"The Future"
German 7-inch single
Single by Prince[1]
from the album Batman
B-side"Electric Chair"
ReleasedMay 18, 1990
Recordedmid-late February 1989[2]
StudioPaisley Park, Chanhassen
Genre
Length
  • 7-inch remix edit: 3:30
  • Album: 4:08
  • Remix: 6:25
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Prince
Producer(s)
  • Prince (original)
  • Mark Moore & William Orbit (remix)
Prince[3] singles chronology
"Scandalous!"
(1989)		 "The Future"
(1990)		 "Thieves in the Temple"
(1990)

"The Future" is a song from American musician Prince's 1989 Batman soundtrack, and the final single released from the album.[4] The single was not the album version, but a remixed version by S'Express' Mark Moore and William Orbit. "The Future" was released as a single only in Europe. The standard European 7-inch single was backed with the album version of "Electric Chair", but on the maxi-single, "Electric Chair" was also remixed by Moore and Orbit. Moore and Orbit's remix of "The Future" is house-inspired, whereas Prince's original is minimalistic. Moore and Orbit substituted a muted, pulsating beat in place of the original elements of Prince's song. Moore and Orbit also removed Prince's original bassline, synthline, and snippets of sampled dialogue. This would be the last time Orbit would work with Prince for several years. In most countries, neither "The Future" nor its B-side were a hit on the pop or dance floors. The single peaked at #9 in the Dutch charts.

The LP version of "The Future" features the sampled strings of Clare Fischer lifted from the then-unreleased 1986 track "Crystal Ball", and samples the Sounds of Blackness choir. The lyrics speak of a bleak future, recalling the fictional DC Comics location Gotham City, and that it needs "spirituality that will last".

"Electric Chair" was recorded well before the album concept had begun, being cut in June 1988. Despite this, it fits well into the theme of the film and evokes the Joker's madness. The track blends hard rock and funk with a loud, booming drum machine pattern, and aggressive bass and lead guitar wailing throughout. The bridge combines a funky, percussive bass line with a meshed guitar synth phrase. A raspy grunt from "Electric Chair" can be heard in the Underworld remix of William Orbit's "Water From A Vine Leaf"[5] as well as some tracks from Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman, perhaps owing to Underworld's Karl Hyde serving as guitarist at Prince's Paisley Park in 1989.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "A brilliant house remix of one of the best tracks on Batman by Mark Moore (S'Express) and William Orbit. The track has been skilfully converted into an up-to-date dance floor number".[6]

Track listings

  • 7-inch single
  1. "The Future" (remix edit) – 3:30
  2. "Electric Chair" – 4:13
  • 12-inch / CD single
  1. "The Future" (remix) – 6:25
  2. "Electric Chair" (remix) – 5:36

Personnel

Credits from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud[7][8]

Charts

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-06-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ↑ "The Future". Prince Vault.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-06-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ "Prince - The Future (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
  5. ↑ "William Orbit – Water From A Vine Leaf at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  6. ↑ "Previews: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. June 9, 1990. p. 18. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  7. ↑ Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.
  8. ↑ "Batman". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  9. ↑ "Prince – The Future" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. July 21, 1990. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved May 28, 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Prince".
  12. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 28, 1990" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Prince – The Future" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Prince – The Future". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Prince – The Future" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1990". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1990". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
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