The orchestra's brass section for
Batman is handled
brilliantly, often performing in successive layers that treat normal
trumpet usage as a distinctly different layer as muted ones. The muted
trumpets in the score, though noirish in intent, seem like another
throwback to the techniques of Herrmann. A pipe organ often lends
overwhelming power to cues in a fashion far more forceful than in
Beetlejuice; it's used during all of the major crescendos
involving the title theme and understandably receives a prominent solo
role in "Up the Cathedral." Hints of the agonizing heroism of the organ
in this cue would be touched upon again by Elfman in his subsequent
music for
Darkman. The organ is also a staple of
Batman
Returns, though its application to the Penguin's material in the
sequel is extremely overbearing in the bass region; compared to its
clarity in
Batman, the organ in
Batman Returns may as well
have been cheaply synthesized. The piano reprises its role from
Beetlejuice and
Pee-wee's Big Adventure as well, mixed
with dry clarity at the forefront of the recording and often serving as
a rhythm-setter for the less bombastic cues. Cutting jabs on the piano
often do battle with the trumpets in those louder moments. Sorrowful
elegance results when the piano beautifully conveys the title theme in
"Beddy Bye." Whining violin solos also emphasize moments of lonely
sympathy, sometimes sickeningly when applied to the Joker. The choral
employment in
Batman is less obvious than it would be in
Batman Returns, often used as only an accent to orchestrally
robust cues. The two striking exceptions both involve scenes of nature;
in "Childhood Remembered," the choir offers disjointed and unsettling
ambience, though in "Descent into Mystery," a cue that stands out as a
highlight in the film, Elfman relies on the chanting of the voices (in
the style of Carl Orff, but not with the same resonance) to provide the
awe necessary to introduce the Kim Basinger's character to the mystique
of her winged savior. Together with the title theme, this cue is a
glorified advertisement for the batmobile (the scene is even shot like a
car commercial), and veteran Elfman collectors will hear similarities in
choral technique to
Scrooged here as well. Unfortunately, the
emphasis on the choir evident in the album mix of "Descent into Mystery"
is not utilized in the film, where the singers were somewhat dialed out
for apparently no good reason.
The most intriguing element in the score for
Batman
is easily the hyperactive percussion section. During the lengthier
performances of the title theme, including the credits pieces, you do
hear the stereotypical snare rhythms that you'd expect. But beyond that,
Elfman's use of drums is astoundingly dynamic. The composer incorporates
the percussionists as a bridge between his score and the few Prince
songs that made the film, and the mix of the drums specifically creates
an outstanding soundscape, especially for moments of rowdy Joker
behavior and the resulting havoc. The metallic percussion also is
significant, with cymbals and gong often performing in succession to
present ultra-cool transitions (no better is this utilized than at the
beginning of "Charge of the Batmobile"). With Gotham and its cathedral
hosting several tolling bells, Elfman typically returns to the banging
of chimes to emphasize a point in the plot. Always harmonious, these
clangs are a highlight of the conclusion of the cues "Attack of the
Batwing" (tolling away for the premature death of the flying machine)
and "Finale" (which uses them, along with organ and harp, to push the
envelope for unrestrained heroism in the genre). The harp provides
several lovely flourishes in the score, perhaps most notably in the
interludes of the end credits, though this contributor again suffers
from a generally poorer balance of all the elements in the film mix as
opposed to the album presentation. A handful of unique sound effects
(from either the percussion section or synthesizers) include the sound
of an aerosol can shaking in "Batman to the Rescue" and a fading steam
train whistle in "Attack of the Batwing." The aerosol can effect,
mimicking the spray-painting by the Joker's henchmen in the film,
borders on genius. In sum, an inspired performance by The Sinfonia of
London with Walker at the helm brings Elfman's best superhero score to
life. Some critics continue to lament that they hear pieces of Holst,
Orff, Strauss, and Wagner in
Batman (not to mention Herrmann, of
course), but Elfman packages all of the pieces of the score so well that
these influences don't hinder its effectiveness. In sales, the score
album has fare relatively well against Prince's hyped (and much better
promoted) song album despite being released six weeks later, and so
profound the score's legacy has been that it was the subject of one of
Scarecrow Press' Film Score Series of books, devoting an entire volume
to the analysis of just this score (and Prince's songs).
The legacy of Elfman's work for the
Batman
franchise remains untarnished despite Hans Zimmer's 2008 denouncement of
the classic 1989 title theme as "happy" and "jolly," a clear
misunderstanding of the incredibly dark and brooding applications of
Elfman's theme in most of the original film. Elfman's ability to leave
his theme in yearning flux (by dropping its sixth note) and balancing
major and minor-key progressions within its construct far better
represents the duality of Wayne than anything Zimmer has provided the
franchise. The long-standing 1989 Warner Brothers score-only album of 55
minutes for
Batman has served Elfman's music well, despite the
composer's negative opinion of it. Its mix often differed from that
heard in the film in terms of sound quality, section emphasis, and
edited arrangements. The most intriguing distinction comes from the fact
that the album has always presented a more powerful, vibrant mix of the
score than the film itself. This circumstance was made painfully clear
when La-La Land Records had to assemble the film version of the score
from three different sources to compile a decent presentation of its
entirety for a limited, 5,000-copy release of
Batman in 2010. For
some listeners, the most noticeable distinctions are the edits that the
score underwent when transferred to album, but for audiophiles, engineer
Shawn Murphy's resounding mix of the album version simply blows away the
film version without exception. La-La Land's 2-CD set contains the film
version of the score on the first CD and the album version on the
second, along with a variety of alternate takes and source music. The
Murphy mix of the album version is remastered for the 2010 product, but
there is no significant improvement on the already impressive sound of
the 1989 original. For those accustomed to this fuller, magnificent
version of the original album mix of
Batman, hearing the film
version will likely be a disappointment, highly reminiscent of the
muted, restricted soundscape of
Beetlejuice and, not
surprisingly,
Batman Returns (which La-La Land also tackled in
2010). The varying sources may be to blame for these extremely divergent
presentations, and it does bring into question whether the 2010 album is
worth its price for fans of the score. Complicating matters is the
release of the immense $500 set, "The Danny Elfman and Tim Burton 25th
Anniversary Music Box" in 2011, which itself contained a disparate,
expanded version of
Batman on its third CD.
Both the 2010 La-La Land album and the 2011
Elfman/Burton set contain interesting additional material not contained
on the original album, but those extra tracks are not identical. The
2011 set contains
Batman only on one CD, which means that it
could not provide all the extensive bonus cues of the La-La Land
product. It does, like many of the scores in that set, exhibit a
collection of worktape demos that show the music's evolution in
primitive form. But if you seek the most comprehensive presentation of
the film version of the score, the La-La Land album is clearly superior.
On that product, you'll best be able to appreciate nuggets like the
outstandingly restrained performances of the title theme in "Bat Zone"
and "Showdown I." The bonus tracks at the end of the second CD of that
album include two alternate versions of the overture, but with only
subtle changes. Ironically, the "Joker's Commercial" is the most
entertaining track (and far better in sound quality). The final track on
the 2010 album has a hidden recording at the end with the studio crew
seemingly drunkenly performing "Beautiful Dreamer" complete with
catcalls, testimony to the toll that long days of recording must take on
peoples' sanity. That album does have a curious editing defect that
fades out about five seconds in "Joker Flies to Gotham/Batwing I," and
that problem is solved by the bonus track on the 2011 set. Both products
feature the extended version of "Attack of the Batwing" that was missing
from the 1989 CD. It is clear that those who assembled the 2011 set
recognized that a presentation of
Batman as thorough as that on
the 2010 2-CD set was not possible, so there is really no intent to try
to match it. The mastering and mixing of the two products is slightly
different, however, and the only way to maximize your material from the
score is, unfortunately, to have both. When compared to the legacy of
the original album, the La-La Land product still didn't live up to the
hype that it initially generated because of the blatant sound quality
issues involving the film versions of the recording, and the 2011 set
suffers from the same concerns (as well as the detraction of failing to
provide a chronological presentation). Thankfully, La-La Land did
improve, though not spectacularly, the sound quality on a 2014 re-issue
of the same contents. As for the entirety of the score, while die-hard
Elfman fans continue to argue that the more varied and brooding sounds
of
Batman Returns are superior, the majority the mainstream
agrees that the original
Batman is a classic of such
accomplishment that none of the sequel scores (by any composer) can
compete. Dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight would never sound
so good again.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
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