Track Listing

1. Future
2. Electric Chair
3. Arms Of Orion
4. Partyman
5. Vicki Waiting
6. Trust
7. Lemon Crush
8. Scandalous
9. Batdance

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13433 in Music
• Released on: 1989-06-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Original language: English, French
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 126 minutes

CD Description
In the late '80s, back when he was the Artist almost known as "has-been", his royal purpleness was in a quandary. It seemed that no matter what kind of delicious, sexy f-u-n-k thehardest working man in Minneapolis popped out, no one was buying. That was all to change when Warner Bros. decided thatTim Burton's BATMAN film was just a wee bit too dark, and needed to be funkified. Naturally Prince got the call. And it's a good thing that he did! While few of his compositions actually were "featured" in the movie itself, the ones that did added valuable levity to the sometimes-grim proceedings.
Thanks to Prince, that old party animal the Joker could deface paintings with a little pizzazz, to the grooving "Partyman". And even if that (allegedly) is not the voice of Kim Basinger heating up "Scandalous", Sheena Easton definitely creates some super-heroic friction in "The Arms of Orion", her duet with Mr.-soon-to-be-a-squiggly-symbol. Even "Batdance" gets catchier when removed from its radio and MTV ubiquity. BATMAN's probably not the favourite of Prince "purists" but it gives up the funk better than most.

Customer Reviews

Pure Partyman!
Prior to the release of Tim Burton's dark and stylised interpretation of the Batman concept, Prince had just published the politically controversial Sign O' The Times in 1987 and the fabulously peppy God-enthused Lovesexy in 1988, both of which explored different musical genres and experimented with both established types and some of the newer artistic styles of the decade. Prince has a reputation for pushing the boundaries of musical restrictions, combining a range of different styles of music and it would be fair to say that no one could level the accusation against him that he fails to move and adapt with the times. Batman is a prime example of Prince's ability to blend different genres. Long term Prince fans will recognise some of the production values, but there's plenty of innovative composition to keep even the most disillusioned Prince fan satisfied.

Songs like 'Electric Chair' and 'Partyman' are infectious examples of the type of music typical of the 80's, with great lyrics and an energy charged electric funk guitar riffing over the top and both are pure Prince gold. 'Arms of Orion' is a poignant love ballad, but has a minimalistic score which works extremely well with the subject matter, with good vocal performances from both Prince and Sheena's Easton's on the track which lend a touching quality to the song.

'Lemon Crush' is probably the most ambitious track of the album, as much of the backing vocals are song in an off-key manner, as is the musical arrangement. Oddly, the whole thing works extremely well. Some of this off-key arrangement is used in 'Batdance' and again it works very well. 'Batdance' has some very minor production issues, most notably evident in the splicing of The Joker's trademark laugh near the beginning of the track, but on the whole the song fits together neatly.
The standout track for me has to be 'Vicki Waiting'. As well as some deliciously suggestive lyrics, the song utilised an engaging bass beat and excellent percussion arrangement, which has had me replaying the track again and again on more than one occasion.

Batman is a highly polished piece of work, resembling Lovesexy to some degree with its glossy production and addictive, catchy tunes. Granted, many of the songs are prime examples of the musical fashion prevalent in the mid to late 80's, but, in my opinion, this only lends them an additional clique value and detracts nothing from the genius demonstrated by it's writer, composer and producer. A fabulous album in general and one no self respecting Prince fan should be without.

I've seen the future
batman -the soundtrack is a prince album like no other. the opening tracks of 'the future' and 'electric chair' are timeless funk & rock (just listen to the guitar solo on electric chair) and create the tempo and style for the rest of the album.it slows down to a ballad in the form of 'arms of orion' a duet with sheena easton yet on the sleeve notes it is credited to 'bruce wayne & vikki vale'.all of the songs are supposedly sung/performed by characters from the movie or alter egos of prince.

it's the jokers turn to ham it up in partyman and even the piano samples create the crazy feeling of the joker in this dance tune.
vikki waiting ,lemon crush & trust are songs that could only really fit well on this album and would look out of place elsewhere. scandalous is a 'slow song' dripping all over the floor and the cherry on top being batdance...no song like it. it dares you to sit through it without tapping your feet or even screaming inside your head to DONT STOP DANCIN'.the movie audio clips are set into the track with ease and after it all you wonder what can he come up with next. the only regret is this album is its length ,40 mins and could/should have been longer as the b-sides of 200 balloons would have snuggeled up alongside partyman nicely. to quote the opening track 'i've seen the future and it works'

batman - prince? what a combo!
Fair do's!
Alright you got me, I am a huge batfan, at the time I was a huge Porince fan also... so imagine my anticipation when the album came out!

I never got around to doing a review for it mind.
It is a brillaint album, most tracks you will hear in the movie, apart from "Orions Arms" which is such a beautiful song, so much song that my wife and I call it "our song"

The only disapointment for me on this cd is the exclusion of 99 baloons, a b side to batdance, which is a fun track.

Its an album worth a look at, if your a prince fan its avery strong album, if your looking for a song , A SONG for your lover, the orions arms will charm :)