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Guides - Releases - CD - Mayhem of the Music Meister
Street Date: 10/24/09
Label: New Line Records Tracks
01. Brave and the Bold Theme 02. I'm the Music Meister 03.
Drives Us Bats 04. If Only 05. Death Trap 06. The World
is Mine 07. If Only (Reprise) 08. Drives Us Bats (End
Credits)
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Synopsis/Press Release: The Caped Crusader faces a new
villain in the upcoming Batman: The Brave & The Bold episode,
“Mayhem of the Music Meister!” The episode, from Warner Bros
Animation, features the voice of Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met
Your Mother, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) as the Music
Meister, a menacing villain who is able to exert powerful
mind-control through song. Producers and cast members received a
standing ovation following a sneak-preview at Comic-Con this
past July and, after much anticipation, the episode will finally
air Friday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network.
On Saturday, October 24, New Line Records will release
Batman: The Brave & The Bold: Mayhem of the Music Meister! –
Soundtrack from the Animated Television Show digitally on iTunes
and other digital music outlets. Amazon.com will offer fans the
exclusive option of purchasing either a hard or digital copy of
the soundtrack. The soundtrack will feature all five original
songs from the episode as well as the highly sought Batman: The
Brave & The Bold theme.
"Being approached by the
producers to do a 'Batman Musical' was a complete surprise and
total thrill," said composers Michael McCuistion, Lolita
Ritmanis and Kristopher Carter. The phenomenal cast and
musicians brought each song to life and we are so happy New Line
Records has agreed to release a soundtrack so that this music
can be enjoyed by Batman fans worldwide."
Review (Zach Demeter) The Brave and the Bold is such an interesting
and wildly different show that even when it decides to pull an
all-musical episode, there are few who would even bat an
eyelash. And there are those who even became quite excited for
it once it was announced that the main villain of the show, the
Music Meister, would be voiced by Neil Patrick Harris. The
episode itself eventually aired and became one giant excuse just
for Harris and Grey DeLisle to belt out song after song…and it
will undoubtedly go down as one of the finest episodes from the
series already diverse first season.
In fact I’m almost
wary of the second season—this first initial run of twenty six
episodes was so astonishingly good (there were some stinkers,
sure, but for the most part it was a very tight first season)
that I question whether they’d be able to do such a good job
again…but, I have faith. This show really is capable of not only
doing anything it wants to but also to do it remarkably well as
“Mayhem of the Music Meister” has shown.
But Meister
didn’t just stop at being an episode of the series. No, it
marked the first time a single episode of any DC animated
episode received its very own CD release. While it won’t be
found at retail stores, fans can download it from iTunes,
Amazon, or even purchase it on CD from Amazon via their “On
Demand” store. Granted, the product won’t be a professionally
pressed CD, but it will still pack the necessary goods to be
considered for purchase. Considering both the MP3 and actual CD
copy are available or $6.99 as of this writing on Amazon right
now, I’d say you couldn’t go wrong either direction you choose.
Now that I’ve talked about how to get it, how is the
actual product itself, you ask? Well the majority of the tracks
are all fairly quick; the opening track (“I’m the Music
Meister”) and the last track that Harris sings on (“The World is
Mine”) are the only two fairly lengthy songs on the set; the
others vary from thirty seconds to barely over two and a half
minutes. Of course it’s a twenty-two minute episode so it’s
wrong to expect much more than that, but even so there are only
two real tracks that will stick with you.
Yet as short
as this whole CD is…it’s still worth owning if you’re a fan of
the series. The nice thing about this CD is it’s devoid of the
sound effects; granted, they made the visual element of songs
like “If Only” much more enjoyable for the viewer, but shaking
off the excess SFX for the CD release helps the tracks stand out
on their own a bit more. Which his great because they’re
wonderfully written and performed from start to finish.
The whole cast performs wonderfully on the tracks, whether it’s
Harris stealing the show (as he tends to do lately with
everything he’s involved in), DeLisle providing a very
surprising performance as Black Canary, or DiMaggio belting a
few deep ones out as Aquaman, the entire episode (and likewise
the CD) is a real delight to listen to. While Music Meister is a
little less than impressive as a villain on the show, he more
than makes up for it with his vocal qualities and I can only
hope he returns to the show in the future.
As is this is
a very short CD (a little bit shy of 18 minutes), but for as
little as it costs it’s Recommended for fans of the show.
Especially since it isn’t readily available on DVD yet (c’mon
Warner Home Video, release a big ol’ season set!).
The
CD A few disclaimers first: I got a “For Promotional Use
Only” copy so I can’t guarantee this is how the final product
will look, but since this is a “burn on demand” title on Amazon,
I’m willing to bet it’s pretty close. The set arrives in a
standard clear jewel case with a set of credits behind the disc
itself, which features a pretty standard (but well done) label
that looks like a comfortable mix between professional and
home-made. The disc itself is a standard CD-R, however, as you
can see the burn line quite clearly on the back. Again, however,
this disc is marked as a “promotional use only” copy, so it may
not be completely the same as the copy from Amazon.
The
booklet is a two page affair that again lists more credits, with
individual artists for each song listed as well as the composer
and lyricist.
Overall a solid set and about what you’d
expect to get out of a $6.99 CD.
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