Batman [Original Score] (CD - 1989)

This is the true instrumental score (background music) to the film "Batman," created by Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo. It contains a short section of Prince's song "Scandalous." For Prince's "Batman" music, see his BATMAN CD (Warner Bros. 25936).

Personnel: Shirley Walker (conductor); The Sinfonia of London Orchestra.

Elfman uses every trick in his even then massive arsenal to create arguably one of his best scores. Nominated for an Academy Award and winning a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition (other than Jazz), BATMAN runs through a full range of moods and ultimately triumphs as a unique action-film score. Bringing along some of his tools from BEETLEJUICE, primarily to enhance The Joker's sinister attitude, Elfman accentuates Tim Burton's vision of a reluctant, tragic hero defending a darkened, Gothic metropolis overrun by crime. However, it is in the romantic subplot that Elfman justly comes into his own. He tempers piano and soft violins with an underpinning sense of danger that surrounds every scene in the film. minimize