Batman: Arkham City –The Album
2011, Watertower Music
2011, Watertower Music
On October 18, 2011, Warner Bros. Interactive releases thevideo game Batman: Arkham City. The follow-up to Arkham Asylum features many of the same gaming attributes, butenhances features, weapons and tools in an open world environment. The soundtrack, Batman: Arkham City – The Album, drops on October 4, 2011, andincludes some big names in active rock.
Panic! At The Disco kick starts things with “Mercenary”, anincredibly catchy rocker that’s certain to make room for itself on theBillboard charts. It’s a perfectintroduction; the sort of song that pervades your consciousness and refuses tolet you go. It’s the best blend ofalternative/heavy rock and pop sensibilities on the collection. Coheed And Cambria “Deranged” and The DukeSpirit “Creature” offer up solid if not terribly memorable tracks, while BlackRebel Motorcycle Club gets overtly ethereal on the dream-rock number “Shadow OnThe Run”. Blacq Audio seem to bechanneling 80s rockers such as the Thompson Twins on “Afterdark”, a solidenough track that thoroughly fails to fit in with the other tracks offeredhere.
Raveonettes make up for a lack of substance with lots offuzz and buzz on “Oh, Stranger”, paving the way for ††† (Crosses) and theirtortured, post-Smiths self-immolation, wrapped in dark commercial medalforms. The Damned Things make a fineimpression with “Trophy Widow”, dropping a tremendous chorus on listeners. The blend of pop and metal sensibilities hereis intriguing and unique, although the screamed verses are more of a contrastto the chorus than a complement. Daughtry hits all the right notes on “Drown In You”. The song is well-written, the arrangementtight, and the chorus sets up shop in your forebrain and declares its intent tostick around for a while. The BoxerRebellion offers up a solid effort in “Losing You”, but it’s Serj Tankian whosteals the show with the closing track, “Total Paranoia”. If you’ve never heard him before, Tankian hasan eclectic and unusual voice that’s almost counterintuitive to thisenvironment on first listen, but he grows on you like dark thoughts in thenight. “Total Paranoia” is an exceedinglypleasant surprise, and an example of how a music director, thinking outside thebox on a project such as this, occasionally strikes gold.
There’s no doubt that Batman:Arkham City – The Album will turn out to provide far accompaniment to thegame itself, but as an album it has little sense of flow; the songs here don’thave a common theme or driving factor other than the overly complex apocryphaof Batman storylines and legends. Batman: Arkham City – The Album was puttogether with an eye toward download sales of single tracks rather than anattempt to build a cohesive theme, and it shows. On the left, it’s difficult to build thissort of cohesion in a soundtrack collection featuring eleven different artists,which is why being the music director for this sort of project is a thanklessexposition. In any case, this is a timeto pick and choose the tracks you want and download accordingly. There are some real gems here.
Rating: 3 Stars(Out of 5)
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iTunes.And if you're interested in pre-ordering the game, here are the links!
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Special Edition Live
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