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B ATMAN BEYOND (1999) by Various Artists |
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The soundtrack of the Beyond series was decidedly different compared to the Wagnerian, Gothic symphonies of the film soundtracks, the noir feel of the Animated Series and the campy feel of the 60's themes. This is why this CD received so mixed reviews. Most people when think of ''Batman Music'', even if they are not aware of Danny Elfman's theme, they expect traditional symphonic music. Well, this is not the case with this soundtrack. Taking its cue from the cyberpunk, futuristic atmosphere of the series, the music is hard and loud techno-rock, metalcore and technometal, with only a few cues reminiscent of the traditional Batman music. Some hated it for this, in my opinion, however, the fact that is different is a good thing. I like something that is original and not a carbon copy of something else. |
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Many people have a serious problem with loud or hard music in general, be it hard techno or metal so the negative response on this CD is quite understandable. A 50 year old film music critic can hardly be a techno or metal fan, the mere sound of the thumbing bass, the loud drums and the shrieking guitars makes him/her cringe. In younger ages, however, teenagers and people in their twenties, hard'n heavy music is popular, and I have to admit that I personally like it a lot, despite the shit that a few say about ''satanic, demonic'' and crap like that. Remember Metallica's concert in San Francisco in 1999, when they played their best songs backed by San Fransisco's Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen (I refer to S&M)? There was a large number of morons that gathered outside the theatre they played and shouted names to the band saying that they don't want the ''satanists'' to play music in their city, shouting names to the people that like this music etc. How stupid can somebody get? If you don't like something it's OK unless you show the minimum respect and simply ignore it. I won't go whinging about how bad I consider the vast majority of trendy pop artists because I simply don't care. As far as I am concerned, these people don't make money from me, so I couldn't care less about their music. Anyway, you may be tired of reading by now. As I said, the music of this CD is not what the average person expects from a Batman soundtrack, but it's a very good example of the genre it represents. Hard techno, fast paced action cues with shrieking accompanying guitars that were made to be played loud and an overall suitably dark cyberpunk tone cast upon it, we're not talking about dancefloor affairs here! I strongly recommend it as an addition to any Batman soundtrack collection. In my opinion, it's a lot better than Goldenthal's score for Batman Forever since it's not simply a second-rate version of Danny Elfman's music but something original and unique. |
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