Batman: The Animated Series Volume 2 Soundtrack Review

This is Matt Verbois from La La Land Records

and you've entered the La La Land Lounge on GeekCast

Radio. Hello and welcome to the La La Land Lounge.

This is episode 9 of the La La Land Lounge. I'm

of course TF2 and Mike. Joining me is Steve Megatron.

Hello. Hello. And we are back celebrating 25

years of Batman the Animated Series if you all

listen to episode 6 of La La... I can't even

talk tonight. I feel like the drunk joker over

here. If you listen episode... Wow. Oh God. Well,

this is the laughing fish. Yes. If you listen

to episode six, you'll know that we are going

through all four volumes of the La La Land Records

released CDs of Batman the Animated Series. We're

going to be talking about volume two tonight.

And literally years in the making, La La Land

Records and Warner Brothers. proves the weight

was worth it in this amazing four cd set of previously

unreleased music from arguably the greatest animated

television series of all time batman animated

series produced by mv garrard and mastered by

james nelson this second volume four cd set takes

you through a treasure trove of astounding orchestral

scores music that rivals any blockbuster feature

film composer shirley walker harvey r cohen carlos

rodriguez lolita remanas Michael McQuistion,

Carl Swander, Johnson, and others are musically

represented here, as well as Denny Elfman's iconic

theme. The 36 -page CD booklet features exclusive

in -depth liner notes from writer John Takis.

This was a limited edition of 3 ,500 units. You

can still buy it on Lawnland's website, apparently.

It's still available. 60 bucks. Wow. Not bad.

For four discs, a hundred and something, I think

it's like a hundred and eighty -three tracks

or something like that. But yeah, it is still

available on Lawline's website, lawlinerecords

.com. And this one includes music from the following

episodes. It includes the main title by Denny

Elfman. It includes the Beware the Grey Ghost.

episode. The Cat in the Claw part 1 and 2. It

also has bonus tracks from Cat in the Claw. Nothing

to Fear, Heart of Ice, easily one of the best

episodes of the series. And then it has the extended

Danny Elfman theme as well. Disc 2 includes Appointment

in Crime Alley, Matt as a Hatter, The Strange

Seeker Bruce Wayne. I've got Batman in my basement,

Feet of Clay, parts 1 and 2. Disc 3 includes

a MIDI version of the Batman the Animated Series

theme. This was done by Danny Elfman and Shirley

Walker. I love that theme. I think that theme

is cool. You know what it reminds me of? The

1990s, almost kind of like cell phones. how everything

online wasn't an MP3, it was a MIDI file. And

I'm like, oh, that's awesome. I know, right?

Because I'm like, should we even use that? Oh,

it'll be used at some point. that's one thing

about Batman the animated series folks that I

absolutely love that they have so many different

versions of both the Danny Elfman theme and later

the Shirley Walker version of the theme and my

two favorite versions of the main theme are the

MIDI version and the piano version the piano

version without sound effects is eerie as hell

and it's awesome So disc three includes Almost

Got 'em, another great episode of the series.

If you're so smart, why aren't you rich? The

Demon's Quest, parts one and two. The Laughing

Fish. And then disc four has the BTIS main theme

with sound effects. So basically what you saw

when you would watch an episode. Shadow of the

Bat, parts one and two. Harvey Harley and I wow

Harvey and Ivy that would be a little weird Harley

and Ivy yeah Harley and Ivy Read my lips and

fire from Olympus Going through this again my

favorite bits and when I say bits I mean not

just the scores, but honestly the the bits for

me are the motif or the source cues like if you

look at Oh, which one is it? It's I think it's

if you aren't if you're if you're so smart, why

aren't you rich? It's the one where it's the

Riddler and he's got You know Robin and Batman

in the the maze of the yeah the maze of the Minotaur

that's what it is Because we remember the old

hand of fate thing remember that remember that

episode so smart. Why aren't you rich? Mm -hmm.

It's the one where the Riddler tries to get them

in the video game thing of the maze of the Minotaur.

Oh yeah, the one where Kushner, Gordon, and Robin

go in there. Mm -hmm. Oh yeah, that's one of

my favorite episodes of the series. Yeah. I remember

watching this episode, you know, years and years

and years ago and being like... I want the the

Hand of Fate motif theme. I want the the Wasteland

motif. I want the the musical puzzle. I want

the Riddle of the Minotaur source and we have

them all here. Even the Griffin theme is here.

Nine Seconds is the Griffin theme. That's what

I love about these Lawnland Records big limited

edition releases because They do their damnedest

to bring us every single piece, not just the

actual orchestral tracks and music that goes

along with the show, but even just little things.

Like later on in The Laughing Fish, we get the

Joker's fish song. We get his door chimes. We

get... Some other stuff as well from that like

we get his Talk show music and that kind of stuff

and that's just so cool to me that they you know

had the mindset to include as much as they possibly

could and getting clean Pristine music sources

from this stuff is great When you were listening

to this, what was the first episode score that

really grabbed you? There's actually quite a

bit but um, I would have to say the the gray

ghost stuff But that's just because I really

like the gray ghost Because it's very like it

shows Batman going through the same thing we

do when we watch him. Mm -hmm Yeah Absolutely,

The Great Ghost is a great, great episode in

the fact that they were able to get Adam West

to come back, or to actually come in and do The

Great Ghost, so essentially you have two Batman

on the same screen. That's awesome. For me, the

score that probably grabbed me the most when

I first heard it was probably... It's gotta be...

I gotta say, it's gotta be Almost Got Em. Cuz

I just I love that episode so much. I just really

do. That episode is just so fun. It's got all

the villains telling stories. It's got, you know,

I hit him with a rock. Well, it was a really

big rock, you know. What's funny about that episode

is I have almost got him and I love all the soundtracks

to that. Between the Almost Got Em, The Bad Penny,

Laugh -O -Meter, The Joker Talk Show, The Bumper,

The Just For Laughs. What makes it interesting

for me is because I used to actually have a book

of this when I was a kid. So it was one of my

favorite ones to read. But it was also one of

my favorite episodes that I had seen as a kid.

Because back then, the Joker was not my favorite.

The Riddler was. The Riddler still has a soft

spot because he's about the one of the few that

is almost Batman's equal in intellect. Which,

sorely, he's the only one missing from this episode.

It's it's still a strong episode for 22 minutes

of having all of those villains fighting back

in And getting all those stories in it's a pretty

strong story for all of that Absolutely it is

as I said, it's just so fun and Because the whole

point is all of the villains have an almost Gotham

story and the episode they go each of them go

through theirs and and Joker of course in the

beginning well I'm gonna go last because mine's

the best. You know, that kind of thing. Even

at the end, Catwoman has an almost -got -em story.

So there's that. Hers is because she wants to

sleep with him. Obviously, yes. Almost got him.

Into my closet. But no, I think Stuart Balcom

did an amazing job with the music on Almost Got

Him. It's so fun, so... Upbeat. And there's not

a lot of times where I can say some of the BTIS

music is upbeat, because... A lot of these episodes

are very heavy, like you look at Heart of Ice,

Heart of Ice, they're... Heart of Ice is dark.

Yeah, it's very dark. And it's supposed to be,

and I'm not complaining that it's dark at all,

but Todd Hayden... Todd Hayen and Shirley Walker

both did work on that one. And the Arkham Asylum

track is by far, you know, kind of reminds me

of... Barbara's law old Barbara's line from Return

of the Joker Arkham hung open like a rotting

wound But just listening to that and feeling

the emotion of the heart of ice episode of what's

behind mr. Freeze's actions and and Turning that

that character into more than just a bank robber

was so great You look at I love that that they

did that with the character But, yeah, it's just

crazy. Yeah, it is just so crazy. You look at

Appointment in Crime Alley, which is also done

by Stuart Balcom again. This is Bruce going back,

looking at his parents' death and that kind of

thing. This is the episode where Leslie Tompkins

gets held captive, and it has everything to do

with Bruce's and Leslie's relationship, friendship,

that kind of thing. And the music in it, it's

not as dark as Heart of Ice, and it's not as

upbeat as Almost Got Him, but it's right there

in the middle. And everything about it, like

that sub main title for appointment in Crime

Alley, that's just plain sad. It really is. And

it's sad in a good way because it brings you

into the character of Batman and Bruce Wayne,

both of them, as they're going through this emotional

journey of going into their past. Yeah, I I enjoyed

that as well except for the fact that I'm I'm

not a big one for for Batman's Who moments cuz

like I like him when he's and I understand that's

part of his characterization and stuff, but I

I prefer him as the brooding Dark Knight Mm -hmm,

so Yeah, absolutely Yeah, the brewing Dark Knight

is always, you know, the best characterization

for him. And then, you know, we have something

like the Demon's Quest, which Michael McQuistion

worked on, and he did the music for that, and

giving... Creepy! Mm -hmm. Very, very creepy.

You know, this is the episode with Ooboo. Oob.

Oob. And then the creepy voice of Ra's al Ghul.

Good ol' David Warner. Yep. Absolutely. But the

music that Michael put into the Demon's Quest

Part 1, because it's him on Part 1 and Harvey

Arcone on Part 2, The Calcutta Alley fight that

song that that music cue for that Part of the

episode is just so fun. It's fun. It's epic and

it's showing you with every punch just how well

Bruce can fight and Then in part two with with

Harvey R Cohen doing the music The part of lovers

goodbye beloved with him and Talia. Oh man talk

about Tugging at your heartstrings Yeah, I'm

This I mean I enjoy it for the fact that Batman's

actually got to to deal with with stuff without

his utility belt and without you know because

Races like girl you were being my successor after

I test you and y 'all your brains and your weight

and your brawn mostly because he wants to steal

his body but Eventually But yeah It's I remember

watching it originally it's not one of my favorite

episodes But I appreciate it for the introduction

of racial role right music The music is like

one thing that nevertheless, even if the episode

is weak, or it's not one I care for, the music

is always one that I can go back to and say that

I enjoyed. Absolutely. Because the music to me

is actually what makes the episodes for the most

part. So like if you have great writing and then

you have the voiceover and then you have the,

you have the music, the soundtrack to it. I mean,

it's just wham, bam. Yeah, absolutely it's it's

one of those things where the music adds to the

overall storyline of the episode it actually

enhances it and There are times where again why

I'm so happy that we actually have these scores

now so we can hear the music outside of The voiceover

outside of any sound effects any explosions and

things like that because well most of the time

music is used to enhance a scene there are some

times that sound effects can diminish the music

and I'm not saying anything against anyone that

worked on this stuff but that's just and it's

not just this it's anything if you've got a giant

explosion and a musical cue at the same time

one of them is going to drown out the other and

that's not necessarily a good thing with this

being able to listen to these tracks outside

of the show as I said the beginning of the episode

here the podcast that it brings you into it reminds

you of what oh yeah I remember that moment when

Batman kicked race in the face or or when Robin

you know went off you know acrobatting and whatever

else to to to save somebody and whatever else

just it's one of those things where Having the

scores and I've said this before on the show

For me, I can close my eyes and I can listen

to any of these and I can be pulled into the

episode There's just the way that I do Listen

to soundtracks and scores Other ones off of here

that we enjoy obviously the laughing fish because

the Joker has an insane scheme apparently Talk

about a happy meal That's that's fishy right

there. Well, he says he says Something to the

effect of I should try using it in cattle to

this this set is a must have for any any btis

fan um... because this music is just timeless

it really is and how they get some of the sound

like You don't often think of orchestral music

getting certain sounds out of things like you

know door chimes or You know you you don't flash

to a guitar sound when you hear Like the the

hand of fate motif obviously that's not a guitar,

but I'm saying that these Musicians have done

so well with with this music and creating something

out of not necessarily nothing but out of basically

thin air. And it just adds so much enjoyment

for me to watch the series again. One of the

things I love about the La La Land sets is they

do them by episode score. So they, you know,

as I said earlier, you know, the way these are

broken down is by episodes. So you'll have, say

on disc four, we start off with the Batman Intermediate

series main title with sound effects by Danny

Elfman. We then have tracks two through sixteen

are all about Shadow of the Bat parts one and

two. So tracks two through six are Shadow of

the Bat part one, tracks seven to fourteen are

Shadow of the Bat part two. Just absolutely love

how they've laid those out, and I know they're

going to continue to do this when we get to volume

3 and volume 4. I cannot wait to see what they're

going to be doing with the new adventures of

Batman and Robin, because I do know that new

adventures, I should say the adventures of Batman

and Robin are going to be coming at some point,

I'm sure. I mean, they're not gonna, I mean...

uh... next year what what will mark ten years

since the volume one release the volume one releases

in two thousand eight so they're not gonna do

release all four of these volumes for the first

sixty five episodes of the series in just over

ten years to not continue releasing more of the

dc you music uh... and i can't wait to hear what

else they've got in store oh yeah Any other final

thoughts from you on volume 2? The The Harley

and Ivy stuff was pretty good The Welcome to

Gotham mm -hmm that was pretty good, too I Guess

during the demons quest I do have these they

save I do like the demons quest in the Lazarus

pit remind allies demon mm -hmm So there's that

too No, I mean, there's a lot of good episodes

in in this the soundtrack. There's a few Not

so much, but there's you know, it's based on

episode not Yes on track. Yeah, so Yeah, there

are episodes in this in this run that I probably

don't watch a lot But thankfully the the episodes

that are actually really good around this a lot.

Mm -hmm Yep, absolutely I mean I've already named

off a bunch of them, but it's one of those things

where out of the scores that are on here I would

say I like Ten of the episodes pretty much that

are on here, so You know and that's a lot of

music folks. Oh Yeah Yep, so I think that's going

to do it for us here in the La La Land Lounge.

What have you got coming up? What have you been

up to? I've been playing a lot of Star Trek online

and going to have a new Altered Geek and Future

Imperfect coming up. Awesome. You can head over

to geekcastradio .com, thisweekingeek .net for

all the content that we do. Let's see, coming

up next in the La La Land Lounge, I don't know.

We may just go ahead and do BTIS volume 3. I'm

not sure yet. I will have to figure that out

it's either gonna be that or If I can find the

time to watch Bad blood and Justice League versus

Teen Titans we might do that score because I

have that score from law and records as well

We might even be doing some track stuff who knows

because I've got some Trek stuff over on my shelf

too, so... I like Trek. I just don't know just

yet what's going to be coming up here in the

La La Land Lounge. I do know at some point this

year, GeekCast Radio, we are going to be recording

and releasing episode 91 to 99, which is the

nine top nines of the 90s, so that's going to

be coming up as well. I promise, folks, it is

happening this year. It was supposed to happen

last year. Just life kind of, you know, I...

You know that old saying, you know, when you

suck the marrow out of life, you're not supposed

to choke on the bone. Well, last year, I kind

of choked on the bone. So, you know, getting

back up on the horse and all that good stuff

and riding the batwing off into the sunset. But,

BJS volume two, zero to five, what would you

give it? I'll give it a four. Yeah, I'm right

there with you. I'll give it a four. I really

enjoy it. There are tracks that I can go back

to all the time. As I said earlier what I love

most about the volume two score is the motif

stuff the source music and things like that Just

absolutely amazing. So thank you to La La Land

Records. Thank you to Envy Gerhardt, Mad for

Boys over there John Take, John Takas Get the

guy's name right, I've talked to him twice Everybody

over at La La Land Records Shirley Walker, May

She Rest In Peace, all of the other composers,

Lolita Ramonis, Michael McQuistion, Stuart Balcombe,

Harvey R. Cohen, you guys all are epic and amazing

and awesome. Can't wait to hear more music from

all of you in BTIS Volume 3. So this has been

the La La Land Lounge, where soundtracks live.

Head on over to LaLaLandRecords .com. Catch you

next time, folks.