Michael Giacchino's THE BATMAN (2022)

[crocodile 8,012]

Well, the link to the Rambling pressing has now disappeared off Ark Square. But it is still available from Japanese Amazon. As you can there are two products listed on their page. The cheaper is the Amazon manufactured CD-R (which is listed everywhere else) and the other, more expensive, one is the Rambling CD.

 

As for the score, I really like it. It's not a lot of work intellectually, sure, but I enjoy it as a nice background listen in the evening while doing something else. 

 

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

3 hours ago, crocodile said:

As for the score, I really like it. It's not a lot of work intellectually, sure, but I enjoy it as a nice background listen in the evening while doing something else. 

 

It's certainly better than the usual Giacchino standard (simplistic/derivative as it is). But now i see reviews popping up on FB in which the music is described as Herrmann reborn. MG has now officially reached Zimmer status.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

The modern Emperor's New Clothes is that the crowd is too blind to realize he's naked

[Mephariel 451]

6 hours ago, publicist said:

 

It's certainly better than the usual Giacchino standard (simplistic/derivative as it is). But now i see reviews popping up on FB in which the music is described as Herrmann reborn. MG has now officially reached Zimmer status.

 

LOL Facebook. FB also said Williams is better than Beethoven, Zimmer is better than Mozart. 

[Jay 37,364]

I finished my in-car listen of the rest of the OST album and I do like the score now, way more than I did after that first listen I gave when it came out.  Seeing the film really helps.

 

I do think the OST album is in that stupid "in between" phase like those double-disc The Hobbit OSTs, and Giacchino's own Jupiter Ascending... what all these releases suffer from is being too long for the casual film score fan to perhaps want to even give a try, or fully enjoy if they do..... but also too short to be the complete score.  It ends up displeasing both camps!

 

In all 5 of these cases they should have done a shorter 1 disc edition for the casual fan, and a 2-disc COMPLETE release for the major fans.  Instead we're stuck with something that can't be fully pleasing for anyone.

[Richard Penna 3,689]

Yep, same conclusion here. I rather like a handful of cues and the concert pieces at the end, but much of the other material isn't interesting to me. It would be a bit of a stretch at the moment for me to buy the album based on only those bits.

 

Question for those who either remember better or have seen multiple times: did the end of the car chase have a Batman rendition when his car flies through the flames? I vaguely remember something like that in the film, and the album track ends on some dissonant statement. Could be the bit at 4:36.

[Tom Guernsey 2,284]

8 minutes ago, Jay said:

I finished my in-car listen of the rest of the OST album and I do like the score now, way more than I did after that first listen I gave when it came out.  Seeing the film really helps.

 

I do think the OST album is in that stupid "in between" phase like those double-disc The Hobbit OSTs, and Giacchino's own Jupiter Ascending... what all these releases suffer from is being too long for the casual film score fan to perhaps want to even give a try, or fully enjoy if they do..... but also too short to be the complete score.  It ends up displeasing both camps!

 

In all 5 of these cases they should have done a shorter 1 disc edition for the casual fan, and a 2-disc COMPLETE release for the major fans.  Instead we're stuck with something that can't be fully pleasing for anyone.

Gotta agree with all of that... it's very odd to release almost all of it, but still have some stuff missing. Ah well, I need to give it another listen but, I just don't have the time, so much else to listen to.

[Jay 37,364]

Though I do like the score, I don't really like the entire OST album.  I'd like to make my own shorter version that will be what I put on my phone, but I'd have to go through every track again while at the computer to figure out which ones I want to keep and which I don't.  When will I find time for that....

[Anthony 572]

15 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Question for those who either remember better or have seen multiple times: did the end of the car chase have a Batman rendition when his car flies through the flames? I vaguely remember something like that in the film, and the album track ends on some dissonant statement. Could be the bit at 4:36.

 

Seeing it again tomorrow so I'll listen out for it. I don't recall there being one. I remember waiting for the dissonant brass bit (which is awesome) but I don't recall any music after the explosion - not sure if that was simply buried under sound effects or cut out.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

10 hours ago, Jay said:

I finished my in-car listen of the rest of the OST album and I do like the score now, way more than I did after that first listen I gave when it came out.  Seeing the film really helps.

 

I do think the OST album is in that stupid "in between" phase like those double-disc The Hobbit OSTs, and Giacchino's own Jupiter Ascending... what all these releases suffer from is being too long for the casual film score fan to perhaps want to even give a try, or fully enjoy if they do..... but also too short to be the complete score.  It ends up displeasing both camps!

 

In all 5 of these cases they should have done a shorter 1 disc edition for the casual fan, and a 2-disc COMPLETE release for the major fans.  Instead we're stuck with something that can't be fully pleasing for anyone.

Congratulations.

Youve just taken your first step into a larger universe😁

[Quintus 5,399]

17 hours ago, publicist said:

 

It's certainly better than the usual Giacchino standard (simplistic/derivative as it is). But now i see reviews popping up on FB in which the music is described as Herrmann reborn. MG has now officially reached Zimmer status.

 

These kind of comparisons (the most common nauseating one being with JW) are what piss me off about Gia, or more particularly, his fans. It just seems like the vast majority of listeners are cloth eared. 

 

Bernard Herrmann, sheesus give me strength 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Four notes?

 

[crocodile 8,012]

18 hours ago, publicist said:

 

It's certainly better than the usual Giacchino standard (simplistic/derivative as it is). But now i see reviews popping up on FB in which the music is described as Herrmann reborn. MG has now officially reached Zimmer status.

Giacchino inherited franchises from Schifrin, Goldsmith, Williams, Elfman, Horner, Rosenman and Zimmer so that means he's (at least!) as good as all of those gentlemen combined. Sorry, pal! 

 

 

Karol

[Richard Penna 3,689]

I didn't initially really 'get' the string-based section of the Batman theme but I was listening last night to the bits that actually didn't do anything for me in the film and I finally made that connection. Hence now my mini-playlist stands at around 50 mins.

 

I definitely support Jay's suggestion that Gia should have done a CD-length release with the highlights and another with the complete score. If you only want perhaps half the album, you still have to shell out over £10.

[Anthony 572]

Agreed, a proper curated OST and a truly complete "deluxe" edition would have been better than this strange halfway option.

 

The score is better than the album suggests.

[leeallen01 2,136]

It would be interesting if, in the sequel, Giacchino shapes his Bruce Wayne theme to become the main Batman theme, and his vengeance-heavy, hard-hitting power theme for Batman will become the secondary theme, considering the obvious direction that the story is heading toward. Spoiler - that Bruce realises he needs to help with hope as Bruce, rather than just with fear as Batman.

[TheUlyssesian 2,478]

Negative review from Clemensen

 

https://www.filmtracks.com/titles/batman22.html

 

He articulates many of the concerns that I and others have expressed quite well - but two thoughts stand out -

 

1. His Batman motif is bottom of the barrel for film scoring, Zimmer/RCP level. No wonder audiences LOVE this score.

 

2. Literally all you need is the 3 suites. That's it. Done. The score itself offers little to no interest besides these 15 mins of music. I find it shocking to even say this about a Gia score. And yet here we are. And yet, the GA thinks this score is an extraordinary achievement of film scoring. 

 

This is a far far far far far far far cry from Gia's best work. This is not worth Gia is capable of. He is capable of much much much much more. And he has delivered beautiful exemplary work in the past. This is NOT Gia's finest hour. Part of being a fan is to criticize as well. I criticize Williams too if I don't like something. But again, needs to be said, this score will win Gia TONS of fans, TONs of general audience association and probably award nominations and wins. Of all Gia scores, this is the one in recent times that will sell well, that will sell Vinyls and what not. 

[Edmilson 7,453]

Almost all video reviews I've watched of the movie praised the score. So yeah, it is a success with non-film score fans.

 

It's kinda like Joker in 2019: it works well enough to draw the attention of people who normally don't care about film scores, but with a more mixed reception among score fans.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Film music criticism continues its slide into irrelevancy.

[TheUlyssesian 2,478]

I mean, was it ever relevant. It was only ever like 3-4 outlets at best. You can now add in some youtubers. 

 

We are all part of an extremely small, an extremely insular and an extremely unrepresentative community. 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

1 hour ago, TheUlyssesian said:

I mean, was it ever relevant. It was only ever like 3-4 outlets at best. You can now add in some youtubers. 

 

We are all part of an extremely small, an extremely insular and an extremely unrepresentative community. 

Speak for yourself!😝

Once We Were Kings!😁

[Mephariel 451]

1 hour ago, TheUlyssesian said:

I mean, was it ever relevant. It was only ever like 3-4 outlets at best. You can now add in some youtubers. 

 

We are all part of an extremely small, an extremely insular and an extremely unrepresentative community. 

 

I agree. But if you ask the film music community, they act like they are more relevant than anything in the world. They act like the composers should abandon the direction set by the director, and instead, make music for them. "OMG, how dare he not use an orchestra. How dare he not make an enjoyable album!"

 

Just read CC's reviews. I respect his knowledge and actually agreed with a lot of his reviews. But he acts like his claims are more than his opinion and that he is more relevant than any mainstream awards and smarter than any director.

[Arpy 4,145]

My copy from Rambling arrived, I ordered the CD version. Still with Watertower. The Rambling data was included on a plastic sleeve the CD case was in.

[crocodile 8,012]

12 minutes ago, Arpy said:

My copy from Rambling arrived, I ordered the CD version. Still with Watertower. The Rambling data was included on a plastic sleeve the CD case was in.

Is it a CD?

 

Karol

[Arpy 4,145]

It appears to be a CD as far as I'm aware, it starts off with a CDV/CA code which made me doubt it, but looking it up online has assured me it's a method of producing CDs - plus it has the standard ifpi coding etc.

 

[crocodile 8,012]

Does the CD itself have any barcodes on the bottom? How is the booklet? Does it look cheap like printed at home?

 

Karol

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Its funny that giacchinos most famous score of late will not have a widespread physical release.... 

[Arpy 4,145]

44 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Does the CD itself have any barcodes on the bottom? How is the booklet? Does it look cheap like printed at home?

 

Karol

It has barcodes on the disc, like most CDs. The booklet is fine, but fine as far as Watertower releases go; when Fantastic Beasts came out, the printing, the image on the CD etc. all looked awful, but it was still an official CD.

 

 

[crocodile 8,012]

24 minutes ago, Arpy said:

It has barcodes on the disc, like most CDs. The booklet is fine, but fine as far as Watertower releases go; when Fantastic Beasts came out, the printing, the image on the CD etc. all looked awful, but it was still an official CD.

 

 

OK this is definitely a CD. 

 

When I bought CD of WW84 it looked washed out and stapled wrong etc. Looked like a bootleg copy. But the CD was definitely pressed.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,364]

Are the first two tracks swapped in terms of chronological order?

I assume "Mayoral Ducting" is the cue for Riddler killing that mayoral candidate, and "Can't Fight City Halloween" is the cue for Pattinson's opening narration over the shots of all the various thugs in town and stuff..... but doesn't the film open with the murder, and then have the narration stuff after that?

[Anthony 572]

Two unreleased cues (plus the opening "source" Ave Maria) underscore the opening scene.

 

Can't Fight City Halloween is over the first Batman narration (when the guy in the mask holds up the convenience store) and Mayoral Ducting is when Batman and Gordon go into the Mayor's garage and discover the thumb drive.

[Jay 37,364]

Ahhhh ok

 

that thumb drive joke was pretty great

[Lockdown 238]

16 hours ago, crocodile said:

OK this is definitely a CD. 

 

When I bought CD of WW84 it looked washed out and stapled wrong etc. Looked like a bootleg copy. But the CD was definitely pressed.

 

Karol

Pretty sure their release of WW84 is a CD-r as well. At least that's what their website states.

[crocodile 8,012]

7 hours ago, Lockdown said:

Pretty sure their release of WW84 is a CD-r as well. At least that's what their website states.

Oh these are long out of print. I didn't have it from them anyway. Mine was definitely a CD.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KeTuHRHvfFtobZWB8

 

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

On 13/03/2022 at 8:37 AM, Quintus said:

 

These kind of comparisons (the most common nauseating one being with JW) are what piss me off about Gia, or more particularly, his fans. It just seems like the vast majority of listeners are cloth eared. 

 

Bernard Herrmann, sheesus give me strength 

 

Ah, welcome back into the Statler & Waldorf box! Yes and yes.
 

On 14/03/2022 at 5:52 AM, Mephariel said:

But if you ask the film music community, they act like they are more relevant than anything in the world. They act like the composers should abandon the direction set by the director, and instead, make music for them. "OMG, how dare he not use an orchestra. How dare he not make an enjoyable album!"

 

If it's released separately as an album then it's a valid question. 'How dare he not make an enjoyable album, but just dumps 150 minutes of recording session cues before us?' is an especially valid question and i guess it's exactly the reprimanded fans that demand shit like this because, i mean, what better world can there be but waste your spare time editing through piles of boring underscore?

 

Giacchino was obviously given a much bigger reign on Batman, because it's miles better than the clumsy stuff he usually comes up with for this kind of blockbuster stuff - there's even some faint Penderecki in there and two rather solid themes that don't sound like a half-assed tip of the hat to old Universal monster music. But he surely could've cut off 30-40 minutes and nobody would've complained.

[crocodile 8,012]

My Japanese CD arrived today from Tokyo. Looks like a normal CD release to me:

 

 

Karol

[Jay 37,364]

I guess that confirms Mick and Apelgren's contributions made it to the OST album

 

How'd you get so much ink on your hands?

[crocodile 8,012]

Just now, Jay said:

How'd you get so much ink on your hands?

What can I say? I'm messy!

 

Karol

[Richard Penna 3,689]

On 15/03/2022 at 12:39 PM, publicist said:

If it's released separately as an album then it's a valid question. 'How dare he not make an enjoyable album, but just dumps 150 minutes of recording session cues before us?' is an especially valid question and i guess it's exactly the reprimanded fans that demand shit like this because, i mean, what better world can there be but waste your spare time editing through piles of boring underscore?

 

Giacchino was obviously given a much bigger reign on Batman, because it's miles better than the clumsy stuff he usually comes up with for this kind of blockbuster stuff - there's even some faint Penderecki in there and two rather solid themes that don't sound like a half-assed tip of the hat to old Universal monster music. But he surely could've cut off 30-40 minutes and nobody would've complained.

 

HGW said in one of Schweiger's interviews (on FB somewhere) that he was skeptical about people wanting more music from Narnia #1, but had read comments saying the Mulan album was too long. 'You can't win' are his exact words.

 

In short, it's hard to know when fan demand will be there for a long release and when it won't be, and complaints will arise either way. Hence, unless they can actually predict how well the score will be received, it's virtually impossible for album producers to 'win' with a singular product.

 

For those who don't love the entire score it's more expensive to get the cues we like, but I'd rather have that than get an hour-long release that's missing quite literally half the score.

 

From the pics, Gia produced the album, so he put out what he wanted to.

[crocodile 8,012]

If you guys want a slightly trimmer album here's my 77-minute proposal. I could probably lose another 4-5 minutes but this is the best configuration that works for me. It follows the film's chronology, with a couple of exceptions. I moved the Riddler/Catwoman suites to the beginning of the album where they introduce themes "SW prequel OST style". Hoarding School in my version appears now earlier in the programme. It is mainly due to Riddler's theme being absent from the middle section of the album. It is still a fairly long album but probably would flow better for a casual listener. I myself quite like the 2-hour programme but this is a slightly shorter version of that just in case I don't feel like listening to the full official album:

 

 

Karol

[Jay 37,364]

I listened to the OSt album for a third time this week and went from liking the score, to loving it!

And I don't even find the OST program slow or draggy anymore, I pretty much liked it all.

Well, I'm talking about from the opening track through the final cue of the film.  I actually get kinda bored by the three theme suites and especially the Sonata track.

 

Without those, you're left with 89 minutes of music, which is a nice representation of the score for me!

[Dave 217]

Tracks 27 and 28 (Riddler and Catwoman) switched places on the CD tracklist. Is it just a typo or are the tracks also in that order on CD?

[crocodile 8,012]

12 minutes ago, David Müller said:

Tracks 27 and 28 (Riddler and Catwoman) switched places on the CD tracklist. Is it just a typo or are the tracks also in that order on CD?

Were they ever in a different order? The CD order is the same as on the digital release and on Spotify.

 

Karol

[Dave 217]

I bought it on Qobuz and Catwoman was definitively the penultimate track. But now they seemed to changed it lol. I liked that order... 

 

The YT Upload by WTM also has Catwoman as penultimate track

 

[Richard Penna 3,689]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

I listened to the OSt album for a third time this week and went from liking the score, to loving it!

And I don't even find the OST program slow or draggy anymore, I pretty much liked it all.

Well, I'm talking about from the opening track through the final cue of the film.  I actually get kinda bored by the three theme suites and especially the Sonata track.

 

Without those, you're left with 89 minutes of music, which is a nice representation of the score for me!

 

I'm in that stage where I very slowly start appreciating tracks I didn't really 'get' before. I've got 'Meow and You....' on right now, which is a track that needs a quieter environment to appreciate.

 

I highly doubt this strategy will extend to liking the entire album as there are a handful of cues that just aren't doing anything for me, but a full CD's worth of music will definitely happen eventually.

[Jay 37,364]

I feel like the 89 minutes for me could be tightened up by removing sections of some of the tracks, not be removing any tracks outright.  There are some tracks on here where it feels like a track done one quiet thing for a minute and a half, then switches to something completely different

[Richard Penna 3,689]

1 hour ago, crocodile said:

Were they ever in a different order? The CD order is the same as on the digital release and on Spotify.

 

Karol

 

Get ready to be as confused as I was until just now... Spotify has both!

 

I 'favourited' the album Saturday before last, then at some point after that, they must've switched those tracks and added the album again, because the album in my library still has Catwoman as #28, but if I search for the album, I get a version with The Riddler as #28.

 

I must've somehow gone via the 2nd version to bookmark some tracks, because I found they were 'favourited' in Liked Songs but not in the album view.

 

 

The one in my library:

 

 

The one that now shows up in search:

 

 

[Jay 37,364]

That's pretty wild!

[crocodile 8,012]

It's all really funny. Some of the publicists and music labels must have kept my email from the times I used to review soundtracks. So I end up getting occasional free digital promos of stuff (I don't complain). I actually received a link to this album and it featured the "updated" track order. And that was on, or before, the day of release so that would indicate this was the early version too?

 

Karol

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Just.had a.chance to listen to several themes , for the first time through my speakers ( as opposed to headphones.

How anybody can claim it is a score with no distinct themes is mystifying.

Its a score I would consider buying IF the film is also good