Soundtrack: Comic Book Movie Music

The release of the first newly recorded Soundgarden song in 15 years was directly tied to the release of the largest movie of the year. This isn't the first time a musician has embraced a comic book movie.

By jerichomccune - May 07, 2012 05:05 PM EST

Filed Under: Other

In the midst of all the noise during the biggest opening in box office history, it might be surprising to think that there is something out there that people are more excited about than The Avengers. Soundgarden's first newly recorded track in 15 years is one of them. Soundgarden used to be kind of a big deal back in the day, but a fifteen year hiatus means that some of the people waiting around in breathless anticipation for the end credit scenes were born after the band broke up.

Soundgarden fans have been excited since the band's reemergence two years ago. A string of newly released but previously recorded music helped build the anticipation in the music community much like the earlier MCU films helped build anticipation of The Avengers. The video that accompanied the new song heavily featured both the band and the cast of superheroes, meaning someone that was a fan of both Soundgarden and The Avengers were among the world's happiest people during the first week of May 2012. In fact, the only people happier than Soundgarden/Avengers fans last week were the people that went to see it first just so they could brag about it.

This isn't the first time we've seen this phenomenon. It won't be the last. In the glimpse-and-you'll-miss-it era of mashup media, everybody wants to collaborate on the choice projects.

Superheroes and rock stars aren't so different - think KISS and Dazzler. And Marvel's massive marketing plan wasn't a fluke, it was a formula they had pulled off before, with similar but not as stellar results.

"Sooner or Later" Madonna - Dick Tracy (1990)
An often overlooked but very successful comic book movie successor to The Avengers was Dick Tracy, a film from the pregolden age of comics when pages overflowed with detectives and cowboys and love stories and the other things people in the thirties loved when they weren't reading Superman. Dick Tracy was a detective that fought against villains so vile they helped birth the strange-looking and tragic enemies superheroes would face. The 1990 film starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino and Madonna made Disney a mint (in 1990 dollars) and is the comic book movie with the most Oscars, at three.

The film won richly deserved awards for Best Art Direction and Best Makeup. Dick Tracy looked as immaculate as any movie ever will. Every frame was a perfect representation of the world. The third Oscar was for Best Original Song, "Sooner or Later," sung by Madonna and released on the album I'm Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the Film "Dick Tracy", an album that would end up shipping more than 7 million units to a worldwide audience.

Dick Tracy was a beast of Disney marketing. There were three separate soundtracks - the film soundtrack, the Madonna album and the Danny Elfman score. Stephen Sondheim was recruited to write five original songs, including the Oscar-winning "Sooner or Later." Also included on the Madonna album was a little ditty called "Vogue," which had absolutely nothing to do with the film but was so awesome the Warner Brothers brass decided it had to go on a Disney comic book movie soundtrack. David Fincher directed the video for "Vogue" in a style that paid homage to the celebrities of the Dick Tracy era, a video that was critically acclaimed and well-received by the public. Madonna would go on to perform "Sooner or Later" at the Academy Awards and "Vogue" at the MTV Music Awards, making I'm Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the Film "Dick Tracy" one of the few albums with two singles being awarded and performed at two different major televised award shows.

"Batdance" Prince - Batman (1989)
Disney was wildly successful with Dick Tracy in large part because they paid close attention to what happened one year earlier with the more well-remembered "Batman." Batman would claim an Oscar for Best Art Direction (there's a pattern here) and a pile of BAFTA nominations. It would also produce two soundtrack albums, one Grammy winning and one not.

Danny Elfman produced the Grammy winning score to Batman. He's one of the most impressive names in the music world and has went on to score countless movies since. His Batman album is just one in a string of successful albums of which he's been a part. It was great but not nearly as memorable as the non-Grammy winning Batman soundtrack, Batman, by Prince.

Batman is more memorable because of one song - "Batdance." At the time of the Batman soundtrack, Prince wasn't really happy with the contract he had. Part of that contract involved doing the Batman album and everyone ended up getting exactly what they should have expected. The album was number one, "Batdance" was an immediate success (probably thanks to the creative name) and Prince was one album closer to fulfilling an obligation. Although Prince didn't win any major awards for the record, he will forever be remembered as the weird little musical Joker/Two-Face hybrid that shook the world awake for a minute.

"Burn" The Cure - The Crow (1994)
The critically acclaimed 1994 comic book film, The Crow, molded music to its story like few other films before or since. The hero of the film was a musician turned superhero, and the dark, orchestral score was punctuated by some of the best alternative rock musicians of the day. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult even made an appearance in the film.

Stone Temple Pilots supplied a Grammy-award winning track to the film and Nine Inch Nails covered a Joy Division classic so well the result still stands out as one of the best tracks they ever recorded. Bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Rage Against the Machine, Rollins Band and Helmet added to the musical melee, but "Burn" went on to set the tone for the whole film.

James O'Barr, the writer of the original comic book, was a huge fan of industrial and Gothic rock, especially The Cure and Joy Division. It is a testament to the vision of the filmmakers that they retained that influence and infused it directly into the movie's sound palette. The result was a movie soundtrack worthy of every rock fan's collection, and an unforgettable Cure song.

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3 Comments

marvel72 - 5/7/2012, 5:52 PM

the crow had a cool soundtrack,so did kick ass.

Asterisk - 5/7/2012, 5:53 PM

I think we are forgetting the most awesome CBM song ever...

Aww yeah.

jerichomccune - 5/7/2012, 5:56 PM

Asterisk - Didn't forget it, just didn't want the article to run too long ;) That song will definitely fit into any follow up I write!

Soundtrack: Comic Book Movie Music

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