Originally released 30 years ago this week, Prince’s eleventh studio album (and soundtrack to the 1989 film) ‘Batman’ may not immediately come to mind when most think of The Purple One’s greatest albums across his prolific repertoire. But upon closer listening, it possesses all of the hallmarks of his strongest output: genre-blurring experimentation, cinematic storytelling, guitar heroics, limitless vocal range, global appeal, and a touch of the bizarre. Check out Chris Lacy’s retrospective tribute + listen to the album here:

https://www.albumism.com/...rospective

Just thought I'd share this here.

There's a funny Prince reference in this old 2009 YouTube video. It's a parody of The Dark Knight (2008).

It's around 1:13

https://www.youtube.com/w...4PV7oE8Guc

I've had the Batman soundtrack on repeat in the car for about a month now. I forgot just how great it is from beginning to end.

I do not know that anyone on this thread had seen the artcile about how this movie Batman had saved Prince from going fincinally under?

Batman Soundtrack = Electric Chair is Sublime

I thought the Batman era was awesome! I loved collecting all of the formats and the videos for the singles were exceptional.

The music was 'ok', sometimes it was 'great' in places, but certainly not a classice Prince album musically.

For me Batman came at the wrong time. Prince was on a roll musically and creatively. 1986 saw phenomenal creative heights which just seemed to go higher and higher in 1987 and 1988.

The Dream Factory / Crystal Ball / Sign O' The Times era, the Black album and Lovesexy seemed to have a seamless transition musically and then it all suddenly stopped for Batman.

I was massively looking forward to the natural evolution after Lovesexy but the request to work on Batman made Prince re-think and re-position himself.

In a way I wish Batman didn't happen or at least happend in 1990/91 as I would have rather have heard where Prince would have naturally gone next after Lovesexy.

My favorite song from it is The Future love it!

[Spambot - luv4u]

Love this and your other reviews, Chris!

I'm grateful for this album for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it's just a great album of songs. Even out of the movie soundtrack context, if Prince had removed all the film sound bites and just released it as a regular Prince album I would have been totally satisfied. The Future, Electric Chair, Partyman, Trust, Vikki Waiting, Lemon Crush... it's all great stuff.

The second reason I'm grateful is that this project distracted Prince from the path he was taking at the time. Personally, I think the best thing that came from the LoveSexy era was actually the tour rather than the album. His live band was amazing, but I don't regard the LoveSexy album to be his best work (apart from Anna Stesia which is an all time classic IMO). It certainly wasn't the follow up to 'Sign 'O' The Times' that I was looking for. 'Batman' gave us back an edgier, funkier Prince, even if it was only for a short time.

My only gripe with the Batman album was the removal of 'Dance with the Devil' and the inclusion or 'Batdance'. Speaking as both a Prince and a Batman fan, Batdance was a mess. The project didn't need a dance record. It didn't fit the dark tone of the film and didn't stand on its own as a dance track. I much prefer '200 Balloons' over it.

'Dance with the Devil' on the other hand was freaking incredible. What a way to end an album. Pulling that song was a really stupid decision.

[Edited 7/15/19 2:58am]

VaultCurator said:

I'm grateful for this album for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it's just a great album of songs. Even out of the movie soundtrack context, if Prince had removed all the film sound bites and just released it as a regular Prince album I would have been totally satisfied. The Future, Electric Chair, Partyman, Trust, Vikki Waiting, Lemon Crush... it's all great stuff.

The second reason I'm grateful is that this project distracted Prince from the path he was taking at the time. Personally, I think the best thing that came from the LoveSexy era was actually the tour rather than the album. His live band was amazing, but I don't regard the LoveSexy album to be his best work (apart from Anna Stesia which is an all time classic IMO). It certainly wasn't the follow up to 'Sign 'O' The Times' that I was looking for. 'Batman' gave us back an edgier, funkier Prince, even if it was only for a short time.

My only gripe with the Batman album was the removal of 'Dance with the Devil' and the inclusion or 'Batdance'. Speaking as both a Prince and a Batman fan, Batdance was a mess. The project didn't need a dance record. It didn't fit the dark tone of the film and didn't stand on its own as a dance track. I much prefer '200 Balloons' over it.

'Dance with the Devil' on the other hand was freaking incredible. What a way to end an album. Pulling that song was a really stupid decision.

[Edited 7/15/19 2:58am]

I'm not sure I agree with you but I very much like your points!

It's so very hard to second guess what should have been and what could have been. Personally I loved Lovesexy and the musical progression from 1986 to 1988.

I just wish Batman was later in his career as it distracted him from a great stretch of music.

However, to contradict my own view, maybe Batman was a good distraction from Rave Into The Joy Fantastic. The tracks I have heard from this are awful but it is hard to comment on an unfinished project as the finished version could have been very different indeed!

I do see your point about Batman. It's a really hard call because I do like the track and it did sound amazing on the radio at the time!

VaultCurator said:

I'm grateful for this album for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it's just a great album of songs. Even out of the movie soundtrack context, if Prince had removed all the film sound bites and just released it as a regular Prince album I would have been totally satisfied. The Future, Electric Chair, Partyman, Trust, Vikki Waiting, Lemon Crush... it's all great stuff.

The second reason I'm grateful is that this project distracted Prince from the path he was taking at the time. Personally, I think the best thing that came from the LoveSexy era was actually the tour rather than the album. His live band was amazing, but I don't regard the LoveSexy album to be his best work (apart from Anna Stesia which is an all time classic IMO). It certainly wasn't the follow up to 'Sign 'O' The Times' that I was looking for. 'Batman' gave us back an edgier, funkier Prince, even if it was only for a short time.

My only gripe with the Batman album was the removal of 'Dance with the Devil' and the inclusion or 'Batdance'. Speaking as both a Prince and a Batman fan, Batdance was a mess. The project didn't need a dance record. It didn't fit the dark tone of the film and didn't stand on its own as a dance track. I much prefer '200 Balloons' over it.

'Dance with the Devil' on the other hand was freaking incredible. What a way to end an album. Pulling that song was a really stupid decision.

[Edited 7/15/19 2:58am]

I love, love, love Batdance. It's one of the few Prince song all of my kids all liked even thougn most of them were not Princed fans growing up. It was also a massive hit and turned out to be a great song to build hype for the movie. It also was one of his best music videos.

VaultCurator said:

It didn't fit the dark tone of the film

But do any of the songs, really, aside from "The Future"?

Batdance is wonderfully insane and probably the weirdest song to hit #1 in the 80s (except for maybe Pac Man Fever).

My only gripe with this album and era is the "plastic" production that began with LoveSexy. I believe Levi started working on the production and he made the transition to digital recording. Prince sound didnt get "organic" againt untill D&P.

That said still a few gems here. Future, Electric Chair and I may be the only one that love Arms of Orion for the pure 70s easy listen Burt Bacharat love song it is.

I also love The Arms of Orion. It reminds me of a Broadway show tune--a really good one. To me, it is not corny or cheesy at all--it is absolutely beautiful and wonderfully sung. The Arms of Orion is also an outstanding example of Prince's mindblowing ability to work across genres and it is great source material for a (dance) choreographer.

darkroman said:

VaultCurator said:

I'm grateful for this album for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it's just a great album of songs. Even out of the movie soundtrack context, if Prince had removed all the film sound bites and just released it as a regular Prince album I would have been totally satisfied. The Future, Electric Chair, Partyman, Trust, Vikki Waiting, Lemon Crush... it's all great stuff.

The second reason I'm grateful is that this project distracted Prince from the path he was taking at the time. Personally, I think the best thing that came from the LoveSexy era was actually the tour rather than the album. His live band was amazing, but I don't regard the LoveSexy album to be his best work (apart from Anna Stesia which is an all time classic IMO). It certainly wasn't the follow up to 'Sign 'O' The Times' that I was looking for. 'Batman' gave us back an edgier, funkier Prince, even if it was only for a short time.

My only gripe with the Batman album was the removal of 'Dance with the Devil' and the inclusion or 'Batdance'. Speaking as both a Prince and a Batman fan, Batdance was a mess. The project didn't need a dance record. It didn't fit the dark tone of the film and didn't stand on its own as a dance track. I much prefer '200 Balloons' over it.

'Dance with the Devil' on the other hand was freaking incredible. What a way to end an album. Pulling that song was a really stupid decision.

[Edited 7/15/19 2:58am]

I'm not sure I agree with you but I very much like your points!

It's so very hard to second guess what should have been and what could have been. Personally I loved Lovesexy and the musical progression from 1986 to 1988.

I just wish Batman was later in his career as it distracted him from a great stretch of music.

However, to contradict my own view, maybe Batman was a good distraction from Rave Into The Joy Fantastic. The tracks I have heard from this are awful but it is hard to comment on an unfinished project as the finished version could have been very different indeed!

I do see your point about Batman. It's a really hard call because I do like the track and it did sound amazing on the radio at the time!

@darkroman,

I agree with your intitial take. I think Lovesexy is an amazing album with a fresh, original sound that showed Prince evolving. Musically-speaking, Batman was a step backwards.

I love this soundtrack and is still popping after 30 years! My absolute faves are The Future, Electric Chair, and Vicki Waiting, and Arms of Orion is a beautiful ballad too.

I wrote my own 30 year look back article on Batman, if you care to take a read. The article originally appeared on Housequake's site, but the link here is the more indepth version. The extended mix, if you will.

Very soon, in the same place, I will be publishing a longer look at Prince's dip into religion starting with "One Song" on January 1, 2000, and how the monologue reflected his past, but also was a guideline for his thought process through the rest of his life.

Dance With The Devil is just hauntingly great!