fbueller said:

Basically the only clunker from Batman is Trust - which might have been better with a slower tempo or something.

Trust had to be that speed. The flim section was already editted using "Baby I'm A Star" so Prince was asked by Tim Burton to whip up a track using the same tempo.

SquirrelMeat said:

fbueller said:

Basically the only clunker from Batman is Trust - which might have been better with a slower tempo or something.

Trust had to be that speed. The flim section was already editted using "Baby I'm A Star" so Prince was asked by Tim Burton to whip up a track using the same tempo.

Actually Jack Nicholson(whose a Prince fan) wanted to use "1999" & "Baby I'm a Star". That is where the Prince connection started. Tim then went to Prince & he created two similar tracks,which was "Partyman" & Trust. Then Prince was invited to the set of Batman for inspiration. He later submitted several more songs later.

One reason. Every other Prince album of the 1980s is either a classic or very near that level. My opinions

9.5 -10/10: Classics - Dirty Mind (9.5), 1999 (10), Purple Rain (9.5), Parade (10), SOTT (12 ), Lovesexy (9.5)

8 -9/10: Nearly Classics/Excellent - Controversy (9), ATWIAD (9), Black Album (8)

6 - 7/10: Satisfactory - Batman (6.5)

I mean Batman has some great songs like Scandalous, Partyman and the first two tracks, but Purple Rain or Adore level, these are not. Theres nothing new on this album, the earlier albums all added a new dimension to his sound and were a constant evolution peaking with Sign, Lovesexy was not quite Sign Level but still had a very strong spiritual and funky dimension to his talent.

Batman on the other hand was nothing new, merely cookie cutter Prince, yes it was funky on some numbers, but a lot of it was filler like the low quality just there jams that plagued all his 90s releases except the Gold Experience. I mean Vicki Waiting, Trust , Lemon Crush are merely filler and bad filler at that. Lemon Crush with the lyrics "I'm a workin at my jobba, etc" is like 6th grade music class lyrics. Its like Prince made in China by 11 year old girls chained to a floor for 100 yuan a month.

Prince's ballads have always been hot or miss, but Arms of Orion is the worst, flat, dull and uninspired. The better songs like Electric Chair and Partyman at least lift it slightly to an average score. But for me Prince's golden 80s period ended with Lovesexy, where signs of the decline were creeping in.

Song Scores - The Future 8/10, Electric Chair 9/10, Arms of Orion 2/10, Partyman 8/10, Vicki Waiting 4/10, Trust 2/10, Lemon Crush 1/10, Scandalous 9/10, Batdance 7/10.

All his other 80s albums, no cut scores below a 6, and most are 9s and 10s.

Se7en said:

I think for most people it's viewed as a soundtrack, not a "Prince album". In the same vein as Queen with their Flash Gordon soundtrack.

Very good point!

And the ownership rights also comes into the equation. No appearances in The Hits etc. And you'll probably find it will never be part of any WB releases like these...

Se7en said:

Personally, I love the album (I do consider it an album) but it was a very commercial statement at a time when Prince was coming off of 2-3 artistic statements. Following the Lovesexy album and tour, I would've preferred that Prince continue down that direction.

He needed the boost.

All releases after PR were dud on the charts, and he needed to prove he hadnt lost it.

Its a whole lot better than the commercial heap otherwise known as D&P. Thats for sure.

Adorecream said:

I mean Batman has some great songs like Scandalous, Partyman and the first two tracks, but Purple Rain or Adore level, these are not. Theres nothing new on this album, the earlier albums all added a new dimension to his sound and were a constant evolution peaking with Sign, Lovesexy was not quite Sign Level but still had a very strong spiritual and funky dimension to his talent.

Batman on the other hand was nothing new, merely cookie cutter Prince, yes it was funky on some numbers, but a lot of it was filler like the low quality just there jams that plagued all his 90s releases except the Gold Experience. I mean Vicki Waiting, Trust , Lemon Crush are merely filler and bad filler at that. Lemon Crush with the lyrics "I'm a workin at my jobba, etc" is like 6th grade music class lyrics. Its like Prince made in China by 11 year old girls chained to a floor for 100 yuan a month.

Prince's ballads have always been hot or miss, but Arms of Orion is the worst, flat, dull and uninspired. The better songs like Electric Chair and Partyman at least lift it slightly to an average score. But for me Prince's golden 80s period ended with Lovesexy, where signs of the decline were creeping in.

.

You think there's nothing interesting or new from Prince on Batman? How long did Batdance take to put together? Pretty impressive considering the album was done in a couple of weeks.

.

What about lyrics like "I would rather drink six razor blades from a paper cup." and "is my character enough to be one that deserves a copy made."

.

Electric Chair has kind of a different vocal flow and feel from Prince.

You might not like the song, but to call Arms of Orion flat, dull, and uninspired is misguided. It is atmospheric and has great vocals.

.

Electric Chair, Vicki Waiting, Batdance, Arms of Orion, The Future, Lemon Crush (check the guitar riff that kicks in at 3:13), I Love U In Me, Scandalous Sex Suite (amazing guitar parts added), etc. all sound like quirky, creative Prince.

fbueller said:

Adorecream said:

I mean Batman has some great songs like Scandalous, Partyman and the first two tracks, but Purple Rain or Adore level, these are not. Theres nothing new on this album, the earlier albums all added a new dimension to his sound and were a constant evolution peaking with Sign, Lovesexy was not quite Sign Level but still had a very strong spiritual and funky dimension to his talent.

Batman on the other hand was nothing new, merely cookie cutter Prince, yes it was funky on some numbers, but a lot of it was filler like the low quality just there jams that plagued all his 90s releases except the Gold Experience. I mean Vicki Waiting, Trust , Lemon Crush are merely filler and bad filler at that. Lemon Crush with the lyrics "I'm a workin at my jobba, etc" is like 6th grade music class lyrics. Its like Prince made in China by 11 year old girls chained to a floor for 100 yuan a month.

Prince's ballads have always been hot or miss, but Arms of Orion is the worst, flat, dull and uninspired. The better songs like Electric Chair and Partyman at least lift it slightly to an average score. But for me Prince's golden 80s period ended with Lovesexy, where signs of the decline were creeping in.

.

You think there's nothing interesting or new from Prince on Batman? How long did Batdance take to put together? Pretty impressive considering the album was done in a couple of weeks.

.

What about lyrics like "I would rather drink six razor blades from a paper cup." and "is my character enough to be one that deserves a copy made."

.

Electric Chair has kind of a different vocal flow and feel from Prince.

You might not like the song, but to call Arms of Orion flat, dull, and uninspired is misguided. It is atmospheric and has great vocals.

.

Electric Chair, Vicki Waiting, Batdance, Arms of Orion, The Future, Lemon Crush (check the guitar riff that kicks in at 3:13), I Love U In Me, Scandalous Sex Suite (amazing guitar parts added), etc. all sound like quirky, creative Prince.

Exactly!

U shouldn't pay attention to the criticism here. They're just Prince hate everything he do haters....

kewlschool said:

errant said:

they were published through Controversy Music, which was his own publishing company, same as every other song.

what makes you think that the publishing isn't owned by him?

It was a big deal back in the 80's in the press about his giving up the rights. Here is more info per wiki:

Ownership of the Batman franchise is notoriously complex. Prince had to agree to sign the publishing rights to the songs used in the movie over to Warner Bros.; therefore, Prince's hit singles from this album were not permitted to appear on any of his hits compilations, only the B-side singles "200 Balloons", "Feel U Up" and "I Love U in Me"

I don't remember anything from the press back then and this wiki quote is very hazardous since it's not sourced. I'm not saying it's not true but we need more substantial info.

The remix of The Future and Partyman were included on the Peach and Controversy singles from The Hits/The B-Sides (both minus the film samples) so it's not a question of being allowed to, more about avoiding reversing a share of the lucrative Hits/B-Sides release to third parties (WB films and DC). The only big hit from Batman was Batdance and that one couldn't be included without some money being reversed to WB Studios and DC. The aforementioned versions of Partyman and The Future, sans the samples, as well as Scandalous, could likely have been included without anything to pay to WB Studios and DC but they were minor singles and WB probably didn't see the point in adding them.

I don't think a remaster of Batman -with or without WB Records- would be much of a problem as long as WB Studios and DC Comics have their share of the cake. Labels such as La La Land specialize in rereleasing OOP OST's and they don't seem to have much licencing issues. It's just a matter of everyone agreeing on a deal and getting their share of the cake.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

fbueller said:

.

You think there's nothing interesting or new from Prince on Batman? How long did Batdance take to put together? Pretty impressive considering the album was done in a couple of weeks.

.

What about lyrics like "I would rather drink six razor blades from a paper cup." and "is my character enough to be one that deserves a copy made."

.

Electric Chair has kind of a different vocal flow and feel from Prince.

You might not like the song, but to call Arms of Orion flat, dull, and uninspired is misguided. It is atmospheric and has great vocals.

.

Electric Chair, Vicki Waiting, Batdance, Arms of Orion, The Future, Lemon Crush (check the guitar riff that kicks in at 3:13), I Love U In Me, Scandalous Sex Suite (amazing guitar parts added), etc. all sound like quirky, creative Prince.

Exactly!

U shouldn't pay attention to the criticism here. They're just Prince hate everything he do haters....

Enough already, just because my opinion does not suit yours, you don't have to blast and criticise me for it.

I have every right to hold and express my own opinion, so get used to it. Do you really think the Batman album is better than Lovesexy or Sign o the Times, I mean for real.

I hardly consider myself a hater either, thats abusing me. I think my years of devotion and the amount of money I have spent on Prince music and paraphernalia over the years bores out the fact I am a hater. You are regarding some one here who flew overseas twice to see a Prince show, then go to a fan party, if that ain't love then what is?

And yes Arms of Orion is uninspired, late 80s corporate schlock, Batman was only a hit because of the movie, had there been no movie behind it, it would have flopped worst than an album like NewPowersoul.

What makes either of you such great purveyors of who is a lover and a hater, I consider your reactions to my post more hate than anything I have dished up about this album. I try to quantify my reasons, what do you do? call me names and whinge at me because my opinion is different to yopurs, well weep weep, this isn't Communist Cuba, we are all expected to have the same mindset.

Just the org levelling machine in full effect, as usual, its like a Prince page for a communist country.

[Edited 5/2/14 18:15pm]

Adorecream said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Exactly!

U shouldn't pay attention to the criticism here. They're just Prince hate everything he do haters....

Enough already, just because my opinion does not suit yours, you don't have to blast and criticise me for it.

I have every right to hold and express my own opinion, so get used to it. Do you really think the Batman album is better than Lovesexy or Sign o the Times, I mean for real.

I hardly consider myself a hater either, thats abusing me. I think my years of devotion and the amount of money I have spent on Prince music and paraphernalia over the years bores out the fact I am a hater. You are regarding some one here who flew overseas twice to see a Prince show, then go to a fan party, if that ain't love then what is?

And yes Arms of Orion is uninspired, late 80s corporate schlock, Batman was only a hit because of the movie, had there been no movie behind it, it would have flopped worst than an album like NewPowersoul.

What makes either of you such great purveyors of who is a lover and a hater, I consider your reactions to my post more hate than anything I have dished up about this album. I try to quantify my reasons, what do you do? call me names and whinge at me because my opinion is different to yopurs, well weep weep, this isn't Communist Cuba, we are all expected to have the same mindset.

Just the org levelling machine in full effect, as usual, its like a Prince page for a communist country.

[Edited 5/2/14 18:15pm]

Eye never mentioned U in particular...Calm down....

It's not underrated is it? I actually think it has some great prince moments, but I don't understand? You think people should praise it as much as SOTT? It's a very good piece of work but let's not get carried away.

Adorecream said:

Enough already, just because my opinion does not suit yours, you don't have to blast and criticise me for it.

I have every right to hold and express my own opinion, so get used to it. Do you really think the Batman album is better than Lovesexy or Sign o the Times, I mean for real.

I hardly consider myself a hater either, thats abusing me. I think my years of devotion and the amount of money I have spent on Prince music and paraphernalia over the years bores out the fact I am a hater. You are regarding some one here who flew overseas twice to see a Prince show, then go to a fan party, if that ain't love then what is?

What makes either of you such great purveyors of who is a lover and a hater, I consider your reactions to my post more hate than anything I have dished up about this album. I try to quantify my reasons, what do you do? call me names and whinge at me because my opinion is different to yopurs, well weep weep, this isn't Communist Cuba, we are all expected to have the same mindset.

Just the org levelling machine in full effect, as usual, its like a Prince page for a communist country.

[Edited 5/2/14 18:15pm]

.

I've been respectful to you ...

Okay, so you're a fan and entitled to your opinion, BUT others are not? You weren't being criticised. It's called a friendly discussion. You don't like the album. Guess what, others do.

[Edited 5/3/14 11:07am]

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Adorecream said:

Enough already, just because my opinion does not suit yours, you don't have to blast and criticise me for it.

I have every right to hold and express my own opinion, so get used to it. Do you really think the Batman album is better than Lovesexy or Sign o the Times, I mean for real.

I hardly consider myself a hater either, thats abusing me. I think my years of devotion and the amount of money I have spent on Prince music and paraphernalia over the years bores out the fact I am a hater. You are regarding some one here who flew overseas twice to see a Prince show, then go to a fan party, if that ain't love then what is?

And yes Arms of Orion is uninspired, late 80s corporate schlock, Batman was only a hit because of the movie, had there been no movie behind it, it would have flopped worst than an album like NewPowersoul.

What makes either of you such great purveyors of who is a lover and a hater, I consider your reactions to my post more hate than anything I have dished up about this album. I try to quantify my reasons, what do you do? call me names and whinge at me because my opinion is different to yopurs, well weep weep, this isn't Communist Cuba, we are all expected to have the same mindset.

Just the or levelling machine in full effect, as usual, its like a Prince page for a communist country.

[Edited 5/2/14 18:15pm]

Eye never mentioned U in particular...Calm down....

Follow the thread:

You responded to fbueller's response to Adorecream. Therefore, it's perfectly reasonable for Adorecream to respond back to you.

Dismissive "eye rolls" and claiming you weren't talking about Adorecream is rude & dishonest. No?

Calling someone a hater because they don't like a song, or an album, or any other specific aspect of Prince's career is like those MSNBC hosts that call people racist if they don't like a policy of the Obama administration. It's an attack that lacks reason or logic by resorting to name calling and labeling.

In my not-so-humble opinion, of course...

[Edited 5/3/14 7:26am]

errant said:

djThunderfunk said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Eye never mentioned U in particular...Calm down....

Follow the thread:

You responded to fbueller's response to Adorecream. Therefore, it's perfectly reasonable for Adorecream to respond back to you.

Dismissive "eye rolls" and claiming you weren't talking about Adorecream is rude & dishonest. No?

Calling someone a hater because they don't like a song, or an album, or any other specific aspect of Prince's career is like those MSNBC hosts that call people racist if they don't like a policy of the Obama administration. It's an attack that lacks reason or logic by resorting to name calling and labeling.

In my not-so-humble opinion, of course...

[Edited 5/3/14 7:26am]

Who asked U?

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

djThunderfunk said:

Follow the thread:

You responded to fbueller's response to Adorecream. Therefore, it's perfectly reasonable for Adorecream to respond back to you.

Dismissive "eye rolls" and claiming you weren't talking about Adorecream is rude & dishonest. No?

Calling someone a hater because they don't like a song, or an album, or any other specific aspect of Prince's career is like those MSNBC hosts that call people racist if they don't like a policy of the Obama administration. It's an attack that lacks reason or logic by resorting to name calling and labeling.

In my not-so-humble opinion, of course...

[Edited 5/3/14 7:26am]

Who asked U?

Batman was a funny album for me; coming off the mind-blowing high of Lovesexy, it couldn't be disputed that with Batman, Prince had dropped a peg or two. Still, I idolized the guy so much at the time that everything I liked about the album I could happily credit to him, and everything I didn't like I could comfortably blame on the 'Batman-machine'.

It took Graffit Bridge (the precise moment was New Power Generation, for me) to accept that something was actually quite wrong in Prince Land.

Still, I enjoy Batman. If nothing else, it's great in the headphones when you're walking around downtown on a dark summer night.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

djThunderfunk said:

Follow the thread:

You responded to fbueller's response to Adorecream. Therefore, it's perfectly reasonable for Adorecream to respond back to you.

Dismissive "eye rolls" and claiming you weren't talking about Adorecream is rude & dishonest. No?

Calling someone a hater because they don't like a song, or an album, or any other specific aspect of Prince's career is like those MSNBC hosts that call people racist if they don't like a policy of the Obama administration. It's an attack that lacks reason or logic by resorting to name calling and labeling.

In my not-so-humble opinion, of course...

[Edited 5/3/14 7:26am]

Who asked U?

The same person that asked you... Oh, wait, no one did ask you.

It's a public forum that I am participating in. I don't need to be "asked" anymore than you or anyone else.

ludwig said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Who asked U?

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

djThunderfunk said:

Follow the thread:

You responded to fbueller's response to Adorecream. Therefore, it's perfectly reasonable for Adorecream to respond back to you.

Dismissive "eye rolls" and claiming you weren't talking about Adorecream is rude & dishonest. No?

Calling someone a hater because they don't like a song, or an album, or any other specific aspect of Prince's career is like those MSNBC hosts that call people racist if they don't like a policy of the Obama administration. It's an attack that lacks reason or logic by resorting to name calling and labeling.

In my not-so-humble opinion, of course...

[Edited 5/3/14 7:26am]

Who asked U?

Really? You are pulling this "who asked u?" crap again?

Do you understand what a public forum is?

Don't answer that - I know you know.

If you want to keep your comments on a one to one level

then you should be using org notes.

These "who asked you?" comments are just rude.

So stop being rude.

You're better than that.

Ok "Papa".....

LOVE4ONEANOTHER........

I'd always treated each album the same back then. i bought a cassette and the vinyl on each new release. This was the first time i was disappointed sat in McDonalds listening on my walkman. It's a very vivid memory, I was a massive Batman fan too so more disappointment. Whilst i thought it was kind of cool that the songs were attributed to the different characters in the film, It was all still a bit.. off. I dug the subsequent Maxi singles though, they saved the project.

.

My opinion of it hasn't changed much, It's a 3 star album or a 6 out of 10. Average. The tales of him knocking it out in a couple of weeks have only re-inforced that belief. I'm not sure if that's just myth but it's been in my own Prince canon for so long, I've accepted it as fact.

.

It's his second biggest seller behind Purple Rain if i remember right, so no doubt a nice pay day for him. I think it could be seen as a point that lots of people just jumped off and moved on though. Then came Graffiti Bridge to add to that that decline.

.

Yep this is the drop off point.

[Edited 5/3/14 17:32pm]

A couple of friends and I made a 100 mile trip to a opening midnight show, stayed in a really nice hotel--bought the album on cassette when we got to town, listened to it at the hotel (on a boom box). One of my friends liked Prince (and was a comic collector); one never showed any real interest in any music that I recall. Not ideal listening arrangement--but still sounded decent. I think it suffers from coming right after Lovesexy (which seemed like a major personal statement), but it didn't feel like a "it's all over" type moment to me at all. Not the greatest thing he'd done, but not the worst (even then).

[Edited 5/3/14 21:36pm]

I think for many (save maybe the few who already were diappointed by Lovesexy after SOTT), Batman kinda felle flat back then because it was following a massive extravaganza -from 1999 to Lovesexy- of albums that kept growing in musical complexity one after the other. Batman, by contrast, brought Prince's music back to a minimalism that hadn't been there -on a full album's scale- since precisely 1999. In a way Batman was P's return to the minneapolis sound he'd strongly rejected after Purple Rain, though an updated Minneapolis sound. GB continued in that vein adn was another disappointment for many.

In the end, save the ultra-commercial (but well executed) TAOO, the album isn't actually that commercial: there's a weirdness to it, it's dark and somewhat experimental at least when it comes to drum machine programming: when u listen closely to the drum programming of The Future, Vicki Waiting, Trust and Lemon Crush, the work that's been done sounds like nothing neither P nor anyone else had ever done before (or since) but few noticed that. Batdance itself, despite its huge comemercial success and the fact it was inspired by some successful house tracks, was one of P's most experimental tracks ever. Scandalous is now universally acknowledge as being one of P's most sensual ballads and Electric Chait, though not being a very original song, is often quoted as being a fans favorite as well.

Another thing that probably hit the album's reputation is its lack of strong singles -something that had already hurt Lovesexy: Batdance was huge but Partyman, Scandalous and The Future didn't go anywhere and TAOO, which had the biggest potential as a second single, was released quite confidentially and without the support of a music video, something that was necessary for a song to succeed in 1989.

So in the end yeah, Batman didn't really stand when confronted to the brilliant genius of its predecessors, it seemed flatter in sound and musical originality. But reatroactively it was a strong album. Maybe not a masterpiece but a strong album nonetheless.

databank said:

I think for many (save maybe the few who already were diappointed by Lovesexy after SOTT), Batman kinda felle flat back then because it was following a massive extravaganza -from 1999 to Lovesexy- of albums that kept growing in musical complexity one after the other. Batman, by contrast, brought Prince's music back to a minimalism that hadn't been there -on a full album's scale- since precisely 1999. In a way Batman was P's return to the minneapolis sound he'd strongly rejected after Purple Rain, though an updated Minneapolis sound. GB continued in that vein adn was another disappointment for many.

In the end, save the ultra-commercial (but well executed) TAOO, the album isn't actually that commercial: there's a weirdness to it, it's dark and somewhat experimental at least when it comes to drum machine programming: when u listen closely to the drum programming of The Future, Vicki Waiting, Trust and Lemon Crush, the work that's been done sounds like nothing neither P nor anyone else had ever done before (or since) but few noticed that. Batdance itself, despite its huge comemercial success and the fact it was inspired by some successful house tracks, was one of P's most experimental tracks ever. Scandalous is now universally acknowledge as being one of P's most sensual ballads and Electric Chait, though not being a very original song, is often quoted as being a fans favorite as well.

Another thing that probably hit the album's reputation is its lack of strong singles -something that had already hurt Lovesexy: Batdance was huge but Partyman, Scandalous and The Future didn't go anywhere and TAOO, which had the biggest potential as a second single, was released quite confidentially and without the support of a music video, something that was necessary for a song to succeed in 1989.

So in the end yeah, Batman didn't really stand when confronted to the brilliant genius of its predecessors, it seemed flatter in sound and musical originality. But reatroactively it was a strong album. Maybe not a masterpiece but a strong album nonetheless.

^Disagree with a lot!

Don't praise your hero if he fails. Batman is far away from a strong album. There are too many cheap grooves. It's mediocre at best.

Batdance is a cut and paste job of different grooves. It kinda works, but to call it one of his most experimental tracks ever? No way!

Please never ever try to compare the Batman tracks to the greatness of the early MPLS sound! Thank You!

[Edited 5/4/14 8:19am]

funkomatic said:

databank said:

I think for many (save maybe the few who already were diappointed by Lovesexy after SOTT), Batman kinda felle flat back then because it was following a massive extravaganza -from 1999 to Lovesexy- of albums that kept growing in musical complexity one after the other. Batman, by contrast, brought Prince's music back to a minimalism that hadn't been there -on a full album's scale- since precisely 1999. In a way Batman was P's return to the minneapolis sound he'd strongly rejected after Purple Rain, though an updated Minneapolis sound. GB continued in that vein adn was another disappointment for many.

In the end, save the ultra-commercial (but well executed) TAOO, the album isn't actually that commercial: there's a weirdness to it, it's dark and somewhat experimental at least when it comes to drum machine programming: when u listen closely to the drum programming of The Future, Vicki Waiting, Trust and Lemon Crush, the work that's been done sounds like nothing neither P nor anyone else had ever done before (or since) but few noticed that. Batdance itself, despite its huge comemercial success and the fact it was inspired by some successful house tracks, was one of P's most experimental tracks ever. Scandalous is now universally acknowledge as being one of P's most sensual ballads and Electric Chait, though not being a very original song, is often quoted as being a fans favorite as well.

Another thing that probably hit the album's reputation is its lack of strong singles -something that had already hurt Lovesexy: Batdance was huge but Partyman, Scandalous and The Future didn't go anywhere and TAOO, which had the biggest potential as a second single, was released quite confidentially and without the support of a music video, something that was necessary for a song to succeed in 1989.

So in the end yeah, Batman didn't really stand when confronted to the brilliant genius of its predecessors, it seemed flatter in sound and musical originality. But reatroactively it was a strong album. Maybe not a masterpiece but a strong album nonetheless.

^Disagree with a lot!

Don't praise your hero if he fails. Batman is far away from a strong album. There are too many cheap grooves. It's mediocre at best.

Batdance is a cut and paste job of different grooves. It kinda works, but to call it one of his most experimental tracks ever? No way!

Please never ever try to compare the Batman tracks to the greatness of the early MPLS sound! Thank You!

[Edited 5/4/14 8:19am]

It's the album that made me a Prince fan, obviously I like it.

Cut and paste, in pop music and particularly at the time before the great electronic music revolution of the 90's, is one of the main definitions of "experimental".

And I'm not sure I follow u with the "cheap" grooves. The drum programming on several songs is mind blowing if u isolate it.

So... let's agree to disagree?

^For the sake of our blood pressure: let's do so!

fbueller said:

Adorecream said:

I mean Batman has some great songs like Scandalous, Partyman and the first two tracks, but Purple Rain or Adore level, these are not. Theres nothing new on this album, the earlier albums all added a new dimension to his sound and were a constant evolution peaking with Sign, Lovesexy was not quite Sign Level but still had a very strong spiritual and funky dimension to his talent.

Batman on the other hand was nothing new, merely cookie cutter Prince, yes it was funky on some numbers, but a lot of it was filler like the low quality just there jams that plagued all his 90s releases except the Gold Experience. I mean Vicki Waiting, Trust , Lemon Crush are merely filler and bad filler at that. Lemon Crush with the lyrics "I'm a workin at my jobba, etc" is like 6th grade music class lyrics. Its like Prince made in China by 11 year old girls chained to a floor for 100 yuan a month.

Prince's ballads have always been hot or miss, but Arms of Orion is the worst, flat, dull and uninspired. The better songs like Electric Chair and Partyman at least lift it slightly to an average score. But for me Prince's golden 80s period ended with Lovesexy, where signs of the decline were creeping in.

.

You think there's nothing interesting or new from Prince on Batman? How long did Batdance take to put together? Pretty impressive considering the album was done in a couple of weeks.

.

What about lyrics like "I would rather drink six razor blades from a paper cup." and "is my character enough to be one that deserves a copy made."

.

Electric Chair has kind of a different vocal flow and feel from Prince.

You might not like the song, but to call Arms of Orion flat, dull, and uninspired is misguided. It is atmospheric and has great vocals.

.

Electric Chair, Vicki Waiting, Batdance, Arms of Orion, The Future, Lemon Crush (check the guitar riff that kicks in at 3:13), I Love U In Me, Scandalous Sex Suite (amazing guitar parts added), etc. all sound like quirky, creative Prince.

You no doubt know this but Electric Chair was not recorded for the Batman album. It was for the aborted Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic (89) album but clearly Prince felt lyrically it fitted. *I* think it is by far the best song on Batman.

From princevault.com
"While the bulk of the album was recorded between mid-February and the end of March, 1989, Electric Chair was recorded in June, 1988, and Scandalous in October, 1988. In addition, Vicki Waiting was a revamped version of Anna Waiting, initially recorded in December, 1988."

Judging by the sound of Electric Chair and other songs from the Vault from this era (God Is Alive etc) it is clear that this "sound" was where Prince was heading anyway - ie quite electronic and very much solo. If Batman had not happened the album we would have gotten (RUTJF) would have had a similar feel anyway. Indeed the sound of Grafitti Bridge is a continuation of that (and apparently songs were interchanged between RUTJF and GB during the recording sessions anyway).

[Edited 5/4/14 9:39am]

FunkyD said:

Why isn't this album considered a classic? " Love every song expect for "Arms of Orion"

[Edited 4/27/14 1:39am]

need to clarify that i don't hate "arms of orion" but it's probably my least favorite on the album.

[Edited 4/27/14 22:29pm]

Arms of Orion is the BEST song on the album in my opinion, the rest I'm not that keen on.