Critical reception: wikipedia
Critically, the album was not particularly well-received at the time, with many reviewers labeling it as mechanical and dull, and suggesting 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. However, other reviewers contended that Prince's funk-oriented songs such as "Partyman" and "Trust" offered a unique dichotomy to Danny Elfman's heavy, orchestral compositions.


I thought this was a good album. Trust - Partyman
The Batdance song was also well done!

Excellent tempo change and additon of a completely different groove in the middle of the song. Like two songs in one. Enjoyed listening to this after all these years. This town need an enema!

I have so many memories to the Batman album - and to the movie with Jack Nicholson...

I just the album, apart from 2 or 3 songs the album is great. Trust and Arms Of Orion are not so great,

The videos are great, among Prince's best ever, Batdance, Partyman, Scandalous!!

You know what I love - the fact it took me a year to notice that, on the back inlay, batman is written in black shiny letters...I never noticed it against the black bacgroubd until I replaced the jewel case

I thought the Batman album was definately not one of Prince's best, but there
were some bright moments on this album. Who can say that "Scandalous" was not one of the tightest slow jams of that decade. Batdance from a production standpoint was very well arranged and put together with the Atlanta Steele choir, if I remember correctly, putting down some background vocals, and the guitar solo in the beginning,RIDICUOLUS! I enjoyed lemon crush and vicki waiting as well.

it's in my top 5 albums! I love it!

Love it. "Lemon Crush" is still a bit .....much. "Vicki Waiting" took some time to grow on me. It's still not a favorite, but I can deal with it more nowadays.

I've loved "The Arms of Orion" from day one, so F all you haters. HA!

Let's not forget the B-sides from that era. "200 Balloons", "Feel U Up", "I Love U In Me", "Sex".

ernestsewell said:

It's one of those albums that I livebut always forget ihave and, after a while of not listening, I reset.

For example, when it first came out, I hated The Future and Lemon Crush with Partyman being my fav. Next listen opinions change and The Future is up there and so on and so on.

Only constant is I don't like Batdance and never reallybeen hot for Lemon Crush but, apart from that, all others have been favs at one point

thedance said:

i have moments when i need to hear trust. trust, vicky waiting and electric chair kill it for me most times.
[Edited 9/25/09 7:57am]

I had this on cassette years ago and I still remember where I was when I used to listen to it a lot. I have the cd now and think it's a really good album.

When I want to sing my lungs out I put on Arms of Orion. Great duet.
Electric chair is funky too and although I said I had outgrown the scream, after he sings "I'm guilty "that one is brilliant! Love the line "my brain is jacking all over the place too The Future & vicki waiting are also funky. Partyman is my least favourite. Trust has fantastic chord changes and funky guitar. Not really keen on Lemon Crush. Scandalous has great potential but I don't like the way he sings this one. Batman the theme track is musically brilliant and so diverse. It throws you from here to there and all around but makes you funk the whole way through It's like an audio movie. Great stuff.
[Edited 9/25/09 12:00pm]
[Edited 9/25/09 12:01pm]

That album was and always will be great

I like the album. It's not his best but pretty darn good nonetheless:

My favorite album! and its actually the first album i got. My dad got it 4 me when i was 6. I believe i discovered Prince through Batman cuz i loved the movie. There u have it,my heroes Prince and Batman. They still are!

ist my fav batman

I remember getting this on release day and it hit me.

After Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Parade, SOTT, Lovesexy it was over for Prince. Batman (yes it was a soundtrack but still) was the first album by Prince to be devoid of the magic dust.


And its been missing ever since.

purpledoveuk said:

I can feel that.

LOVE IT

Some people like to bitch about Batman because it was a blatantly commercial project -and it was -but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. With the exception of Arms of Orion it's a solid piece of work. IMO it can even rightly be called a concept album, what with each song being sung from the point of view of a character from the flick.

As an aside, tonight at the theatre we're having a showing of an original 35 mm print of Batman in honour of its 20th anniversary. There'll be a raffle with rpoceeds going toward a charity, and part of the raffle prize is a copy of the Batman album.

Love this album.. ranks up there with his best, IMO

The Future sounds so paranoid, especially those scary ass synths and the vocal delivery.

Electric Chair sounds great over a jukebox sound system, and I love the guitar parts
Partyman is a jam, would love to hear this with the bass turned to 17!

Arms of Orion is tuneful, but doesn't hold my interest, sounds like a Disney outtake.

Vicky Waiting sounds like something that could have been on 'Parade' with its whimiscal melody, and the chorus is amazing.

Trust is frantic but fun stuff, though a bit repetitive

Lemon Crush is my fuckin' jam and the chorus is just sex.

Scandalous has always been a skipper for me, maybe I'll give it a chance sometime

Batdance I love the use of samples... it just sounds like Prince had too much fun in the studio, which is always a good thing IMO

thedance said:

I love love this soundtrack from beginning to end. Batdance track

I also like the scandalous sex suite tracks

meow85 said:

That up there is awesome, especially the raffle. Enjoy!

thedance said:

Hey Thedance.

I've seen your assessment of albums on other threads before, and something that's very hard to do given Prince's amazingly diverse catalog, I almost agree with your assessment of EVERY album. Off memory, there are only four or five where we differ on our opinions out of Prince's ENTIRE catalog. And this is definitely one of them for me.

I think The Future, Electric Chair and Vicki Waiting are insanely good songs. But I think the rest of this album is very unimaginative. I realize this is the minority vote, (and possibly heresy amongst Orgers) but I think Batdance the song is laughably bad.

That's what makes the world go round...

This album lay dusty on my shelves for years..

Not very good I used to think...

Fucking genius now...

I love it..

Think it's one of the most under-rated albums of all time..

I've seen the future...

I really like Batman. I never knew how bad my CD sounded until I bought a jewel-case copy. Seems that the Bat-Can CDs were mastered all wrong and subsequently withdrawn. I listened to my crappy Tin version in ignorant bliss for years.

Love this album. "Vicki Waiting" is one of my all time favorite Prince songs. "Electric Chair" is fire as well.
[Edited 9/25/09 21:07pm]

I've loved this album in '89 and I love it now. I danced in first apartment to this album (tape). Batdance, Vicki Waiting, Partyman (12in), Electric Chair, and Lemon Crush... all jams! Oh and I used to make mad sex in the horny morning, afternoon and then some to the Scandalous Sex Suite so say u what?’

zaza said:

The best of that series of Batman movies IMO, Princes music with the Nicholsons Joker.. a winning combo

oh, and Prince in the Batdance video

.
[Edited 1/2/10 1:18am]

Hi everybody,

I'm a "newbee" to this forum (former lurker ) but long P fan, though not as diehard as some of you

And I like Batman....ooohhh Bats...

Some more opinions on this album from The Peach & Black Podcast guys

http://peachandblack.podb...an-review/


.
[Edited 9/26/09 15:43pm]

An awesome soundtrack to an awesome movie! Electric Chair playing as we speak!