Reviews - Soundtrack
Label: La-La-Land Records
Release Date: July 22nd, 2008*
*though shipped on July 29th, 2008 to most outlets |
Synopsis: The top-creators from across the field of writing and an
imaiton join forces with revered animation filmmakers on six
spellbinding chapters chronicling Batman's transition from novice
crimefighter to The Dark Knight. These six revolutionary stories are
backed by the superb score of Robert J. Kral, Kevin Manthei, and
Christopher Drake, all bringing their unique style to the
highly-anticipated motion picture.
Track List
"Have I got a Story for You" - Christopher Drake
1. Main Titles / Intro / Interlude / Punk Skater / Trouble At The Dock
(2:28)
2. Living Shadow / Living Shadow Finale (1:45)
3. Skater Girl / Trouble In the City (0:50)
4. Batmonster Appears / Batmonster Do-Over / Batmonster Finale (2:18)
5. Rooftop Robbery / Robobat (1:44)
6. Have I Got A Story For You Finale (1:35)
"Crossfire" - Kevin Manthei
7. Crossfire (4:49)
8. Inferno (5:48)
"Field Test" - Robert J. Kral
9. New Device (1:22)
10. Trigger A Device / As Good As Your Drive (1:10)
11. A Russian In His Grave / It Works Too Well (3:53)
"In Darkness Dwells" - Christopher Drake
12. In Darkness Dwells Intro (1:00)
13. Gordonʼs Cannibal / Ghost Station (3:00)
14. Epidermolytic Hyperkeratosis (0:43)
15. Killer Croc / Hallucinations / Scarecrow Interrupted (3:19)
16. Escape And End (1:45)
"Working Through Pain" - Kevin Manthei
17. Working Through Pain / The Fall (1:46)
18. Bazaar (0:26)
19. There Is Another / Training (2:46)
20. Rejected And Despised (1:30)
21. Painless Fight/ I Canʼt (3:23)
"Deadshot" - Robert J. Kral
22. Parents Killed (0:54)
23. Gun Attraction / Park Killing (1:26)
24. Gordon / Batman / The Train (6:14)
25. His Life's Quest (0:56)
26. Batman: Gotham Knight End Credits Suite (Christopher Drake) (5:02)
Review (Zach Demeter)
From the start the Gotham Knight soundtrack doesn’t sound
like the other DC Universe features. The scope is much more grand and
epic, with cues taken from the Christopher Nolan films subtly worked and
woven into the mix of the soundtrack. Just before you start to get
comfortable with the mix, however, it moves into a pop-rock sounding
area that completely changes ones attitude about the music they’re
hearing. With six different stories to be told, the variety in the mix
has only just begun.
From composers Christopher Drake (Hellboy Animated), Robert J.
Kral (Superman: Doomsday) and Kevin Manthei (Justice League:
The New Frontier), comes Batman: Gotham Knight, a series of
stories depicting The Dark Knight in ways we’ve never seen him before.
With a mixture of music from Batman’s past and some from his future, Batman:
Gotham Knight has the widest array of themes for The Caped Crusader,
each of one fitting the different presentation perfectly.
Upon first listen, I wasn’t very impressed with the Batman: Gotham
Knight soundtrack. The more I review soundtracks the more I realize
that it’s hard to be truly impressed or drawn in by a films soundtrack a
lot of the time. Unless you know what to expect, it’s hard to gauge what
your reaction will be. In this case, the majority of Batman: Gotham
Knight is a selection of moody and action packed musical pieces that
kind of run together at first, with the only exception being the first
“Have I Got a Story For You” segment, composed by Christopher Drake.
Drake brings in so many different elements to the score for each of the
different stories told about Batman and it honestly and truly is one of
my favorite pieces on the soundtrack (comprised of the first six tracks
on the disc). Oddly enough it’s my least favorite segment of the film,
but the music is nothing short of fantastic.
The next segment, “Crossfire” by Kevin Manthei follows the vein of Spawn:TAS
more than I had realized before. The whole “Crossfire” segment looks
like it was pulled from the same universe as the animated Spawn and the
music that goes with it also seems to have been inspired by it. I don’t
know if that’s true or not or if that type of animation just inspires
the moodier style of tracks. In any case, the two tracks that comprise
the “Crossfire” segment are very well done, with a nice array of sound
effects worked into the score, creating for a haunting experience
throughout. The second track of the “Crossfire” segment, titled
“Inferno”, is similar in nature and reminds me of something that would
be on The Dark Knight soundtrack. The track eventually picks up
from its quiet beginning and rampages full on into the action piece of
the segment and blending it with a few “heroic” sounding cues in with it
as well.
Moving onto “Field Test”, scored by Robert J. Kral, we have another
demure score that starts out slow and slowly ramps itself up into action
piece. A lot of Batman: Gotham Knight isn’t purely made up of
action and it really delves into the characters motivations more than
previous animated efforts have. It’s much more serious in tone than
other animated expeditions and because of that the score can sometimes
sound the same, even when it’s a mix of composers like Batman: Gotham
Knight has. In many ways I sense an undercurrent of Shirley Walker’s
work on the animated Batman series here, especially her time spent on Mask
of the Phantasm. It’s hard to tell just where the inspiration comes
from for some of the composers and I may just be hearing other pieces of
music that I’m familiar with, but in any case, the “Field Test” segment
is a strong example of what makes this soundtrack worth listening to.
Moving straight in “In Darkness Dwells”, Christopher Drake returns with
a moodier score compared to his “Have I Got a Story For You” piece. It’s
also much more upbeat and sounds a lot like a pure “superhero” piece.
The “Intro” track sounds like an amalgam of something from Batman
Begins and Justice League Unlimited at times. It’s a truly
fantastic mix that is carried on through the rest of his work on the “In
Darkness Dwells” segment. I will say that some of the score here,
particularly in track fifteen (“Killer Croc / Hallucinations / Scarecrow
Interrupted”), it has moments that sound like something from the Batman
Forever / Batman & Robin score. And no, that’s not a bad
thing, as while it may sound similar, it has a much more demonic take on
it with the Scarecrow element thrown in, as well as Killer Croc (however
brief his appearance may have been).
“Working Through Pain” marks the return of Manthei to the soundtrack and
includes a bit of oriental flavor mixed into it. Once track eighteen
(“Bazaar”) kicks in, it’s almost a jarring change the Asian themes kick
in immediately. It continues on throughout the soundtrack, before it
finally ends up back with Batman in the sewer. This is a relatively calm
soundtrack, as it’s not exactly an action-filmed piece (as one would
expect). It’s a bit calmer in nature, but that doesn’t make it any less
enjoyable to listen to. It’s a welcome break from Drake’s previous
action filled piece.
The final segment, “Deadshot” brings back Robert J. Kral to wrap up the
sixth and final story for us. This is yet another slow starting
soundtrack, with quiet instruments building up to a more powerful core,
which gets fully exploited in track 24 (“Gordon / Batman / The Train”).
There are some cues reminiscent of Kral’s work on Superman:
Doomsday here, often heard at the top of the quieter pieces that end
in an upbeat tone. Once the battle between Batman and Deadshot gets
underway, the track picks up and keeps it going until the very end. Kral
wraps up the segment with another quiet and moving piece, while the End
Credits Suite blends together the various styles heard in the film.
Overall this is a very “heroic” sounding score and one that fits the
film explicitly well. However because a lot of the film and soundtrack
are so quiet at times, it makes for a hard score to really want to sit
down and listen to on a whim. While there are a few fantastic tracks to
be heard, there often just isn’t enough to push you forward to make the
effort to pop the soundtrack in. Even with this calmer nature, the
soundtrack is still very much worth listening to and owning, especially
if you’re a fan of the film. Like the six segments of Gotham Knight
itself however, there will be those that love it to death and those that
absolutely hate it. The soundtrack fits this same area perfectly, but
there’s no doubt in my mind that the Batman: Gotham Knight
soundtrack is one of the best Batman scores to come about, simply
because of the diversity we get from the three different composers.
Recommended.
The CD
La-La Land Records has released Batman: Gotham Knight in a
standard clear jewel case with art from the various DVD editions placed
on the cover and rear of the packaging. The booklet itself contains
liner notes from the three composers, the first of which his Christopher
Drake who tells a fantastic story about his meeting Kevin Conroy before
he hit as a composer and how he got the job on the Gotham Knight
DTV. Each one of the composers talk about each of their two segments,
with Drake taking up a bit more time as he ending up scoring the “theme”
to the whole Batman: Gotham Knight effort himself.
Manthei and Kral talk mainly bout their segments of the film, as they
had the previous Superman: Doomsday and The New Frontier
soundtracks wholly to themselves. Each of the men point out their
inspiration for their segments and what it took to get them to sound as
they did; as usual this is a fantastic behind-the-scenes look into the
making of the soundtracks and I applaud La-La Land Records for
consistently providing not only some truly awesome soundtracks and
getting them into the hands of fans but for also taking the time to get
some comments from the composers to share their own thoughts on the
soundtrack.
Overall the Batman: Gotham Knight package comes
Recommended. If you’re a fan, do not let this one pass you up.
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