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THE BAT BLOG #7: Soundtracks Of The Bat

THE BAT BLOG!

SOUNDTRACKS OF THE BAT!

Music and Batman have gone together since anyone can remember. I first was exposed to Batman with reruns of the 1966 TV series in the 80s, plus all the cartoons Batman was featured in. Really where I came into the Bat Music was the late 80s early 90s films, and The DC Animated Universe. The way this blog will work is I’ll breakdown each soundtrack. From Batman 66, The Bat Films, all of them, and all the BTAS and Batman Beyond Soundtracks. i will also mention that there are plenty of Bat Soundtracks I’ll not be covering. They are Batman: The Brave and the Bold,  Batman Arkham City Batman: Under The Red Hood, there is also DC Comics: 75th Anniversary Collection. I don’t have these, so I thought I’d acknowledge them here, but not give full coverage. I will say that I’ll be getting the DC one and the Under The Red Hood album as well. Now onto the rest…..

Batman 1966 TV Series and Film

 27 tracks of awesomeness. This score from the 66 film and TV series is amazing. Most of the music in the TV series can be found on here. I absolutely love the grand sound that this score has. It transported back to when I was a kid watching the reruns in the 80s. I love being able to just listen to the music outside of the film or show. Such great stuff!! If you are someone who grew up on 60s Batman this is a must have!!!!

Batman 1966 Score 

This has outrageous price NEW on amazon, but the used price aint that bad.

Batman 1996 Score Remastered Version

Batman Live Action Films:

Batman (1989)

Soundtrack:

There are 9 tracks on this… that’s it??? As a nine year old kid when this film came out, I was sooo excited for it. I loved hearing the music in the film. Sadly I have to say that the only track I like off this is Partyman. The rest I just can’t get into.

Batman 89 on iTunes

Score:

Danny Elfman is a Battastic Genius!!!! His music was so epic, and the Batman theme here gave way to the BTAS music.

Batman 89 Score on iTunes

Batman Returns (1992)

Score:

Even though I’m not a fan of this film anymore, Danny Elfman really brings it once again with the scored music. Cat Suite, Selina Transforms, and the End Credits tracks are among my favorites.

Batman Returns Score on iTunes

 Batman Forever (1995)
MMMM CHASE MERIDIAN….. oh wait this is about the music. 
Ahh yes Batman Forever. I truly enjoy this film for Chase Meridian!!! But enough about that, let’s get to the music shall we? This film had both a soundtrack, and a score. Danny Elfman is gone from scoring, and now we have Elliot Goldenthal & Jonathan Sheffer. Honestly I barely noticed the change. I’m not saying that the score to this film is better than what Danny Elfman has done. What I am saying is that I didn’t hear the difference. Hence why sometimes I credit elfman to stuff he had nothing to do with. Just because I thought it really was him, but it wasn’t.

Soundtrack:

We all know the one track that was a smash from this release right? Kiss From A Rose By Seal. U2, Brandy, The Offspring, PJ Harvey, and others make up this soundtrack. Honestly I only like the Seal and U2 Songs. The rest just didn’t grab me.

Batman Forever Soundtrack on iTunes

Score:

The score however is freakin amazing. I think that’s one of the things that increased my enjoyment of the film. Was the scored music. It’s very epic and a lot of loud booms. Also at times there are quiet moments in a few of the tracks. Really enjoy listening to this.

Batman Forever Score on iTunes

 Batman & Robin (1997)
Yes We all know this film is horrid, let’s see what the soundtrack and commercially unreleased score are like.

Soundtrack:

I’ve never been a fan of the Smashing Pumpkins that much, so the two tracks, or one track on here really don’t grab me. I will say right off the bat that R. Kelly’s Gotham City and Jewel’s Foolish Games were the only tracks when this was released that I liked. What the hell is R.E.M.  doing on this soundtrack?? I LIKE R.E.M. they should not be associated with this film. Their song Revolution is ok, it’s not something I could listen to more then once. Lazy Eye by The Goo Goo Dolls is another track that surprised me, as to why is it on here? It’s also a track mixed with the heavy Goo Goo stuff, and the soothing sounds they’d have from 1998 on. I will say right away that after the seventh track I know none of the rest of the artists on this thing. I did listen to each of the remaining tracks, and they didn’t grab me.

Oh and I bet you are saying to yourself while reading this, “Why Didn’t you mention Look Into My Eyes?” Well I do remember where I was at this time of my life, and Rap/R&B/Soul music was all around me, and I have to say that I don’t mind some of Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony’s stuff from this era. Five out of the fifteen tracks are good. That’s not saying much is it?

Batman & Robin Soundtrack on iTunes

Score:

Stuff Go Here

Sadly the score to Batman & Robin never got a commercial release (I’m not telling how I got it), and the original art for it SUCKS!!! I refuse to put it on this post.

Much like Batman Forever I throughly enjoyed this musical score. The music is epic, and also quiet when it needs to be.

 Batman Begins
Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard take the reigns of the NolanVerse Bat films scores. While I like Begins, I think that The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises are better. But those are my thoughts of the films. I have no complaints about the film scores. They are very awesome. In the Batman Begins soundtrack, we have Zimmer and Howard giving us giant epic notes, as well as quiet unassuming melodies. I never got this soundtrack until recently, but I do know I love the music from the film, however when I put this in iTunes, the track names are weird to me. If anyone can explain them, that’d be great.
The Dark Knight
You might be asking yourself, “Why are their two covers for this?” Well in this day and age everything has “Special, Limited, or Deluxe Editions” to it. At the time of the TDKR release the Collector’s Edition soundtrack was not out, and I wanted the music like now. Hans Zimmer and James Newton howard again are musicals masters at their craft!!!! In The Dark Knight Soundtrack, they have elevated the sound, and they have also lightened it to be much more creepy. This is because of Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker! Just listening to this makes me wanna watch the film. The first track “Why So Serious” comes in at nine minutes 14 seconds. It is the epic music of The Joker. Other tracks I like include, Aggressive Expansion, I’m Not A Hero, Blood on My Hands, and A Dark Knight. This soundtrack is a must get, especially the Collectors Edition, to get those 14 extra tracks.
The only differences between the two Dark Knight Soundtracks is that the Collectors Edition has 14 additional tracks.
The Dark Knight Rises

THE LEGEND ENDS…

That’s right The Dark Knight Rises put a period on the NolanVerse. Hans Zimmer excels once again with the epicness of a Batman score. Currently I only have three tracks from the Deluxe Edition. They are A Storm Is Coming, Gotham’s Reckoning, and Rise. I do plan on getting the rest of the deluxe edition soon.

The Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack on iTunes

The Dark Knight Rises Deluxe Edition Soundtrack on iTunes

The only differences between these two are that the Deluxe Edition has 3 additional tracks.

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TFG1Mike

TFG1Mike is a geek with many interests. He has been podcasting for over a decade, and sees no stopping point in sight. From Transformers, He-Man, Batman, Comics, movies, video games, cartoons, and so much more, Mike has a zeal for the things he loves, and he will bring the hammer down on the things that he has a disdain for. He's generally a postive person, but negativity can creep in there. Mike is all about the innuendos and innuendon'ts too. You'll hear him on many of The GCRN podcasts!

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