Batman was truly underrated, despite the sales.

Prince was on fire during this time, so anyone who says this was weak or uninspired, doesn't appreciate the minimalist (and sometimes dense) rythyms that represented some of Prince's baddest and tightest drum programming. I think he must have gotten into some new sounds, via drum sounds and the newer Roland keyboards at that time.

Sure I have to skip Arms Of Orion, but it's worth it when you consider The Future (a futuristic 'mature' version of Controversy), Electric Chair, Partyman, Batdance, Trust (insane drum programming), and Lemon Crush.

Rudeboynpg says, "That's right. Batman was a return to Prince's earlier synthesizer and drum machine sound of 1999. No horns. It's atmospheric, hypnotic and raw." That sums it up. Batman and Grafitti Bridge, to a certain extent were the last albums with "true" Prince rythym tracks. I think a few forms of Electronica owe a lot to Prince. Even Drum n Bass, with it's 180 bpm tempos, and seemingly frenetic drum programming can't touch what Prince was doing on the Batman album... Then again, most Drum n Bass is simply based on sped up loops of older Hip-Hop grooves and breaks pasted together.

Between the tight-ass programming, the darker sounds and feel of the album, and the intentional minimalism, Batman is an important album that would have much more respect if it weren't "Batman", a "soundtrack", and maybe if it were called "The Future"... It would have been called "visionary minimalist brilliance"...

Peace.

G.
[Edited 4/27/05 7:43am]