"Batman" is a misunderstood album in Prince's discography, to be sure. It's not perfect, but I can't comprehend how any true Prince fan can't love the hell out of "The Future", "Electric Chair", and "Vicki Waiting" (one of my Top 10 Prince tracks of all time, by the way).

And "Batdance" is an amazing tour-de-force of simple driving beats and chaotic energy... but then in the middle, suddenly the rhythm and tone shift from fifth gear to second ("Stop the press!"), and we're in the middle of a completely different song! The longer album version of "Batdance" is fantastic.

However, despite all the cool tracks, for me, this album marks the beginning of what I personally refer to as the "plastic-ization" of Prince's sound. God, can I even explain what I mean... The drum sounds, the rhythms of the songs, the *sound* of the recordings... it became sort of generic to my ears with this album, but it was incredibly noticeable on "Graffiti Bridge" and almost every album afterwards. "Emancipation" is rife with uninspired drum sounds and weak rhythms...

Ah, I can never explain this very well. I should just quit, and reiterate that "Batman" is a much better album than many people think.

"I've got to go to work."

squirrelgrease said:

Holy shit, that just blew my mind. I've only ever bought the Batcan. I had no idea. Now I've got to rebuy this. I love this album.

Jekylline said:

sgmusic said:

My memory is that it got good reviews, but it was one of the first Prince albums to not get amazing reviews, but it din't get horrible reviews, they were pretty fair.

BatDance still a head of it's time, a experimental pop song. I read some where that only Radiohead made 7 minutes pop songs, but here we have a 7 minutes #1 hit from 1989. When was the last time this happens?

Love the whole thing.

Jekylline said:

Welcome, you have good taste.

GiggityGoo said:

I get you. This album was like the first Prince record that feels like he found the formula to make quick funky songs, compared to his back catalog it feels like a list of fillers, but is way more then that.

Like I say before, during the 80's Prince worst album was better then most artists best albums, Batman is a good example of that.

I love it.

This was a great album and the outtakes(Dance With The Devil, Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic) deserved to be b-sides. He really got into the project and it shows in the music. My faves to this day are Vicki Waiting, Trust & Lemon Crush. And don't get me started about the Scandalous Sex Suite!

Why the hell did Batdance go to #1 on the charts?The song sucks.

ernestsewell said:

The b-sides were great! let's also not forget the scandalous sex suite!..and the remixes (the future and batdance)..were also pretty good.....

as for the soundtrack..i think batdance is genius!..i was kinda dissapointed that not all songs were as edgy as batdance and that it didnt became a more dance-theme oriented record (i had the same dissapointed about diamond and pearls after hearing the get off release and its remixes)...other favorites are..the future, electric chair and vicky waiting....

GiggityGoo said:

well said..100 percent agreed! sorry read ur post a little late too busy here "i try to avoid all this but i can't"

TheKing662 said:

It's a very good, weird experimental Pop song, a friend of mine that is a musician love the audio feedback on the solo guitar, he told me it was really dirty and raw, really rare stuff for a Pop song and really rare for a dance song.

The song is full of little secrets, every time I listen to I found something new plus it tells the whole Batman movie in 7 minutes (have you notice that?). The best thing about hiting the #1 spot is that it shows a generation that wasn't afraid of trying something new, you will never see a sophisticated song like Batdance going to #1 on 2009.

Today the electronic music scene is so mainstream, Batdance is glorified as a dance masterpiece, a great example of the best of the 80's kitch, there's a indie band that imitated the gemini characther on a vid.

The "All this and Brains too" message on one of the Vicky Vales dress is Prince suporting the Frank Miller comic, years before was cool to like Frank Miller (Sin City, Dark Knight etc.)

If you are going to answer with just a "suck" comment, don't even bother.

GiggityGoo said:

Funny. You single out the same three songs I do. I think those three songs are absolute gems that make this album worth owning. The subtle guitar work in The Future alone is enough to make me bow down.

I just personally find the rest to be formulaic, unoriginal songs. A few have me listening through the first chorus, but then I can't take any more.

And Bat Dance clearly is not worthy of debate. Those who worship it aren't coming down from the mountain, (and they shouldn't). It's absolutely a "to each their own" type of thing. I just find it to be an extremely uninspired circus of noise. The only thing that might have made that song have the slightest chance of working for me was if he killed the drum machine. But even then....

101 said:

Yep, a lot of good material from 1989, and into 1990. A lot of folks poo poo "Batdance", but that shit is tight, even just musically. "200 Balloons" is the perfect little brother for it too. The remixes were great too. Lots of "Partyman" remixes. I wished "Trust" had been a single. It was already fast enough to make for a great dance mix.

I thought the batman album was good enough, yes maybe a bit mechanical, but what's wrong with that? I loved vicki waiting especially!

razord said:

It did have a "cold" side to it, a lot like Controversy and 1999 did in that it was all very electronic/drum machined out. But somehow, that's fitting to the film's dark tone.

Efan said:

You may have a good copy of the BatCan. It seems that the "Limited" Tins sold so well that WB decided to reissue them in larger quantities. It's these reissues that have the shoddy mastering. Many stores sold the recalled BatCans as cut-outs by putting a physical dent into the Tin with some sort of punch. Those are the bad ones. But obviously, pre-recall second pressing BatCans will not have this dent and will be hard to distinguish by appearance from a first pressing, properly mastered version.

They are a nice looking collectable, with a cool booklet, though. All the Batman era stuff was packaged pretty decent. I love the color-coded looks of all of the CD singles - and the octagon shapes for the 3" CDs (remember 3" CDs?).

Underneath the bottom of my Batcan imprinted into the black metal are the words "made in England".

Inside is a cd in excellent condition with the booklet which is also in excellent condition. The sound is excellent.

I see a bunch of thumbs down on Batdance. I don't get that.

I mean how funky is that section -
"Oooh yeah Ooo Yeah I wanna bust that body."?

That's just funky, I don't care what anybody says.

"...put the 7" in the computer"


[Edited 9/28/09 10:16am]
[Edited 9/28/09 10:17am]

sgmusic said:

You might want to credit me for posting the picture first(i think) lol

sgmusic said:

That's my fave parts of Batdance

i was 11. Batman was the first '12' certificate in the UK. Also the first VHS rental from the local shop. Well before Blockbuster. Also remember being taken back to my parents house after a tween party and hearing Batdance blasting out of some other household's stereo.

i call it 'tween' in reflection cuz i'm 31 now.

also remember bootlegging via microphone.

FYI - Batman 20th anniv Blue Ray Disc also contains the videos for Batdance, Partyman and Scandalous. With a bunch of other goodies.

Interview from Details 1991...

"I make music because if I don't, I'd die. I record because it's in my blood. I hear sounds all the time. It's almost a curse: to know you can always make something new."

Have you always been like that? I ask him.

"No. When I was younger I had...other interests...but you know how the very first song I learned to play was 'Batman'...?"

He leaves the sentence open. Yes, I say, and I fill in the inference. You don't think that's an accident, do you?

"There are no accidents," he says. "And if there are, it's up to us to look at them as something else. And..." At this point he pauses, and even though we're talking over the phone I can see him do one of those long fawn-eyed stares that make you believe every curious syllable he speaks. "And that bravery is what creates new flowers."


Strange how that all worked out huh?

Electric Chair - hot.
[Edited 10/6/09 2:33am]

luv4u said:

Ahhh. That's probably the difference between the good and bad Can discs. Mine is made in the US. The early ones were probably UK imports.

setyrmindphree said:

Thanks. That's good to know. Partyman is a hard video to locate.

squirrelgrease said:

WOW POOK NEVER KNOW!

POOK HAVE BATMAN IN ENGLAND CAN BUT LISTEN TO REGULAR CD

IT SOUND LIKE PRINCE WRITE OVER WEEKEND

CAUSE RHYME NOT REAL TIGHT

BUT IT COOL CAUSE IT SO FUNKY

POOK WANNA ROCK ALL NIGHT!

POOK said:

Allthough i was under-impressed at the time of release, in retrospect i think the album doesnt always gets the credits it 'deserves'.

Okay..apart from the cut-and-paste collage of 'Batdance', he might not offer anything new or revolutionary on the album 'compositionwise'.

But 'soundwise' its an interesting album, because of the use of samples: most horn, orchestra and even many guitar-parts are sampled, and replayed by Prince on the keyboard. A common practise among artists in the dance-scene in 1989, maybe, but it was quite revolutionary for a 'mainstream artist' / popmusician to arrange almost an entire album using samples.

Next to that both his music and his lyrics on the album very much 'suited' the movie: a combination of rather dark, 'cold', synthesized sounds and playfullness, lightness / little jokes.
Prince also uses the lyrics to 'extrapolate' the obsessions he was dealing with on Lovesexy in a rather 'clever' way: sex vs god, good vs bad, his own 'gemini mind'. He is 'using' the Batman, Joker and Bruce Wayne 'characters' to reflect his own state of mind at that time.

IMO, that 'psychological' part of the lyrics and the cold, detached, sampled sounds give the album an 'edge' that is sometimes overlooked.
In that sense i consider it still a part of his 'golden age'. Some people say he did 'lose it' with Lovesexy, others say he did 'lose it' with the Batman album. I would say he did still showed his 'challenges' on the Batman album.

I really think that "Batdance" is a great track ... Scandalous...The Future...Electric Chair ..The Arms Of Orion... the whole album is fantastic !!

The only track i like less is "Trust"