Batman (Complete) - Danny Elfman

Batman by Danny Elfman is one of his finest scores, one of the most well regarded superhero scores and the breakthrough effort that put him well and truly on the map. Therefore, if you don't own it already, shame on you. Still, you can atone for your oversight by acquiring La-La Land's lovely expanded version containing both the original album, the music as heard in the film and a few additional bits and bobs. In fairness, Batman shows just what a really good editor can do for a soundtrack album since most of the excised music is actually short phrases here and there which reduce repetition within a track or cut a short noodle before the real meat of the cue starts. By that token, it is mildly disconcerting to hear the album track you know and love to appear from some previously unfamiliar few bars or for it to go off on a brief tangent for 20 seconds.

Sure, there are a few completely new tracks, notably the additional action passages towards the end, although again, they don't really add much to the material previously released. Perhaps a little disingenuously, the track listing marks every cue from the film version as being previously unreleased. I don't deny the listing being factually accurate, but it's more that they are different takes and/or mixes than being entirely different. For example, the Main Title, Descent into Mystery, Finale and End Credits are basically the same music, just different mixes; the choir in Descent into Mystery is mixed further back in the film version, but is otherwise the same. Still, the liner notes do helpfully explain the differences, while relating the music to the film itself. I'm being fussy, of course, but don't expect it to be startlingly different.

The music itself remains memorable and exciting; while I'm very enthusiastic about Elfman's Spider-Man scores, Batman is certainly a lot more upfront in its aspirations and melody. There's less of the arrangement clutter that makes the Spider-Man main titles (for example) seem rather busy, even though in many ways, it's really just a good deal more sophisticated than Batman. The remixing of the original album does give it a little more punch, which is saying something as the original album sounded pretty marvellous, highlighting the expert performance of the Sinfonia of London. I guess if you're equipped with the original album and aren't a die hard Elfman fan, it's not an essential expansion given the rather limited amount of truly unreleased material, but for everyone else, yeah, go buy it. Great stuff.