Batman | ||||
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Studio album / soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | June 20, 1989 | |||
Recorded | June 1988 – March 1989 | |||
Studio | Paisley Park, Chanhassen | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 42:52 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Prince | |||
Prince chronology | ||||
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Batman soundtrack chronology | ||||
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Singles from Batman | ||||
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Batman is the eleventh studio album by American recording artist Prince and the soundtrack album to the 1989 film Batman . It was released on June 20,1989,by Warner Bros. Records. As a Warner Bros. stablemate,Prince's involvement in the soundtrack was designed to leverage the media company's contract-bound talent as well as fulfill the artist's need for a commercial revival. The result was yet another multi-platinum successful cross media enterprise by Warner Bros.,in the vein of Purple Rain .
The album stayed at number one on the Billboard 200 for six consecutive weeks,being his first number one album since Around the World in a Day ,while its lead single,"Batdance",became his first number-one song since "Kiss". It is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The album was recorded in six weeks,from mid-February to late March 1989,and Prince used three tracks recorded earlier:"Electric Chair","Scandalous!",and "Vicki Waiting" (originally known as "Anna Waiting",named for his then-girlfriend Anna Fantastic). Originally,the songs "1999" and "Baby I'm a Star" from earlier albums were slated to be used in the film,but Prince instead recorded an entire album's worth of material with Batman samples and lyrics. In a 2010 Rolling Stone interview,Prince revealed that the project was initially supposed to be a collaboration between himself and Michael Jackson:"Did you know that the album was supposed to be a duet between Michael Jackson and me? He as Batman,me as the Joker?" Prince would have sung funk songs for the villains,while Michael Jackson would have sung ballads for the heroes. This never came to fruition as Jackson was busy with his Bad World Tour and already signed with Epic Records (the label he had been with since 1975),while the film was a Warner Bros. production. The album was performed entirely by Prince,with a few exceptions:Sheena Easton duets with Prince on "The Arms of Orion","Trust" features a sampled horn part by Eric Leeds and Atlanta Bliss,and "The Future" features strings by Clare Fischer sampled from the then-unreleased 1986 track "Crystal Ball" and samples of the Sounds of Blackness choir. "Batdance" includes a sample of Prince's technician Matthew Larson,and "Partyman" features the vocal performance of then girlfriend Anna Garcia (credited as Anna Fantastic). [1] All dialogue sampled on Prince's Batman album is taken directly from a workprint of Batman and therefore lacks ADR and foley. This is especially noticeable in the beginning of the first track,"The Future",with dialogue of Michael Keaton speaking as Batman.
In the album's liner notes,the lyrics of each song are associated with one of the characters in the film:"The Future" and "Scandalous" are credited to Batman;while "Electric Chair" and "Trust" are credited to the Joker. "Vicki Waiting" is sung from the perspective of Bruce Wayne,while "Lemon Crush" comes from Vicki Vale;the two characters share the duet,"The Arms of Orion". "Partyman" was inspired by Prince's first meeting with Jack Nicholson (out-of-character) on-set. [2]
"Batdance",whose lyrics consist mostly of samples from the film,is credited to all aforementioned parties,as well as Gemini,Prince's Batman-centric alter ego that resembles Batman villain Two-Face—Prince on the right half of the body and the Joker on the left. Prince himself is credited with singing two lines of the album as himself:"Who do you trust if you can't trust God? Who can you trust—who can ya? Nobody" in "Trust";and the word "Stop!" that ends "Batdance" and the album proper (though the "Stop!" is actually a sound bite of Michael Keaton,directly from the film where he tells the Batmobile to stop).
The Batman era also marked a change in Prince's appearance;he switched out the elaborate costumes,polka dots and lace from Lovesexy for much simpler attire,usually donning dark blue/black clothing and "Batman" boots. The artist's hair was fully straightened from his signature wavy curls,as shown in the "Batdance" video.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Blender | [4] |
Chicago Sun-Times | [5] |
Entertainment Weekly | B− [6] |
The Guardian | [7] |
Los Angeles Times | [8] |
NME | 9/10 [9] |
Q | [10] |
Rolling Stone | [11] |
The Village Voice | B+ [12] |
In 2016,film critic Matt Zoller Seitz praised Prince's songs and music videos for Batman,more so than the film itself,stating that his songs "suggest a goofy,perverse,sensuous,somewhat introverted Batman film that so far we've never gotten from anyone",and arguing that Prince's music videos "are more psychologically perceptive than any of the Batman films". [13] [14] [15]
In 2019,a Symposium took place to discuss the album. [16]
Prince had to agree to sign the publishing rights to the songs used in the film over to Warner Bros.;Prince's hit singles from this album were not permitted to appear on any of his hits compilations until the 2016 release of 4Ever ,which included "Batdance". Only the B-sides "200 Balloons","Feel U Up",and "I Love U in Me" appeared on his 1993 The Hits/The B-Sides collection. On concert T-shirts which listed all of Prince's album titles to date,the song "Scandalous!" appeared in place of the album Batman.[ citation needed ] Despite this,Prince performed a number of the album's tracks in concert over the years. [17] A 2005 special edition DVD of the Batman film contains Prince's related videos as a bonus feature (although the video for "Partyman" is an edited down version of the original seven-minute long video).
All tracks are written by Prince, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Future" | 4:07 | |
2. | "Electric Chair" | 4:07 | |
3. | "The Arms of Orion" (with Sheena Easton) | Sheena Easton, Prince | 5:02 |
4. | "Partyman" | 3:11 | |
5. | "Vicki Waiting" | 4:51 | |
6. | "Trust" | 4:23 | |
7. | "Lemon Crush" | 4:15 | |
8. | "Scandalous" | John L. Nelson, Prince | 6:14 |
9. | "Batdance" | 6:13 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [50] | Gold | 35,000^ |
France (SNEP) [51] | Platinum | 300,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [52] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [53] | Gold | 10,000* |
Japan (RIAJ) [54] | Gold | 100,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [55] | Gold | 50,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [56] | Gold | 7,500^ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [57] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [58] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [59] | Platinum | 300,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [60] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000^ |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide | — | 4,400,000 [61] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Purple Rain is the sixth studio album by the American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was released on June 25, 1984, by Warner Bros. Records as the soundtrack album to the 1984 film of the same name. Purple Rain was musically denser than Prince's previous albums, emphasizing full band performances, and multiple layers of guitars, keyboards, electronic synthesizer effects, drum machines, and other instruments.
Enya is the eponymous debut studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released in March 1987 by BBC Records in the UK and by Atlantic Records in the US. It was renamed as The Celts for the 1992 international re-release of the album by WEA Records in Europe and by Reprise Records in the US. The album features a selection of music that she recorded for the soundtrack to The Celts, a BBC documentary series about the origins, growth, and influence of Celtic culture.
The Very Best of Prince is a greatest hits album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on July 31, 2001, by Warner Bros. Records. The album contains most of his commercially successful singles from 1979 to 1991 including the US number 1s "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Kiss" and "Cream".
Diamonds and Pearls is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the first with his backing band The New Power Generation. It was released on October 1, 1991, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album produced several hit singles, including "Gett Off", "Cream", "Money Don't Matter 2 Night", "Insatiable", and the title track. Dancers Lori Werner and Robia LaMorte, known as "Diamond" and "Pearl" respectively, appeared on the holographic cover. Diamond and Pearl also appeared in the music videos for "Cream", "Strollin'", "Gett Off", and the title track, and also participated in Prince's Diamonds and Pearls Tour.
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Newpower Soul is the third and final studio album by the New Power Generation, but is considered a de facto Prince album. The album was announced as a "Prince" album in a press release issued by his publicist, but mere days later his official website at the time claimed those were mere rumors.
"Batdance" is a song by American musician Prince, from the 1989 Batman soundtrack. Helped by the film's popularity, the song reached number one in the US, becoming Prince's fourth American number-one single and served as his first number-one hit since "Kiss" in 1986.
"Partyman" is a song by American musician Prince from his 1989 Batman album, and the follow-up to his number one hit, "Batdance". The song is one of the few on the album to be prominently featured in the film, accompanying the scene in which the Joker and his minions deface exhibits in the Gotham City Art Museum before meeting Vicki Vale.
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