CD/DOWNLOAD REVIEW - BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD - MAYHEM OF THE MUSIC MEISTER!


Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Mayhem of the Music Meister!
Music by Michael McCuiston, Lolita Ritmanis and Kristopher Carter
Lyrics by Michael Jelenic and James Tucker
New Line Records NLR 39167
8 Tracks 18:46 mins

I have yet to see this latest version of Batman's adventures, but have heard the animated series is much lighter than previous efforts. One thing remains the same in that the Dynamic Music Partners are still responsible for the scores. However, their efforts are it seems similarly lighter, and I've read that they are populated by big band numbers. It's a pity then that this recent release, available both as a digital download and as a hard copy from Amazon.com, only concentrates on one episode and that is a special musical one, with the composers' music being given lyrics and sung by the on-screen characters. The show's main theme is included, which certainly suggests the big band approach previously mentioned; but, as the album is so very, very brief, it seems a real missed opportunity not to have included some underscore from other episodes as well.One can just hope that some enterprising label (La-La Land Records, perhaps?) can obtain the rights to release a proper score album at some future date.
So, what of the album at hand? Well, the guest villain of the piece, The Music Meister, is played by Neil Patrick Harris, whose voice features on most of the tracks, many of which are a mixture of song and dialogue. Fans of musical theatre will probably enjoy it and, I have to say, it is quite entertaining, with some catchy, fun numbers, and a nice ballad "If Only;" but not really for film score enthusiasts.