No secret I love Batdance & 200 Balloons! Actually most of the Batman album is pretty good.

MusicFan20Ten said:

I think Arms Of Orion is a sweet song and don't get why people don't like it. Sure it isn't as good as Adore or Scandalous, but it also isn't Purple And Gold. I also think Song Of The Heart is so sweet and love that he got some awards for it! Never knew Prince performed it, I'll have to try and look for that, and Sheena's version of it too. Thank you for telling me about these 😄😄

If it had three or however many extendo guitar solos "Purple Rain" has it would be just as beloved. "Purple Rain' is just as maudlin.

Actually, I really like "The Arms of Orion", I was drinking the Hatorade-spiked org kool-aid back in the day. I'm finally ready to be me. "The Arms of Orion" is a great song, at least it's cinematic/grandiose if a little over-the-top pinache-y... certainly a better for fit for a blockbuster Batman soundtrack than "Lemon Crush", if not fitting the Tim Burton vision like most of the rest of that lame Batman soundtrack fails at acknowledging.

Anyway it broadens the Prince sonic palette even if you despise it. Him doing a style you vehemently disapprove of is still him doing a new style, and I always feel that should always be commended with Prince, particularly in his last record of the 80s when he started to kind of reach into his old bag of tricks a bit more and more as the albums and eras would progress.

I'll always give extra points to him at least attempting to stretch his art vs. funk track #72,456.

[Edited 7/14/23 6:14am]

WhisperingDandelions said:

RJOrion said:

I loved The Wedding Feast at first listen, and still do. It's "out there" in a good way, a perfect example of how much Prince just did his own thing.

Poom Poom falls in the same category. Just Prince doing his own thing.

Se7en said:

I loved The Wedding Feast at first listen, and still do. It's "out there" in a good way, a perfect example of how much Prince just did his own thing.

Poom Poom falls in the same category. Just Prince doing his own thing.

The Wedding Feast always makes me laugh when I'm listening to TRC from start to finish. I know it's probably crucial to the overarching concept and probably symbolies a celebration and coming together as part of the third act, but I would rather do without it. I don't see the point of it, despite a quick off the cuff analysis. Poom Poom however? I absolutely love that song, I've been playing it frequently the past few weeks and love how crazed the vocals get toward the end.

RayBuster said:

But it is that Batman in general (with the exception of Trust, which personally is in my top list of Prince songs that I prefer to forget) is an album that deserves review, an SDE to match and all possible claims.

To me it's the first example of criticisms that would be leveled at him the rest of his career. "Prince on autopilot," "By-the-numbers Prince," "Prince doing Prince," with notable exceptions that expand the palette like "The Future" and "The Arms of Orion".

It's basically the prototype for a Musicology type album, it's just more beloved because he was still "in the zone" creatively, or zone-adjacent at least, so his generic throwaways are slightly more enjoyable.

MusicFan20Ten said:

JorisE73 said:

If I remmber correctly The Nude tour was billed as being his greatest hits tour.
I think it was just to wrap up the 80s and start fresh with the whole new style (Diamonds and Pearls)
The Tokyo show above is missig alot, if they release it (if they would it would highly likely be the video) they'll probably release the 'Fullasoul' complete version remastered.

I know the Tokyo show is missing a lot, which makes me sad, but it's probably my favourite Prince show ever. I chose to include it for that reason, and because there's a few Batman songs present. I know it's more of a "greatest hits" and "stripped back" tour, but I'm pretty sure Nude is the only time Prince played so many Batman era songs in one go. I think the only Batman songs that were frequently performed afterwards are Scandalous and Partyman (the song that made me a Prince fan in the first place)

i wouldnt mind a live compilation of batman songs played live over the years if a SDE of this album is ever released.

.

[Edited 7/15/23 17:29pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

RayBuster said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

To me it's the first example of criticisms that would be leveled at him the rest of his career. "Prince on autopilot," "By-the-numbers Prince," "Prince doing Prince," with notable exceptions that expand the palette like "The Future" and "The Arms of Orion".

It's basically the prototype for a Musicology type album, it's just more beloved because he was still "in the zone" creatively, or zone-adjacent at least, so his generic throwaways are slightly more enjoyable.

I fully understand your point of view, there are many truths that I share. In any case, it is the problem of analyzing an artist based on a generalized scale whose premise is his musical career rather than the specific work that he offers at a given moment. But I understand that it is so difficult to get rid of this... the artists themselves, any professional, any human life in reality, sees or is seen as an absolute comparison of itself... But hey, before following philosophical paths, I will focus on admiring a work that combines something so complicated in the Batman universe (and so simple for Prince, like a good Gemini) as the dark and gothic side along with the pop of Adam West's version. Prince's childhood love for the tune of the sixties TV series is known. How this spirit leads to the darkest terrains of the reinterpretation of Tim Burton is what interests me the most. Batman is a work that may seem simple, but I see it as an intricate skein that tells a story with the comic book characters. It is exquisite minimalism, overwhelming sensuality, histrionics...it is music for the masses and extraordinary turns towards the unconventional. It is lawful that to many others it may seem empty. It is not a matter of being right, clearly.

I like where you're going, but even by that qualification/angle it's again another mark against it.

It really doesn't seem like he put all that much care whatsoever in putting the "Prince gimmick" aside and fully immerse himself in the "Tim Burton Batman vision."

I made a Musicology comparison because his Batman soundtrack is tantamount to slapping a Batman logo on Musicology,, or Rave, or The Slaughterhouse, or any of his "Prince standards" albums, which I grade on a varying scale, but this Batman thing, not only is it a retread, it's not even a fitting Batman record.

It's like he took Anna Fantastic songs and made them "Vicki Vale" songs, randomly assigned tracks as "written by Bruce Wayne" or whatever it was when "Lemon Crush" and "Vicki Waiting" are totally Prince tracks with no iota of any Batman or Bruce Waye or a single element of trying to enhance the Tim Burton Batman Dark Goth Knight film world in any form.

"Dance with the Devil," how was that cut again? Because that and "The Future" are the only tracks that fit the Burton Bat concept/tone. Jamming on the 60s Adam West theme Tim Burton was clearly trying to move away from over a house beat is Prince serving the Prince gimmick, not caring what the other artist (or Danny Elfman, what about Elfman, sample some Elfman instead of soundbytes) is trying to do.

mb71 said:

Give me a hundred tracks like Batdance compared to any dirge religibollocks from the 2000's.

exactly

PJMcGee said:

I think of Peach as something of a novelty, with its goofy sound effects, comical lyrics and over-the-top guitar. Always fun. And it gave us one of his most blistering live clips with some of his rawest sounding vocals.

Well, the backing track of Kim Basinger moaning during sex is a pure "Prince" move. Plus, the guitarwork has a raw energy to it. I don't see it as a novelty, per se. It would've fit on an album.

WhisperingDandelions said:

RayBuster said:

WhisperingDandelions said: I fully understand your point of view, there are many truths that I share. In any case, it is the problem of analyzing an artist based on a generalized scale whose premise is his musical career rather than the specific work that he offers at a given moment. But I understand that it is so difficult to get rid of this... the artists themselves, any professional, any human life in reality, sees or is seen as an absolute comparison of itself... But hey, before following philosophical paths, I will focus on admiring a work that combines something so complicated in the Batman universe (and so simple for Prince, like a good Gemini) as the dark and gothic side along with the pop of Adam West's version. Prince's childhood love for the tune of the sixties TV series is known. How this spirit leads to the darkest terrains of the reinterpretation of Tim Burton is what interests me the most. Batman is a work that may seem simple, but I see it as an intricate skein that tells a story with the comic book characters. It is exquisite minimalism, overwhelming sensuality, histrionics...it is music for the masses and extraordinary turns towards the unconventional. It is lawful that to many others it may seem empty. It is not a matter of being right, clearly.

I like where you're going, but even by that qualification/angle it's again another mark against it.

It really doesn't seem like he put all that much care whatsoever in putting the "Prince gimmick" aside and fully immerse himself in the "Tim Burton Batman vision."

I made a Musicology comparison because his Batman soundtrack is tantamount to slapping a Batman logo on Musicology,, or Rave, or The Slaughterhouse, or any of his "Prince standards" albums, which I grade on a varying scale, but this Batman thing, not only is it a retread, it's not even a fitting Batman record.

It's like he took Anna Fantastic songs and made them "Vicki Vale" songs, randomly assigned tracks as "written by Bruce Wayne" or whatever it was when "Lemon Crush" and "Vicki Waiting" are totally Prince tracks with no iota of any Batman or Bruce Waye or a single element of trying to enhance the Tim Burton Batman Dark Goth Knight film world in any form.

"Dance with the Devil," how was that cut again? Because that and "The Future" are the only tracks that fit the Burton Bat concept/tone. Jamming on the 60s Adam West theme Tim Burton was clearly trying to move away from over a house beat is Prince serving the Prince gimmick, not caring what the other artist (or Danny Elfman, what about Elfman, sample some Elfman instead of soundbytes) is trying to do.

Tim Burton was using 1999 and Baby I'm A Star in rough cuts of the movie as placeholders. I don't think he necessarily wanted a full Batman-themed Prince album, but I'm sure WB higher-ups saw some cross-marketing $$$.

Danny Elfman's theme is the more definitive "Batman sound" - used in other movies and animated series, I think some video games. No one used the Prince material after the first movie.

I thnkk the sampling in Batdance is awesome, fitting perfectly to the beat

GO Go Go with a smile

I wass on holiday in the USA in the summer Batman came out - and I remember the song was all over the radio. Really cool... Will always connect this song with that holiday...

Krid said:

I thnkk the sampling in Batdance is awesome, fitting perfectly to the beat

GO Go Go with a smile

I wass on holiday in the USA in the summer Batman came out - and I remember the song was all over the radio. Really cool... Will always connect this song with that holiday...

Queen did it first with Flash! from Flash Gordon. Same concept of movie dialog integrated into the song.

But Batdance is still awesome. Summer 1989, I had just graduated high school about a month before Batman came out. I didn't have much of anything to do that summer, and ended up seeing the movie quite a few times at the theater.

Se7en said:

Se7en said:

Tim Burton was using 1999 and Baby I'm A Star in rough cuts of the movie as placeholders. I don't think he necessarily wanted a full Batman-themed Prince album, but I'm sure WB higher-ups saw some cross-marketing $$$.

Wasn't it all actually Jack Nicholson's doing, even the suggestion of initial placeholders?

Jack had all that clout and all the payday with that movie. If he wanted Alvin & the Chipmunks producing the soundtrack the studio would have made Burton go with it.

Ndorphinmachina said:

Se7en said:

Tim Burton was using 1999 and Baby I'm A Star in rough cuts of the movie as placeholders. I don't think he necessarily wanted a full Batman-themed Prince album, but I'm sure WB higher-ups saw some cross-marketing $$$.

[img]Danny Elfman's theme is the more definitive "Batman sound" [/img]- used in other movies and animated series, I think some video games. No one used the Prince material after the first movie.

That's definitely true. But in terms of the movie, two of the most memorable scenes are Joker in the museum (Partyman), and Joker's parade (Trust).

They're memorable because they're so off with the rest of the tone of the movie.

I saw Batman as a kid a good 10-12 years before getting into Prince. After those scenes I went up to my mom and asked her why the background doesn't fit the rest of the movie and how it's really distracting. She was like "It's Prince!" Again, 10-12 years pre-Prince phase, I reiterated, "....okay.... they still don't fit the movie."

And as an adult it's even more egregious. The Prince songs have no place in a Tim Burton Batman movie. Joel Schumacher Batman or Adam West Batman, perhaps, but gothic Tim Burton pixie dark dreamland Batman? He treated Tim Burton like he treated Kim Kardashian or Ed Sheeran on that one.

Se7en said:

PJMcGee said:

I think of Peach as something of a novelty, with its goofy sound effects, comical lyrics and over-the-top guitar. Always fun. And it gave us one of his most blistering live clips with some of his rawest sounding vocals.

Well, the backing track of Kim Basinger moaning during sex is a pure "Prince" move. Plus, the guitarwork has a raw energy to it. I don't see it as a novelty, per se. It would've fit on an album.

That cheeseball throwback 80s guitar was definitely a novelty at the height of grunge and alternative.

I like "Peach" but I vote "novelty" on that as well.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Peach is no novelty song Its a sincere, fun, old school rocker Movie Star, thats a novelty song. I love that one too. Style from 1996, too. Joint to joint is half novelty too. Which is why i dont listen to it much. [Edited 7/21/23 22:45pm]

"Peach" is so glaringly "old school" enough when juxtaposed with the 90s context it becomes kitsch and kitsch = novelty.

"Movie Star" is humor/swagger, the others are swagger as well.

[Edited 7/22/23 16:24pm]