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Rhino R2 75925 - 1999
01. Batman Beyong Main Title
02. Cold vs. Hot
03. Terrific Trio Vs. Rocketeers
04. Bat-Slapped In Store
05. Farewells
06. Batman Defeats Chappell
07. Batman Chases Inque
08. Yachting With The Card Gang
09. Batman's First Fight
10. The Legacy Continues
11. Hotel Scuffle
12. Trouble In The Museum
13. Inque Escapes!
14. Nuclear Lab Destruction
15. Golem Chases Shoppers
16. Willie Defeated
17. Genetic Theft
18. Joke Chase
19. Move To The Groove
20. Batman Beyond End Credits
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Tracks 8,11,12,15,16,20 Composed by Shirley Walker
Tracks 2,5,18,19 Composed by Lolita Ritmanis
Tracks 3,9,10,14,17 Composed by Michael McCuistion
Tracks 1,4,6,7,13 Composed by Kristopher Carter
Album Produced by Shirley Walker
Music Editor: Kim Strand
Recorded at Underscore Music and MBM Studios
Mixed at Underscore Music
Music Preperation by Eric Stonebrook Music
Mastered by Bob Fisher
Album Engineers: Mako Sujishi, Mark Watson
Musicians: Kristopher Carter, Mark Mattson and Lolita Ritmanis, Michael McCuistion, Shirley Walker, Gabriel Moss, Bruce Watson, Paul Jameson, Jon Button, Ian Walker, and Jon Clarke.
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BATMAN BEYOND was conceived as a way of updating and reinventing Bob Kane's classic comic book avenger for the postmodern '90s. One we settled on our concept of a teenage Dark Knight battling crime in a futuristic Gotham City, we realized early on that the music would have to reflect this edgier, more youth-oriented approach as well.
Shirley Walker and her team of composers have been producing lush, neoclassical orchestral scores for our previous Batman and Superman series since 1992, providing the perfect musical accompaniment to our retro/noir cartoon stylings. But for this new show, we wanted something completely different: a combination of electronics and state-of-the-art rock elements that would sound more authentic than anything currently heard on broadcast TV, while still staying true to the "mysterioso" mythos of the original character. At a meeting with Shirley, I voiced my reservations about her suitability for the project.
Shirley, saint that she is, graciously said that she understood my concerns but wanted the opportunity to prove me wrong. Two weeks later she played me a disc of demo tracks that she had put together with her composing team of Kris Carter, Lolita Ritmanis and Mike McCuistion. A moody blend of atmospheric textures, atomic pile-driver percussion, and downright nasty guitar crunches, it was exactly what we were looking for. I sheepishly admitted to her that not only had they hit a home run, but they'd also smashed it chearl out of the bloody park. Never has crow tasted so sweet!
The demos were so perfectly in tune with our vision that I had Shirley run off a bunch of copies for our storyboard artists to listen to for inspiration. Two of those original tracks eventually wound up being used in the actual series: Lolita's rave-up "Glasgow" was reworked into the pulse-pouding "Joke Chase" theme in episode one (track #18 on this CD) and Kris' neo-Goth grunge "Smells Like Creamed Spinach" became, with some minor futzing, the official Batman Beyond Main Title theme itself.
I'm constantly amazed that these clean-cut, well-mannered, all around nice people can so consistently deliver such vicious music. And they're getting meaner. Perfectionists all, they keep trying to top themselves, pushing the sonic envelope to it's breaking point. As good as these selections from their early scores are, their most recent efforts are even more relentless, even more intense. Hopefully, this album will sell well enough to encourage the good folks at Rhino to issue further volumes in the series.
So, make some room on your CD rack - and remember to PLAY IT LOUD!
- Bruce Timm, Producer BATMAN BEYOND
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