Your Current Thoughts on MSO

[Wario]

With the Sydney 2011 DVD just around the corner, I thought Id take a trip down memory lane with one of the best live DVDs ever released ever: Meat Loaf live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Guess You'll just have to read through to see how much I praise this sucker.

I guess I'll do my Wario thing and dissect it song by song and give my views on each of the 13 performances on the disk. Plus the three extra tracks.

Life Is A Lemon 9.0/10



I wish this could've been Lemon's swan song. The introduction with the drums is awesome and Meat is really in great spirits. This is my third favorite Lemon after Cardiff 1993 and the Hard Rock Live (fake storytellers) version. Love the angle and devil bit too.

Mercury 9.5/10



Mercury Blues has been overplayed live, but this was the second time i heard it when i got this disk 9the first being on CHSIB) and i loved every second of it. I love the middle finger and guitar solos. The drum and synth solos are my favorite parts, and Meat just rocks this puppy outta the park. The Sydney version will have to g oa long way to try and top this. Forget this being the best mercury blues cover out there, its one of Meat and the band's finest performances to date! One note: It doesnt work as good listening to just the audio.

Dead Ringer 10/10



Dead Ringer was Dead On. Meat and Patti were soaking it up, the trumpets sounded great, and most of all: VICTORIAN BITTER! Yeah, this is my favorite DRFL to date. This may change if the extra CD on Sydney holds an even better version, but this one's hard to top. One of Meat and Patti's finest moments.

Testify 9/10



The Australian boys Choir sounded great, he band was great, Meat was really good, and the passion soaked through once again. The only reason why this isn't 10/10 is the obvious studio vocals included. If they were to overdub meat, just have him sing those vocals live again in the studio, don't use the CD track. But other then that small detraction, this performance is great. Its still an awesome performance and much prefer this to the studio version.

All Revved Up 8/10



In my humble opinion, this was probably the weakest song of the night. That's not saying a lot since he still sounds really good. The dancers were pretty neat and Meat was really into it, but i felt the arrangement wasnt that great. The signature riff isn't repeated twice which is a bummer and the beer bottle in meat's hand at the start disappears. I guess the editor cut the audience banter. That's sad, I love his audience banter. Other then a few editing flaws, its nothing real special but it was still a great performance.

Took The Words 10/10



This alone is worth the price of the DVD. The first song to utilize the full orchestra and oh my god they are amazing. Everything is orchestrated perfectly, AUDIENCE BANTER IS IN FULL SWING (thank you mr. editor for not cutting this out), and Meat sounds uber amazing. Some criticize Meat for cutting the second verse, but cutting it makes the flow of the song better and picks up the pace. What works on a record doesnt always work on stage. Some songs on the other hand cant afford their second verse getting cut (coughLEMONcough). Fantastic performance. ARE YOU READY TO SING???!!!

CHSIB 9.5/10



My favorite duet by Meat and Patti on the DVD. Meat sounds really Good, Patti's amazing, and CHSIB rings out loud and clear. Just like Testify, though, some CD studio vocals leaked in. Still a phenomenal performance and Meat and Patti sold the song. Far superior to its studio counterpart. Ashame the editor decided to cut Meat's speech at the beginning.

Two Out Of Three 10/10



My second favorite Two Out Of Three after the Hudson theater version. Perfect doesn't even begin to describe this. The orchestra is fantastic, Paul proves he's one of the ten best guitarists that have ever lived, and Meat is pitch perfect and spot on. I love the shot of him sitting on the drum mast. Its compositioned beautifully. Wished he stayed on the mast instead of moving onto the stool. Total awesomeness

Frying Pan 10/10 (If i could do 11/10 I would)



The single greatest performance on the DVD, in my opnion. Meat rocks it out, the band is exceptional, the crowd is awesome ("take me!!!!!!"), and the passion Meat puts into this can only be rivaled by God himself. Meat is on top form and the DVD only goes uphill from here.Thank you mr. editor for not cutting the audience banter for this track as well.

4 little words: BEST. FRYING. PAN. EVER.

For Crying Out Loud (10/10)



Before this DVD, what did most fans say they always wanted to hear Meat perform?
Was it Objects? maybe.
It Just Won't Quit? possibly.
Surf's Up? Only the die hard would even utter that song title.

But the one I'm thing of is this ~~~~~~; FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Oh boy did the audience get a curve ball, and what a curve ball indeed. Meat introduced it as the first [full] performance of the track since 1978. No FCOL can ever touch this golden performance. The orchestra is beautiful, Meat sounds so passionate, and Mark Alexander sounds really good. The standing O was well deserved.

Paradise 10/10



Simply fantastic. Meat and Patti do what they do best and its fun as hell to watch. Meat dawns his "Peice of the Action" jacket while Patti dawns a blonde wig and leather jacket. What follows is thirteen minutes of the very definition of "Rock Opera" followed by a funny band introduction subtitled with funny remarks. The Editor's a funny man.

Anything For Love 10/10



My third favorite AFL after the Cardiff 1993 and NOTP versions. This version is exceptional. Meat sounds really really good, the orchestra is ridiculous, and Patti, as always, is on top of her game. Only small complaint is a wish they used the intro arrangement used during Night of the proms. Fantastic performance.

Bat Out Of Hell 10/10



Oh my god. a Meat Loaf concert without Bat Out Of Hell is like a jelly donout without the jelly. Meta delivered his signature song with passion, intensity, and a powerful voice. He sounded so so so so so so good. Meat rocked this sucker to the moon and the orchestra followed suit. Fantastic finale. Just fantastic.

I still think to this day the set could've had one more song. He said on the commentary "Forever Young" was not performed, so that would probably mean the show wouldve finaled with "We are Family" if that went ahead as planned. Ah well.

Now for the extra tracks.........

Heaven Can Wait 8/10

This was exclusive to the CD. Its really nothing too special, just Meat snging the studio arrangement of Heaven Can Wait with the MSO. Not the best HCW out there, but meat sounds good, the orchestra is great and piano is stellar. My personal favorite HCW with an orchestra is the Pavoratti and Friends version.

Rock & Roll Dreams 7/10

Found on the digipack CD, this Doesn't have the "fake finale" factor later incarnations had and the arrangement isn't too different to the storytellers version. Meat sounds good, but I cant help but feel its missing something. The orchestra, at least from what I hear, is barley present.

I'd Lie For You 8.5/10

Found on the digipack CD and as a B side to "Cry over Me", The strongest track of the extra tracks. This song turned out really good, sans the omission of the second verse for whatever reason. The orchestra sounds really good and Meat and Patti put their all into a fantastic sound check. Ashame this never made it into the actual show. But I wouldn't see where it could fit either.

On the special feature disk it shows brief footage of the charts for Did I Say That. Also Midnight, Lawyers, and Do it were on a temp set list seen there as well. Its a crime DIST wasn't put on the digipack CD as an audio only exclusive instead of DRFL.

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

Overall, the DVD is a fantastic watch. A Greta stoking stuffer for a newbie Meat loaf fan and a great thing to watch when you're in the mood. Highly recommended.

Sydney has some big shoes to fill

Packaging is good, could have used original artwork instead of rehashing the VBO cover.

OVERALL: 125/130 = 96% + 23.5/30 = 78% (Extra Tracks) + 6% (Cinematography, lighting, and Boxart) = 180% (A++++)

[AndyK]

Originally Posted by Wario

followed by a funny band introduction subtitled with funny remarks. The Editor's a funny man.

The remarks appeared on the big screens at the concerts throughout the CHSIB tour and changed fairly frequently from what I remember.

Indeed, a shame a recording of DIST didn't make it to the release somewhere, there was an orchestration for it at least, although I don't remember seeing it appear in a set list for any of the shows with the MSO.

[robgomm]

LOL wasn't this the tour when wherever they went Meat introduced Randy as 'from your town' LMAO. That was so funny.

MSO was sung as if it was going to Meats last ever show, I know he always gives it his all but this seemed to be something extra special, my Wife has always said the orchestra added something very special to the songs, it was just so wonderfully done all the way through.

Best Meat Loaf concert i've ever seen released so far.

[chairboys]

Wario.
You could sell water to the oceans. Once I have picked up the children from school that is going on. I was excited about listening to HIAH for the first time but I think this could surpass that.
You were never going to give it an E then ?

[TheDoode]

For Crying Out Loud is incredible here. I think the sitting down and just singing thing really works for Meat. As for Frying Pan, it's really good, but I prefer earlier versions where Meat takes the last lyric of every line in the first verse up, instead of down.

[chairboys]

Originally Posted by TheDoode

For Crying Out Loud is incredible here .

Absolutely. The rarity value, the orchestra, and being captured for prosterity.
Does anything eclipse that moment?

[Deena J]

My favorite part of MSO was Meat's commentary ----interesting, hilarious, just plain fun! In fact I watch that more than the main concert itself; and since MSO is my favorite Meat Loaf DVD concert anyway, that's saying something!!!!!

[Cherry.Loaf]

Absolutely love it; that was the first time I'd ever heard Paradise and it's still my favourite version. I love Meat doing the commentary I hope they do that on the Oz dvd

[Evil One]

The atmosphere of this DVD is so much better than that of 3 Bats.

Meat seemed slightly out of sync with everyone else for the majority of Lemon, but by the start of Mercury Blues and for most of the concert it was all spot on. I think he ran out of puff after Paradise though.

I'm not keen on that arrangement of Paradise.

There's a very poor edit between Frying Pan and For Crying Out Loud.

Two Out Of Three seems slightly louder than the rest of the show.

For Crying Out Loud, Frying Pan, Testify and Mercury Blues are definitely the highlights of the DVD for me.

The extra Rock And Roll Dreams is pretty poor. I suspect it wasn't actually recorded in Melbourne, but taken from the soundboard of another show.

Overall it gets a big . It's the best Meat DVD release so far, but then there's not a lot of competition.

[melon]

MSO is my Fave, followed closely by Storytellers.

MSO was the first Meat concert DVD I owned, but Storytellers has a special thing for me because it was the first time I had seen any live stuff of his.

[glamourgirl]

Originally Posted by melon

MSO is my Fave, followed closely by Storytellers.

Same here. But I wish they would release the History of Meat Loaf Live and Live in the Neighborhood (Beacon Theater show) on dvd. Those would probably be my favorites.

MSO is a phenomenal show. My one complaint is the way the cameramen/editors disrupt Meat and Patti's chemistry during the duets by breaking away from them to some obscure shot that serves no purpose.

The Guilty Pleasures dvd might be favorite, especially if they include some bonus video footage of DRFL and SOM from the UK tour.

[robgomm]

Hey has anyone seen this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meat-Loaf-Li...426196&sr=1-39

[Evil One]

Originally Posted by robgomm

Hey has anyone seen this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meat-Loaf-Li...426196&sr=1-39

Yes. Great concert, but a very poor quality release.

[robgomm]

Originally Posted by Evil One

Yes. Great concert, but a very poor quality release.

Oh. What's poor about it then? Is it worth picking up a copy?

[Evil One]

Originally Posted by robgomm

Oh. What's poor about it then? Is it worth picking up a copy?

Imagine you recorded something off the telly many years ago on VHS, then stored the tape in a dusty room, before you transferred it to DVD and then expected people to pay money for it. That's pretty much what you'll get. It's a shame because the concert itself is very good and it's a nice glimpse of Meat's early years, but the quality of the audio in particular is very poor. I have bootlegs of similar shows in far better quality. And the US release only has five songs.

Here's Bat Out Of Hell:

YouTube Video

You Took The Words:

YouTube Video

and Two Out Of Three:

YouTube Video

[Wario]

Originally Posted by robgomm

Oh. What's poor about it then? Is it worth picking up a copy?

The Reigon 1 releases omits Johnny B. Goode (due to north American licensing with Chuck Berry) and River Deep (due to North American rights issues with Phil Spector and the glorifying of his name in the DVD since hes now convicted of murder), audio peaks and distorts at times, the band is mixed really awfully, Paradise couldve been shortened somewhat, and overall it has a "bootleg" feel to it. Its worth picking up under ten bucks and if its region 2. I have a region free player, so the omissions don't effect me.

[Paul Richardson]

MSO is amazing. Love Dead Ringer and All Revved Up especially. Bat and AFL not so good - Meat appears exhausted.

[Wario]

Originally Posted by Paul Richardson

Bat and AFL not so good - Meat appears exhausted.

Really? Seems into both songs to me.

[Evil One]

Originally Posted by Wario

Really? Seems into both songs to me.

He certainly tries, but has very little left to give.

[robgomm]

To be honest I thought AFL was sung really weakly, it's one of the weakest versions i've heard, everything else is awesome.

[Ollie241189]

This DVD AND the Original Bat Out Of Hell DVD are, to me (a Meat Loaf fanatic) are fantastic DVDs and well worth every penny you will spend on them

[Evil One]

For some reason the above comment has really got on my knackers. Does it make me less of a fan because I'm not willing to overlook any flaws?

[Paul Richardson]

Originally Posted by Ollie241189

This DVD AND the Original Bat Out Of Hell DVD are, to me (a Meat Loaf fanatic) are fantastic DVDs and well worth every penny you will spend on them

Rockpalast is a good performance but the quality of the recording, both audio and visual, is shocking.

Its filmed virtually in darkness, and has hardly any atmosphere from the audience.

Its a curiousity at best because so little exists from 77 / 78. The official release got rid of the timer, but improved little else over the bootleg version.

[Ollie241189]

Originally Posted by Evil One

For some reason the above comment has really got on my knackers. Does it make me less of a fan because I'm not willing to overlook any flaws?

No, not at all. It wasn't meant like that either! I can pick flaws with it but because I'm an avid Meat Load fan like many people on here, to me, it's like gold dust and I treasure it!

I didn't mean any offence by it, just putting my opinion across

[melon]

Originally Posted by Ollie241189

No, not at all. It wasn't meant like that either! I can pick flaws with it but because I'm an avid Meat Load fan like many people on here, to me, it's like gold dust and I treasure it!

I didn't mean any offence by it, just putting my opinion across

I don't think Evil was talking about yours, you may have both posted at the same time.

Now, MSO.... I think Ima watch it now lol, all this talk of it has got me craving it!