Your Current Thoughts on Three Bats Live

[Wario]

With the Sydney 2011 DVD just around the corner, I thought Id take a trip down memory lane with the most recent Live DVD release: 3 Bats Live.

I watched it the day after halloween, so yesterday, and I'm surprised on how much i actually liked about it.

I guess I'll do my Wario thing and dissect it song by song and give my views on each of the 19 performances on the disk. 17 of which Meat lead his vocals to.

All Revved Up 8.5/10



I loved how the DVD started out with the "bloody bat" Meat Loaf logo (which is my personal favorite Meat logo to date) zooming in on John's drumming. This is actually all ruined by the girls singing "Girl" while the rest of the guys are singing "Boy". It would've been more appropriate to all just sing "Girl" since they were the ones on lead voice. That was sloppy but anything with Dave on sax during this show killed sans the next track. thats a fact, wait till I get further into the show.

Paradise 5/10



This was bar-none the weakest paradise ever officially released todate. Meat and Aspen had nothing and I cant say i liked the pitch of Meat's voice during this song. i know i always say voice isn't everything but for this performance, it could have saved it and it didn't. The editor put his scissors on this baby. So much banter you can tell is cut. Only saving grace is the instrumental opening and Dave's sax. Also, the wig is awesome and its very colorful.

Took The Words 7/10

Took the Words will always be my favorite Meat Loaf song. It was the song that got me into Meat and the song i have played over and over for seven years and haven't gotten tired of. I love the sax and instrumentation of this baby. Not one of Meat's most energized performances of this number (no audience banter, I feel the editor freaking cut that. Hope that doesn't happen on the sydney DVD. I Want preacher Meat!), but its decent. Meat slurred a word at the start, but other then that it was pretty good.

Frying Pan 8/10



Frying Pan is also a close personal favorite of mine (Number 3 on my top 50 Meat Loaf songs video). Comparing this version to the MSO showstopper is like comparing Phantom Menace with Emipre Strikes Back. The sax in it is awesome as always and the instrumentation is far superior to that of the MSO version, but its misisng the zest MSO's performance had. That and the weird distracting hiss during the "ancient hallway" verse is distracting. But, in all honesty, its one of the best performances on the DVD. The 2008 UK Itunes release is far superior. with pretty much the same instrumentation.

Lemon 6/10
This song didnt really belong here. Meat was not into this song whatsoever and you can tell watching it. He sounds good (one of the best vocals on the DVD), but hes just not into it. They omit the second verse, which actually makes it worse. I would've Omitted the repeat of the first verse in frying pan, and not cut the stooges verse in lemon. If he was gonna cut the second verse to a bat 2 song, he should've performed Good girls go to heaven and cut the "good boys" verse. In fact putting GGTH after frying pan would've been great. More sax the better.


Anything For Love 6.5/10
After the epic AFL on the MSO disk, this was a real down step. Meat sounds okay, the first minute hes a bit off, but he gets really good during the upbeat parts. Then Aspen comes in and the charisma is stripped away. I cant say its terrible. Its still better then some of the performances during the later part of the show and certainly better then Lemon. Just compared to the other AFLs, it flounders.

Objects 9.5/10



Bar none, pretty much unanimously this is considered the highlight and best performance on the entire DVD. Objects, until RAH in 2006, was last performed during the storytellers tour of 1999 and by god the arrangement and performance is great. I love the synthesizer usage and, in my opinion, Aspen's vocals work very well and give the song a chilling quality I love. Minor quibble is the ending goes on a bit too long, the editor couldve trimmed that up and the second verse is sadly omitted. If the second verse was in tact, this would rival the legendary Hudson Theater version.

Rock & Roll Dreams 9/10



Other then Objects and Gimme Shelter, the other unanimously praised performance on the disk in Rock & Roll Dreams and this is pretty damn good. the sax solo is fantastic and the band rocked. Meat's voice couldve been more passionate, but he gave it all he got during this, and that's what he literally did. After this song, he seemed to lose everything until bat kicked in.

Seize the Night 10/10

CC and Aspen are beautiful and haunting. The piano is great. Sadly the damn editor cut the storm introduction that was present during the tour and you can faintly hear the ending seconds of the instrumental softly under the crowd before the piano starts. I hate whoever edited this.

Here comes the eye of the DVD. The moment of the time when this DVD turns to crap.....

Monster Is Loose 2/10
This was a mess of a performance. I wished they wouldve shot the DVD in Europe when they replaced this with In the land of the Pig. The studio vocals are obvious, the video is distracting that overlays the performance. this is a concert DVD not a music video. I always wanna skip this. You can tell Meat hates this song while hes singing it. He says there isnt a song he regrets recording, but I think this is one that can put that to the test.

Bad For Good 5/10
Sax is great, Meat sounds decent, the band is excellent, and THE EDITORS A FREAKING DUMBASS. The Audio errors were not fixed. This takes laziness to a whole new level. Call Meat and ask for a Bad For Good Board Tape or something. That's ridiculous they let that through. This wouldve been the best of the Bat 3 performances. Damn it. And whats sadder is weve yet to get an official bad for good live recording produced by Meat and Paul themselves. Damn it. Wish it was on the second disk of HCTB instead of another Anything for Love.

Break It 3/10



After TMIL, this is a skipper. The song is good, i love break it when im in the mood, but the mess ups are just unbearable. Meat's voice is okay and the band is great, but man alive the lyrics are to the shite. So glad a proper live release is found on the second disk of HCTB. Its basically this arrangement with no mess ups and the toy gun finale. I love how its compositioned and shot though. One o the most beatuiful performances to watch on the DVD Ill give it that.

Blind as a Bat 4/10
Meat forgot a lot of words, and his studio vocals are heard during the chorus which I loathe. Al lot f people love this eprformance, I think its nothing special and should be skipped. Again, Meat did a far superior version on the second disk of HCTB.

Two Out Of Three 5/10

The same arrangement as MSO without the orchestra or passion. The weakest official two out of three to date and certainly the most forgettable. i forgot he did this song when I watched the DVD. And I don't think it works for the show having this coming after BAAB.

Bat Out Of Hell 7/10



Something sparked in Meat and Meat sounded really good during bat. He seemed to be into it and was actually moving around the stage and looked like he was having fun (somewhat). Really good performance after a 5 track bridge of misses.

Black Betty 7/10
I actually think this is better then the B side on the IACBTMN single.Again Meat looks like he's having fun and the and kicks ass. Very short and catchy. Made me miss this a lot. Could've used a synthesizer bass like the one used during the HOTD tour. Loved that arrangement.

All Coming Back To Me Now 6/10



I hate this song and the live version didn't do anything more for me. i preferred the arrangement during the Today show, but the performance was good. Meat sounded decent and Marion sounded fantastic. Their version does nothing for me, but it wasn't a horrid performance by any means. In fact, its the best bat 3 performance on the DVD.

Mercury Blues 7/10
Mercury didn't really fit in with the show and I still think it shouldn't have been performed. Nothing else is really wrong with it though. Has nothing on the MSO version, though. And Meat does not look like hes having fun. He looks beat and you can tell he wants to go to sleep. Nothing special.

Gimme Shelter 9/10



My second favorite performance on the DVD. Meat and everyone are great on this and Dave is awesome on his sax as usual. Meat did the Stones Justice and he leaves with a "god bless you" (not a "dont you ever stop rocking). The remaining minutes is Aspen, CC, and the band jamming till the end.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Overall, the DVD was a good watch, high points are scattered and it feels unfinished, rushed, and under produced. The cover is really cool though, and I prefer the 3 Bats Live cover over the MSO one. More thought and effort went into the cover then the production of the DVD.

My main problem is that Meat isn't having fun during this show. Also, in the UK, this was packaged with The Paradise Documentary. Cant say that did the dvd any favors as it'd give the dvd a negative atmosphere if you decided to watch the documentary first.

OVERALL: 114.5/190 = 60% +7% (Cinematography, lighting, and Boxart) = 67% (D+)

[melon]

To be honest, I think I have only ever watched this DVD twice when I first got it, I think I have watched ISOP more than the concert.

Not because I don't think it's any good, but if I want to watch a Meat Loaf concert DVD I usually reach for MSO or Storytellers, I enjoy those ones more.

As someone who was at the Sydney show, you're in for a great DVD. Trust me.

Now I know what I will be doing tonight instead of sitting around waiting for concert reviews lol

[Renegade Angel]

I hate it, i can't stand the sax in the songs, its not needed IMO. I have nothing against dave but i just can't stand sax in rock songs (prob why i have always skipped all revved up on bat) I would much rather have some remastered dvds like bad attitude live or wembley 82 with extra tracks although i doubt this will ever happen?

[Evil One]

You can tell Meat's ill and not having fun.

The pokey little venue does nothing for the atmosphere.

Whoever edited it did a shite job.

The first half isn't actually that bad, but Meat seems to put everything he's got into Objects and then does the rest of the show with the tank on empty.

The band is awesome.

There was no need for any sax during Frying Pan. It would have been better without.

Aspen is not Patti, but it's nice to have a change every once in a while.

As mentioned by Wario the ladies singing 'girl' during All Revved Up sort of sets the tone for the show.

Overall it's not a patch on the MSO concert and not Meat's finest hour. But then he's already said he hates it too!

[Cherry.Loaf]

Well I really, really dislike Aspens voice so I can't listen to Paradise (which is my fav live song to hear). However the highlight of the DVD is the girls singing Seize the Night as I absolutely love that version. Personally I just watch MSO if I wanna watch a concert

[robgomm]

It's certainly not a patch on MSO but then i'm not sure anything will be. The new DVD will have to go some way to beating that. I think i've said before that it seems to be show of two halves, the first half when he sings the songs he loves is great, but when it turns to the Bat 3 songs it dips noticeably. That's not to say he doesn't make the effort, but you can't fake it completely if you're not into the songs. I did love Blind as a bat though.

Aspen is not Patti. She does a good job but it's definitely not the same connection Patti has with Meat.

[amandanoa]

Originally Posted by robgomm

It's certainly not a patch on MSO but then i'm not sure anything will be. The new DVD will have to go some way to beating that. I think i've said before that it seems to be show of two halves, the first half when he sings the songs he loves is great, but when it turns to the Bat 3 songs it dips noticeably. That's not to say he doesn't make the effort, but you can't fake it completely if you're not into the songs. I did love Blind as a bat though.

Aspen is not Patti. She does a good job but it's definitely not the same connection Patti has with Meat.

I so went to the Melbourne concert after the one that was recorded (he did 2 in Melbourne that year) - it was awesome! - the whole orchestra and dancers and the atmosphere and the extra effects - just awesome.

Anther one of those postponed concerts too - we had our airfares and accommodation all booked and paid for, travelling from NZ and then had to add another couple of days - we contemplated going to Melbourne for a few days and not seeing the concert (because of the cost of changing the airfares mainly) but only for a split second - what a drag that would be.lol

[Vickip]

I haven't watched it for a long time, and really need to again. I don't normally rate the songs, but in this case I would give Objects at least a 10/10 (or even higher). IMHO it truly is the highlight of the DVD, and concert for that matter. Otherwise, I still like the rest of the DVD, but not as much as Storytellers and MSO

[Mr. Happy]

This DVD is terrible. Meat's not well, the vocals are off 90% of the time, he's not enjoying it, there's no atmosphere and the editing is terrible. The vocals in particular let the DVD down, they're unquestionably some of the worst to have ever been released anywhere, to the point that some songs rival the performances from the early 80s. Bad for Good has some glaringly obvious flaws that could have been easily fixed by the smallest editing. As Wario pointed out, the studio vocals on the chorus of Blind as a Bat are a bit annoying. And, one stupid little thing that has annoyed me since I got it, is that you can't access the Seize the Night performance from the menu. I know that's an almost petty complaint, but it's really, really frustrating! D:

With that said though, this is the best arrangement Objects and Rock and Roll Dreams have ever seen, in my opinion. And despite the amount of crap she gets from time to time, I honestly don't mind Aspen. I'd prefer Patti, but I don't really have an issue with what Aspen did on this tour :P

[AndrewG]

Hindsight is a beautiful isn't it?

I watched it earlier this year I think and I quite enjoyed it. As for comparing it to MSO, why should I?

The swearing just before Objects is a bit ridiculous imo and it does seem to highlight that Meat feels uncomfortable to me. But he gives it all he can give and his performance of Bat did almost bring me to tears.

I never bought the live CD that was released. I think the only time I heard any of that was when someone played it at the M&G in Liverpool 08.

I would probably pick up the Blu Ray if I saw it for a decent price. Usually it enhances the sound quality a lot I find.

Interesting that 67% equates to a D+ in Wario's world. I always thought 60 to 70% was a B.

[robgomm]

Originally Posted by Mr. Happy

This DVD is terrible. Meat's not well, the vocals are off 90% of the time, he's not enjoying it, there's no atmosphere and the editing is terrible. The vocals in particular let the DVD down, they're unquestionably some of the worst to have ever been released anywhere, to the point that some songs rival the performances from the early 80s. Bad for Good has some glaringly obvious flaws that could have been easily fixed by the smallest editing. As Wario pointed out, the studio vocals on the chorus of Blind as a Bat are a bit annoying. And, one stupid little thing that has annoyed me since I got it, is that you can't access the Seize the Night performance from the menu. I know that's an almost petty complaint, but it's really, really frustrating! D:

With that said though, this is the best arrangement Objects and Rock and Roll Dreams have ever seen, in my opinion. And despite the amount of crap she gets from time to time, I honestly don't mind Aspen. I'd prefer Patti, but I don't really have an issue with what Aspen did on this tour :P

I can't believe you said that I really can't. I couldn't disagree more, I thought a lot of the vocals were good and fine, to say it's that bad is insulting to be honest. You're entitled to your opinion I know but that's made me cross. It's rubbish that the vocals are off 90% of the time.

[Monstro]

Originally Posted by amandanoa

I so went to the Melbourne concert after the one that was recorded (he did 2 in Melbourne that year) - it was awesome! - the whole orchestra and dancers and the atmosphere and the extra effects - just awesome.

I thought it was recorded over both nights

[stretch37]

Originally Posted by robgomm

I can't believe you said that I really can't. I couldn't disagree more, I thought a lot of the vocals were good and fine, to say it's that bad is insulting to be honest. You're entitled to your opinion I know but that's made me cross. It's rubbish that the vocals are off 90% of the time.

I agree with you. To say that it is bad is an insult - to say you don't like the vocals is fine.

No, 3 bats live is not on par with MSO. There is no contest.

Even though this was at the worst time ever in Meat's career, I enjoy it for a few reasons.

1) Meat sings as if its the last concert he'll ever perform. He sings hard and even though his voice was having issues, he still shows that he can tear through those songs with some stamina and raw strength.

2) Love Objects, and Mercury blues and Gimme shelter are good, along with black betty. I used to listen to frying pan and bat a lot too, they're powerful if your in the right mood. I find when Im in the mood that I just need to get something done, even if its not perfect, I need to have that work ethic that comes from the depth of my soul - I'll listen to 3 bats songs.

3) Aspen is hot as ~~~~

[Wario]

Originally Posted by AndrewG

Interesting that 67% equates to a D+ in Wario's world. I always thought 60 to 70% was a B.

School wise, and how i grade:

0% - 59% = F
60% - 63% = D-
64% - 66% = D
67% - 69% = D+
70% - 73% = C-
74% - 76% = C
77% - 79% = C+
80% - 83% = B-
84% - 86% = B
87% - 89% = B+
90% - 93% = A-
94% - 96% = A
97% - 100% = A+

Originally Posted by Monstro

I thought it was recorded over both nights

It was. Paradise uses both nights, Two Out of Three and FCOL were filmed on separate nights, and Frying Pan was filmed on a separate night to FCOL. And looking at the pictures in the DVD booklet, meat's wearing a different vest.

[chairboys]

Originally Posted by Wario

School wise, and how i grade:

0% - 59% = F
60% - 63% = D-
64% - 66% = D
67% - 69% = D+
70% - 73% = C-
74% - 76% = C
77% - 79% = C+
80% - 83% = B-
84% - 86% = B
87% - 89% = B+
90% - 93% = A-
94% - 96% = A
97% - 100% = A+

Any chance of an E between D and F??

[AndyK]

Originally Posted by chairboys

Any chance of an E between D and F??

That's Wario pselling for you

[chairboys]

Originally Posted by AndyK

That's Wario pselling for you

I guess it's F for Fail. But logically it should be E next. I won't lose any sleep over it. I'll try not too. In fact I'm off to bed in a moment. Time will tell.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrgh !!!

[amandanoa]

Originally Posted by Monstro

I thought it was recorded over both nights

I understand it was just the one as he did talk about recording the previous concert.

[Evil One]

Originally Posted by amandanoa

I understand it was just the one as he did talk about recording the previous concert.

Both Melbourne concerts were recorded and combined into the DVD.

[amandanoa]

Originally Posted by Evil One

Both Melbourne concerts were recorded and combined into the DVD.

Oops - I stand corrected - apologies

[Monstro]

Originally Posted by amandanoa

Oops - I stand corrected - apologies

No problem, guess we know someone who'll be frame by frame watching it to spot themselves in the audience lol. Check out the ring on his finger next time you watch it, depending on which nights recording they used it's on different hand.

[Wario]

Theres no E in the grading system in the US

[amandanoa]

Originally Posted by Monstro

No problem, guess we know someone who'll be frame by frame watching it to spot themselves in the audience lol. Check out the ring on his finger next time you watch it, depending on which nights recording they used it's on different hand.

lol yes - it's set for a very close watch today. It's cooler now that I know I saw some of the orignals

[CarylB]

Originally Posted by AndrewG

Hindsight is a beautiful thing isn't it?

I watched it earlier this year I think and I quite enjoyed it. As for comparing it to MSO, why should I?

Agree on both points. I didn't think Meat looked particularly comfortable in some of the promotional appearances for Bat 3, but every concert I went to he gave it his all. I wished they'd recorded and released the RAH because he was just singing his ass off that night .. but I enjoy the DVD Please Sir is grading .. and I see no use personally in comparing it to the MSO. Each gives me pleasure to watch.

I'm also sorry that Meat didn't enjoy any of the process surrounding Bat 3, but I loved the album when it came out, and despite his feelings about it, that doesn't change my loving it and still enjoying it, nor do I think he'd expect me to .. he's a professional and put all he had into it as he always does. For me he's doing some of his very best work now .. but that doesn't stop me appreciating still what has gone before.

Caryl

[amandanoa]

Originally Posted by Monstro

No problem, guess we know someone who'll be frame by frame watching it to spot themselves in the audience lol. Check out the ring on his finger next time you watch it, depending on which nights recording they used it's on different hand.

That was a totally awesome trip down memory lane - what amazing concerts they were. I watched the ring - he's quite the magician as it changed hands in the middle of Paradise lol. By watching the ring it does seem that quite a lot of the dvd is from the second show that I was at - now that's cool lol.