BATMAN RETURNS – Danny Elfman

Tanggal 30 Januari yang lalu, Craig Lysy dari situs Movie Music UK me-review album Batman Returns yang baru dari La-La Land Records. Review-nya panjaaang, berikut kutipannya:

I must commend La La Land, Neil S. Bulk, Dan Goldwasser and M.V. Gerhard for providing a superb reissue of this classic score. The score was re-mastered by James Nelson from Shawn Murphy’s first generation three-track digital mixes and the sound quality is pristine and excellent – a most welcome development given the poor recording of the original. In Batman Returns we see a significant maturation of style as well as more complex and sophisticated orchestration. Elfman not only builds upon the foundation he laid in Batman but introduces several new themes from which he intertwines and plays against each other with extraordinary effect. While the original film was all about Batman, in this sequel, the villains are more prominently featured and the score reflects this. The themes of the three principal characters are as much a part of them as their very sinews, and the score is perfectly attenuated to the film’s imagery. I highly recommend this score and believe it to be one of the best efforts in Elfman’s canon.

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Batman Returns: Limited Edition

Tanggal 22 Desember yang lalu, Daniel Schweiger mem-publish artikel CD Review: December Soundtrack Picks di situs Film Music Magazine. Salah satu yang direkomendasikan adalah Batman Returns: Limited Edition, berikut kutipannya:

Why should you buy it?: Though there’s little of the sound of Elfman’s Oingo Boingo songs in BATMAN RETURNS, the oompa-loompa calliope vibe that fueled the band is very much present in the pipe organs, taunting chorus, and rollicking xylophones that embody The Penguin’s Circus of Crime. And that’s not the only tuneful representation of characters here, as Elfman uses his string section to meow, hiss and slink about as it becomes the enticing claws of the Catwoman. Throw these completely oddball approaches in with the familiar, theme-heavy brooding of Batman, and you’ve got a delightfully unbalanced soundtrack that plays like Wagner trying to bash his way out of a Christmas parade from hell. It’s just one of the many merry prankster elements that multiplex audiences in 1992 didn’t begin to get about this cleverly seditious sequel.

Extra Special: La La Land Records follows up their complete Elfman BATMAN album by revealing just how complex Elfman’s seeming madness was. With this double album’s score clocking in at nearly 90 minutes, this bells and whistles presentation adds even more hell-bent-for leather romance to the Catwoman confrontations, an eerie underbelly to the Penguin’s zoo hideout and more thunderous charging that sends Batman to the villains’ lair. Put on numerous alternates and original album versions, plus a cocktail band version of Rick James’ “Superfreak,” and this new, expansive BATMAN RETURNS reveals itself as what could be considered Elfman’s ultimate mock superhero opera.

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Update on All Things La La Land

Tanggal 12 November yang lalu La-La Land Records membuat posting di bulletin boards-nya, berikut kutipannya:

Batman Returns - as you can expect Mr Elfman and company were very busy with that massive box set coming out at X-Mas and it kinda put a damper on our entire BR release schedule. However, all is good in Gotham now and we might see the caped crusader and his rogue's gallery on our La La Land shelf in the coming months.

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Batman & Batman Returns Limited Edition

Pada tanggal 15 Juli 2010 yang lalu, La-la Land Records mengumumkan akan merilis Batman (1989) Limited Edition: 2 CD set (Expanded Archival Collection) pada tanggal 21 Juli di acara Comic Con di San Diego, Amerika. Harganya US$ 29.98 dan dibuat hanya lima ribu kopi. Bagi yang tidak hadir di acara tersebut, La-la Land akan mulai menjualnya secara on-line tanggal 27 Juli 2010. Berikut ini pengumuman lengkapnya:


As part of our Expanded Archival Collection, La-La Land Records presents the World premiere release of the film version of Danny Elfman’s acclaimed original score to the 1989 Warner Bros. blockbuster BATMAN, starring Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger and directed by Tim Burton. With a running time of 144 minutes, this 2-CD SET, produced by Dan Goldwasser, Neil S. Bulk and MV Gerhard, and remastered by James Nelson, features the previously unreleased film version (mix/edit) of Mr. Elfman’s score, as well as a remastered presentation of the 1989 soundtrack album and never-before-released Bonus Tracks. 20 Page CD Booklet features in-depth liner notes by Jeff Bond. Limited Edition of 5000 Units

ABOUT THIS RELEASE: In order to present as much music as possible from Batman in the best possible quality, multiple sources were utilized with the best-quality elements selected for each cue on an individual basis. For disc one and the bonus cues on disc two, three sources were used: Eric Tomlinson’s 35mm 4-track mixes, 1/4 inch stereo mixes and a stereo 35mm music only track. The album cues on disc two were sourced from the original digital album master featuring Shawn Murphy’s stereo album mix.

TRACK LISTING:
Disc One: Original Score (film version)
1. Main Title* (2:42)
2. Family*/First Batman*/Roof Fight* (3:24)
3. Jack Vs. Eckhardt* (1:37)
4. Up Building*/Card Snap* (1:54)
5. Bat Zone*/Axis Set-Up* (1:55)
6. Shootout* (5:42)
7. Dinner Transition*/Kitchen Dinner* (**)/Surgery* (3:00)
8. Face–Off* (**)/Beddy Bye* (3:59)
9. Roasted Dude* (1:03)
10. Vicki Spies (Flowers)* (1:56)
11. Clown Attack* (1:59)
12. Photos*/Beautiful Dreamer* (***) (2:30)
13. Men At Work* (0:33)
14. Paper Spin*/Alicia’s Mask* (0:30)
15. Vicki Gets A Gift* (1:13)
16. Alicia’s Unmasking* (1:10)
17. Batman To The Rescue*/Batmobile Charge*/Street Fight* (4:25)
18. Descent Into Mystery* (1:33)
19. Bat Cave*/Paper Throw* (2:48)
20. The Joker’s Poem* (0:59)
21. Sad Pictures* (0:38)
22. Dream*/Challenge*/Tender Bat Cave* (**) (4:28)
23. Charge Of The Batmobile* (1:43)
24. Joker Flies To Gotham (Unused)*/Batwing I* (0:31)
25. Batwing II*/Batwing III* (6:02)
26. Cathedral Chase* (5:07)
27. Waltz To The Death* (3:58)
28. Showdown I*/Showdown II* (5:05)
29. Finale* (**) (1:47)
30. End Credits* (1:29)
Disc One Total Time: 75:40
Disc Two: Original Soundtrack Album (remastered)
1. The Batman Theme (2:37) 
2. Roof Fight (1:22) 
3. First Confrontation (4:43) 
4. Kitchen/Surgery/Face–Off** (3:09)
5. Flowers (1:51) 
6. Clown Attack (1:46) 
7. Batman To The Rescue (3:57) 
8. Roasted Dude (1:02) 
9. Photos/Beautiful Dreamer*** (2:31)
10. Descent Into Mystery (1:33)
11. The Bat Cave (2:35)
12. The Joker’s Poem (0:59)
13. Childhood Remembered (2:43)
14. Love Theme** (1:30)
15. Charge Of The Batmobile (1:41)
16. Attack Of The Batwing (4:45)
17. Up The Cathedral (5:05)
18. Waltz To The Death (3:56)
19. The Final Confrontation (3:48)
20. Finale (**) (***) (1:46)
21. Batman Theme Reprise (1:31)

Bonus Cues:
22. News Theme* (0:11)
23. Joker’s Commercial* (1:23)
24. Joker’s Muzak (unused)* (1:15)
25. Main Title (alt 1)* (2:42)
26. Photos*/Beautiful Dreamer (alt)* (**) (2:33)
27. Batman To The Rescue (original ending)* (0:52)
28. Charge Of The Batmobile (film edit)* (1:47)
29. Main Title (alt 2)* (2:47)

Disc Two Total Time: 68:20
Total Running Time: 144:00

* Previously unreleased
** includes “Scandalous” composed by Prince with John L. Nelson
*** includes “Beautiful Dreamer” composed by Stephen Foster

Berikut kutipan dari review pertama terhadap album ini oleh Daniel Schweiger di situs Film Music Magazine:

There’s something about clowns and circus evil that brings out Danny Elfman’s best, giddy darkness. Combine that with the first non-superhero to most popularly embody all that is good and brooding, and you’ve got a landmark score that wiped away the smirks of Elfman’s detractors, establishing this art rocker as a symphonic composer of the first order. Since he roared out of that Batcave in 1989, Danny Elfman’s powerhouse work has arguably stood as the most influential “comic book” score of the past two decades.

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Selain itu diumumkan pula bahwa La-la Land Records juga sedang memproduksi Batman Returns (1992) Limited Edition tapi kemungkinannya masih beberapa minggu (bulan?) lagi.