"Batman Forever" - Various Artists

Soundtrack Album

U2 Related Content:

Full Track Listing:

  • Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me – U2 (4:46)
  • One Time Too Many – PJ Harvey (2:52)
  • Where are You Now? – Brandy (3:57)
  • Kiss from a Rose – Seal (3:38)
  • The Hunter Gest Captured by the Game – Massive Attack with Tracey Thorn (4:06)
  • Nobody Lives Without Love – Eddi Reader (5:05)
  • Tell Me Now – Mazzy Star (4:17)
  • Smash it Up – The Offspring (3:26)
  • There is a Light – Nick Cave (4:23)
  • The Riddler – Method Man (3:30)
  • The Passenger – Michael Hutchence (4:37)
  • Crossing the River – The Devlins (4:45)
  • 8 – Sunny Day Real Estate (5:27)
  • Bad Days – The Flaming Lips (4:38)

Background Information

“Batman Forever” was the third movie in a very successful run of “Batman” movies starting with 1989’s “Batman”. The movie was the first to star Val Kilmer in the role. A soundtrack for the film was released, which featured only five songs heard in the film. The other tracks are chosen to fill out the soundtrack, and Atlantic Records president Val Azzoli joked at the time, “’‘I think we’re gonna have to start doing ‘Inspired by the Motion Picture’ titles”. Indeed, since “Batman Forever” that concept of “Inspired By” soundtracks has become much more prevalent. The movie, “Batman Forever” opened on June 16, 1995. The soundtrack was released ten days earlier on June 6, 1995. U2’s song “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” was released on the soundtrack album, as well as being a single.

“Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” was nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Original Song, and both “Kiss from a Rose” and “Hold Me, Thrill Me” were nominated at the MTV Movie Awards for Best Song from a movie, with Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” winning the category. Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” also took home three Grammy Awards, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Three other songs from “Batman Forever” were released as singles including Method Man’s “The Riddler”, Brandy’s “Where Are You Now?” and The Offspring’s “Smash It Up” for a total of five singles released almost simultaneously from the soundtrack.

In 1995 the third movie in the Batman franchise, “Batman Forever” was released. The director Joel Schumacher met with Bono while putting the movie together, and discussed a role for Bono in the movie. Initially it was thought he would play a bad guy, but there were two villains already in the script, so then it was discussed having Bono perform a song in costume as Macphisto. Finally it ended with U2 contributing a song to the soundtrack, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”. The song was also released as the first single to promote the film and the soundtrack. The song had been developed for the Zooropa album, but did not make the final cut. However, you can see the title in the lettering on the front of the Zooropa cover if you look closely at the purple lettering.

The soundtrack also included a track by Michael Hutchence, “The Passenger”, which featured long-time U2 associate Gavin Friday on backing vocals. Also, PJ Harvey, who is managed by Paul McGuinness and has supported U2 on the Zoo TV and Elevation tours has a song on the soundtrack as well, “One Time Too Many”.

In 2018 the soundtrack was issued on black vinyl and also on purple and green vinyl. The purple and green vinyl was an exclusive release via Urban Outfitters. In 2021 another coloured vinyl pressing was announced, this time on silver and blue vinyl. That release was sold through independent record shops in the USA, and made available on July 16, 2021. A release in the UK and other parts of the world will follow on September 3, 2021.

Liner Notes

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me:
Performed by U2. Lyrics: Bono. Music: U2. Produced by Nellee Hooper, Bono and The Edge. Engineered by Robbie Adams and Flood. Mix Engineer: Mark ‘Spike’ Stent. Programmer and Keyboards: Marius De Vries. Assistant: Paul ‘P.W.’ Walton. String Arranger: Craig Armstrong. Recorded at the Factory (Dublin), Wild Bunch Studio (London) and Olympic Studios (London).

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