Unoriginal Soundtracks: Batman Arkham Asylum Edition

Every other Wednesday I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, songs about world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for random terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and rediscover old classics.

I had absolutely no interest in Batman before Arkham Asylum. He was just a wall of steroids with no real superpowers. But sharing Bruce's vulnerabilities made him a more interesting character than his dry dialog merited. With a sequel coming, it'll be interesting to see how Rocksteady can play on Batman's weaknesses in Arkham City.

Or listen in Spotify.

#1 - Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief

Wolfmother formed in 1971, in Sydney, Australia. Unhappy with their studio hardware, they built a time machine and set the controls to 2000. Their plan was to arrive, record what the critics were calling "heavy metal" on now-inexpensive equipment, and take over the scene. They quickly became scared and confused at what metal had become.

#2 - Iron Maiden - Can I Play With Madness?

Compiling this playlist taught me that there is a trifecta of metal songs about mental illness -- this, Anthrax's Madhouse, and Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train. Anthrax are too hard-edged for this playlist, so I had a choice between Maiden and Ozzy. I'm saving Crazy Train for the Arkham City playlist in the hope that there's a sequence when you're fighting through a train full of asylum escapees.

#3 - Tom Waits - Fish in the Jailhouse

Some facts* about Tom Waits:

• He was born in a taxi cab.
• His father was an exhaust manifold and his mother was a tree.
• He's intimidated by the moon.
• He likes bagpipes.
• He only writes new songs because he gets sick of the old ones.

#4 - The Hollies - Poison Ivy

The Hollies come from Manchester, 30 miles from Liverpool. They formed in the '60s and recorded at Abbey Road. Despite number one singles in the UK and the USA, and despite their entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, they'll forever be "that band that sounds like the early Beatles, but not as good."

#5 - Jeff Beck - Jailhouse Rock

Since leaving the Yarbirds, Jeff Beck has gone on a musical odyssey less successful than his predecessor's (Eric Clapton) or successor's (Jimmy Page). But while he wasn't deified, and didn't form the greatest rock band ever, Beck's journey has been wider than Clapton's or Page's. He's played everything from jazz to metal, and is somewhere in the middle here.

#6 - Common Market - Escaping Arkham

KRS-One is a fan, and they've toured with Ghostface Killah. I hadn't heard of the two Bahá'ís until I searched Spotify for "Arkham" though. That's probably because they haven't toured outside of the USA yet, and they've mostly been supporting bigger acts. They're an excellent example of why services like Spotify are great -- every minnow can submit their music, and anyone fishing around can discover it.