It has been a while since I did one of these.
I have always had a liking for the Batman end credit songs. Returns aside, the films always came with a soundtrack of pop tunes, and the soundtracks all had a couple of bangers.
Hit soundtracks have more or less died out, but in the eighties and nineties this kind of synergy (movie, album, novelisation, fast food tie-in) was commonplace.
Scandalous (Prince, BATMAN)
I have always quite taken with this song, although it has fallen out of the rotation after I listened more of Prince’s other work
More of a slow dance than the strum und drang that would follow in subsequent films, Scandalous acts as a palette cleanser following the end rush of the iconic theme
More romantic and melancholy than the film it precedes, I remember letting the credits play a little bit longer when it started.
Face to Face (Souxie and the Banshees, BATMAN RETURNS)
Another slow dance, but of completely different measure from the Purple One’s contribution.
There are a few songs on this list that feel like they could have worked as Bond themes, and this is one of them
Compared with Scandalous, Face to Face is a more successful integration with the themes and tone of the film it concludes.
Not that this matters. On its own, it is a moody, sexy little ditty that also provides the perfect tribute to the film’s true breakout, Michelle Pfeiffer's unstoppable Selina Kyle.
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me (U2, BATMAN FOREVER)
Of all the Burton-Schumacher films, Batman Forever is the one I have probably seen the most.
It was the first one I owned and it got a lot of replay in my house in the late nineties, so I was very familiar with the songs playing at the end of the film.
Kiss from a Rose has gained a footprint all its own. It endures apart from the movie. I love it but I want to spend some time on its predecessor in the credits.
I have never been a U2 fan but Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me remains one of my favourite ear worms.
It is also another example of a song that feels like a missing Bond anthem.
What makes it frustrating is the same year Bono and the Edge wrote the title theme for Goldeneye. While that song is elevated by Tina Turner, I cannot help but wonder what would have happened if they had given this song to the Bond team - or maybe better, put it over the end credits. It would be better than what the film ended up with…
The song’s Dionysian glee feels like the perfect match for hench-woman Xenia Onatopp’s particular peccadillos.
Kiss from a Rose (Seal, BATMAN FOREVER)
The one song on this list to have a life outside of the franchise, Kiss from a Rose was actually released a year before the movie came out, and the filmmakers created a new music video to tie it into the film.
Sweeping, romantic and vague enough in concept and lyrics, it is a great song.
The End Is The Beginning Is The End (The Smashing Pumpkins, BATMAN & ROBIN)
I was not really aware of this song until years later when I read a review of the song. This was also around the same time as The Dark Knight Rises came out, so I ended up associating this song with that movie.
Malevolent and relentless, it feels appropriate for a Batman movie - just not the movie it is attached to.
There is a slower version on the soundtrack which is just as effective. This version seems to have had a little play outside of the film - I remember hearing it play one of the trailers for Zack Snyder’s Watchmen.
Gotham City (R Kelly, BATMAN & ROBIN)
Even before his crimes were brought to light I was never into R Kelly’s music. Too light, too bland.
I have no memory of Gotham City. I do not remember the song or music video playing.
I tried listening to this song and had real trouble remembering any of it.
Final ranking
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me
Kiss from a Rose
Face to Face
Scandalous
The End Is The Beginning Is The End
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