "The Purple Party Mix" (maxi-single)
4. "Partyman Music Mix" (maxi-single)
5. "Partyman Video Mix" (maxi-single)

• "The Arms of Orion"

1. "The Arms of Orion" (#36 U.S., #27 UK)
2. "I Love U in Me"

• "Scandalous" (U.S.) (#5 U.S. R&B)

1. "Scandalous"
2. "When 2 R In Love"
3. "The Crime" ("The Scandalous Sex Suite" maxi-single)
4. "The Passion" ("The Scandalous Sex Suite" maxi-single)
5. "The Rapture" ("The Scandalous Sex Suite" maxi-single)
6. "Sex" "The Scandalous Sex Suite" maxi-single

• "The Future" (UK/Germany)

1. "The Future" (remix)
2. "Electric Chair" (remix)

[edit] Trivia

Image:Broom icon.svg

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The theme to the 1960s Batman TV series was one of the first musical pieces Prince learned to play on the piano.
• Tim Burton and Jack Nicholson were both Prince fans and Burton included "1999" and "Baby, I'm a Star" in a rough cut of the film. Intrigued, Prince delivered a whole album of material to Burton with the songs "Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic" and "200 Balloons" to replace his older hits in the film. Burton rejected both, so Prince replaced them with "Partyman" and "Trust", respectively. "Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic" was re-released on another album (entitled Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic) albeit only slightly changed, while "200 Balloons" was released on the "Batdance" single.
• "Batdance" was a replacement for the song "Dance with the Devil" which Prince felt was too dark. A few of the latter's lyrics were included in the liner notes for the album. The track's title was taken from a conversation in the movie between the Joker and Vicki Vale, which was also included in "Batdance".
• In the 2004 zombie-themed comedy Shaun of the Dead, the album is one of a group that is used as projectile weaponry against advancing zombies. Two other Prince albums, Purple Rain and Sign "☮" the Times, are spared, however.
• The film score by Danny Elfman is a separate album, but contains a reworking of Prince's "Scandalous".
• The album was intended to have a good vs. evil theme. Tim Burton wanted the album to feature Michael Jackson, as well as Prince. Michael Jackson was supposed to have hero-themed songs representing Batman, while Prince would would have evil-themed songs representing The Joker. Michael Jackson declined.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Batman lyrics

v • d • e Prince
Studio albums	For You · Prince · Dirty Mind · Controversy · 1999 · Around the World in a Day · Sign o' the Times · Lovesexy · Diamonds and Pearls · Love Symbol · Come · The Black Album · The Gold Experience · Chaos and Disorder · Emancipation · The Truth · Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic · The Rainbow Children · One Nite Alone... · Musicology · 3121 · Planet Earth
Soundtracks	Purple Rain · Parade · Batman · Graffiti Bridge · Girl 6 · "Song of the Heart"
Live albums	One Nite Alone... Live!
Instrumental albums	Kamasutra · Xpectation · N.E.W.S
Internet albums	Xpectation · The Chocolate Invasion · The Slaughterhouse
Compilations	The Hits/The B-Sides · Crystal Ball · The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale · The Very Best of Prince · Ultimate
EPs	The Scandalous Sex Suite EP · The Beautiful Experience · 1999: The New Master
Films	Purple Rain · Under the Cherry Moon · Sign o' the Times · Graffiti Bridge
See also	Prince discography · Unreleased Prince projects · The Revolution · New Power Generation · The Time · The Family · Madhouse · Vanity 6 · Apollonia 6 · Mazarati

v • d • e Batman feature film soundtracks
Batman (album) • Batman Returns • Batman Forever • Batman & Robin • Batman Begins (soundtrack) • The Dark Knight

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