"The Batman Theme" - Edge, The

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Background Information

In 2004, Warner Brothers launched a new cartoon version of Batman on Saturday morning television. The show took Batman back to his roots and was a darker, moodier cartoon that much of what had come before. The Edge was approached to contribute an instrumental piece for the cartoon’s opening theme. The opening piece of music is a complex layered piece, with many sound effects in the mix, but it is unmistakably the Edge performing. The song fit the cartoon very well. The debut of the show was September 11, 2004.

The Edge was interviewed about his involvement in the track: “I’m very excited to be a part of what looks like a very interesting new take on Batman. When I’m working on music, and in this case it was no different, I always go for the mood and the rough kind of emotional area that I feel the tune should have. I wanted to do something that was contemporary and had a little bit more threat and a little bit more restraint, because that’s really the character of Batman. I’m really excited to see how it goes. I’m sure it’s going to be a big success.” In a separate interview he would also discuss the theme: “It was really just a case of creating a bedrock of something tough and slightly menacing that wasn’t necessarily too heavy and dark. The great thing about the whole ‘Batman’ idea is that it strips down life to the battle between good and evil. You can relate to different sides of that battle at different times.

The show, “The Batman” lasted five seasons, but the theme song by The Edge was only used for the first two seasons of the television show. The change in theme was an attempt to lighten what was seen as a dark cartoon. Other changes to the show involved bringing in a sidekick for Batman in the form of Batgirl in the same season. The new song did not feature U2 in any way.

Along with being featured on the show, the title track was available for download on the Warner Brothers Kids site in mp3 format. The file was located at http://kidswb.warnerbros.com/web/stuff/stuff.jsp under the “Printables and Downloads” section – but unfortunately that site is no longer available. The mp3 released through the site was 160 kbps in format, and featured an audio cue at the start of the track. Although no artwork was embedded in the track itself, the artwork on this page was available for download at the same time as a wallpaper, and thus is included here, resized to look more like a CD cover by adding a black bar at the top and extending the one at the bottom of the image..

The show has been released on DVD, and in the iTunes store in a digital format, and the theme performed by The Edge is part of season one and two. The audio track has not been released separately to date on any other audio release.

Liner Notes

No traditional liner notes with this digital release.

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