You played violin too! I played violin when I was growing up, and I felt the same way about the instrument. Imo, violin sounds a bit too weepy for Meat's music. I think cello might have been a better fit. There are 2 guys, The 2 Cellos, who create the most awesome rock arrangments of songs like GNR's Welcome to the Jungle.

I was thinking the same thing. I loved Pat's guitar solo on Two out of Three during the Bat 2 tour. It would be interesting to see what Randy and Paul could do.

I thought they nailed Two Out Of Three and Paradise perfectly on the MMW tour, not too long but not cut down. I would like to see those arrangements kept, although I would have preferred the guitar solo have been edited off the CD mainly because I play the CD in the car (which is mainly where I still use CD these days) and there I just want the songs. I do like the edits on Took the Words and Two Out of Three on the CD.

I mostly listen to cds in my car too. I would have preferred RNR Dreams on the cd over Two Out of Three.

I agree about the arrangements on the Mad, Mad World tour. The instrumentals didn't seem so long on the MMW tour, so the show had a better flow. And Paradise on the MMW tour was perfection with their Staying Alive dance. I didn't get the fairytale characters in the song on the dvd. I would have much rather seen Meat and Patti dancing on their "date".

Agreed. When I ripped the CD to my phone the song titles were about half incorrect and I think it labeled one song as R&R Dreams incorrectly. I had to go in and relabel the songs to the correct titles. I wonder if another couple of minor edits would have made room for LOTO? Maybe cut the solo before Two Out of Three and the spoken intros to the HCTB songs. I enjoy the violin part but it plays better to me on video than as driving around music. Still not complaining, for the most part I like the edits made on the CD. It sounds great.

Well, some of you feared it, but here comes my review of the DVD (not listened to the CD yet)

But don't be affraid. Overall I'm pleased with the DVD. Still I gotta point out some of the things that stuck with me. Some good some bad. I will start with the bad because it's better to have a good ending ;)

My review contains two things. The production of the DVD as brought to us by ConcertOne and the concert itself. So the first part will be the production (again, I start with the stuff I disliked):

-------------------------------------------
The DVD quality screams: CHEAP CHEAP!
Wow, this is one of the worst produced concerts I've ever seen. There is so many things wrong with what ConcertOne trashed on us, that I almost have no clue where to start... but the lack of a DTS track is ridiculous!

How can you release a concert DVD, shout out that you used all sorts of HD cameras and dump a dolby stereo and DD5.1 only one the disc?! Every decent concert deserves a DTS track. It's the best sound you can provide on a DVD and ConcertOne decided to completely screw the audio fans by ignoring this. SHAME ON YOU!

Then there is the terrible picture quality. HD camera's? I bet they were, but something must have went wrong converting it to DVD. There is so many background noise I lost count. It looked like contrast issues combined with compression faults. But not on all camera angles. Just on a few which makes the video presentation of this disc look cheap. As if nobody bothered to check the video we are stuffed with rather poor quality. 8 years after Melbourne you expect to get better picture quality (which on the Melbourne DVD was outstanding).

Then there was the editing. Sjeeezzzzz, apart from occasional poor shot selections there was so much wrong with the editing it denied me to enjoy the concert experience. Although it made me chuckle when Meat Loaf anounced the quality of Justin and the shot zoomed in on Randy. The editor of this DVD didn't care, it seems.

During camera switches it was also painful clear that the end producer knows nothing of color and contrast adjustment as shots were completely incosistent and sometimes the same scene from different angles had 3 different color contrast moments. Wow talk about amateurism:shock:

Finally, I know I complained about the way the concert was lit. The lightning on the concert, I said, was poor. I take that back.I think the light could have worked if the camera guys weren't completely incompetent. I wonder if these folks ever filmed a concert before because it was a complete mess (the editing of course didn't help either)

ConcertOne, and I can't say it differently, completely messed the production of the DVD up. They present themselves as the new autority on Concerts but they have a very long way to go.

As for positive things, I couldn't find any except that some of the editing showed how energetic the show was

Bad: NO DTS
Bad: Video Quality
Bad: Editing

Score 2/10 (and I'm being generous)

---------------------
The Concert then. First the bad, but you will be happy I have more positive things about the concert than negative :D

What is wrong with Australia? First Melbourne and now Sydney.... Do you get the concert people out of their bodybags before putting them in seats? DEAD CROWD! Annoying as hell to see a bunch of non-moving people in the crowd. With the exception of twenty-something people. Cudos to them but the rest were a disgrace to be at a rock concert. Even when Meat tried to start them up 75% stayed unmoved. I even had the feeling that Meat made his Steinman statement (If Jim was on the front seat right now, he would be on his feet for these guys) to point out how terribly silent they were all being. Bleh.

Then there is Sits. I dislike the song and live it wasn't any better. Besides when that rap-nobody entered on the screen it was amood killer for me. I still don't get what makes that guy any good in the eyes of others. Oh well, I'll skip it.

Paradise was at times boring. The intro talk was way too long, the rave was out of place and the final talk about crying women was dragging. The song is long enough as it is and either play it as it is or make sure you have an act that is actually interacting. One of the less live version of Paradise that I've seen sofar. That said, as a Dutchman I had to chuckle on the 'Holland Tulip' remarks. Btw, the way the F*ck You's are overdubbed by the sax is too sad to be true

And finally, the echo-surrogate stuff sounded cheap and didn't fit the show. Whoever came up with that idea...


Now for the goods. I must say I was so enjoyed by the quality (or lack of it) that it almost spoiled the show to me. But luckily Meat Loaf saved the day!

So where to begin. Well I'm happy Meat decided to overdub some parts of the vocals. Meat sounds strong and entertaining!

Then there is this incredible band who do him justice in both their musical talents as their stage presence. The band is very wel choreographed and the fun, interaction and quality are impossible to miss.

Meat is energetic as well and his stage presence is fantastic. If the BAT DVD had a Meat Loaf half as good as he is on this show, Bat would have been a very good concert. That is how fantastic Meat is on this one!

R&R Dreams was incredible and the intro arrangment to Anything for Love was amazing! What a way to start that song. Two big highlights for me.

Then there was the Piano/Violin duel between Ginny and Justin. What a musical spectacle that was. Very entertaining!

So in the end the concert comes to this:

Bad: Dead Crowd (I hope they were put back in their bodybags)
Bad: Sits (I just don't like the song)
Bad: Echo effect
Bad: Paradise was dragging

Good: Dubs
Good: Meat Loaf
Good: Neverland Express
Good: Stage Presence
Good: R&R Dreams (one of the highlights for me)
Good: Intro AFL
Good: Violin vs Piano
Good: Entire show setup

Show score: 9/10

End Result: 5.5/10

If ConcertOne hadn't pissed me off so much with their lack of quality and the inexcusable fact that there is no DTS track this would have scored way higher. Perhaps I should review it again after watching it on an old mono b/w mini tv :twisted:



As for the Documentary... Disc filler in my eyes. I had prefered if they had leave this (also badly produced -which isn't saying anything about the content, which you may or may not like) documentary out so they could use the free space to increase the picture and sound (DTS) quality.

But it's plain obvious to me that ConcertOne doesn't care about music fans at all. They should be ashamed of themselves and if they have any respect for the fans they donate every penny they earn to charity. Because with what they presented us they don't deserve to make money on it!


Thank You Meat loaf for a great concert. If you ever do one again I hope you hve WarnerMusic or Sony producing it. A great concert like this deserves a great product to have it displayed on :cool:

should of been filmed in the U.K leg of the tour.

We'd have been a far more lively audience than I've seen on the DVD's. I didn't think the audience seemed that great on MSO or 3 Bats Live either.

I was there and in my defense, I was standing at the beginning but the people behind me asked me to sit down. I don't like to make a scene, especially when trying to enjoy a concert, so sat back down to keep the peace. But later when Meat told everyone to stand up because it was being filmed for a DVD, I stood up then and stayed up for the rest of the show. I was disappointed in the audience response too, and wished they had been participating more. Usually I am up the front and everyone around me is standing, but this time I was further back and no one in my section was standing. I feel a bit self conscious being the only one standing up.

Carole

Well you were part of the twenty-something I mentioned :D GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

Having been out of the loop on here for some time, I happened to be in HMV yesterday and picked up a copy of the deluxe edition for twelve quid. Really enjoyed the new compositions on the live songs, really fresh and interesting. Meat's voice, which has been such an area of criticism and postulating lately was raw but it was pleasantly good. He was giving everything he had, like he always has done and I could really feel that in the way he sang the songs. I have yet to watch the live DVD and the documentary but it was a lovely way to get my day going yesterday.

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Very good review Adje. I think Meat and the band did great. The rest is as you say. We get shots of people sitting with their arms folded and over the shoulder of someone recording on his cell phone and the parts that are far too "blue". I think filming without a wash light was a bold move and unfortunately it did not work out quite as well as I would have liked, but overall I am pleased with it also. I wonder if the swear words were covered over to avoid having to get a rating classification, especially with it being released in multiple countries with different standards?

I have to agree with Adje about the editing. I didn't like how they switched scenes so quickly, sometimes it was just a blur to me. So many times it was a shot of a random band member just standing there, when someone else was actually singing or playing. But there was great energy by Meat, Patti, and the band and great vocals by Meat and Patti and great music from the band.

The documentary is poorly produced, and I'm confused why Meat praises all the other band members but says nothing about Patti. Instead of this "documentary", I wish they had filmed some extra songs during soundcheck/rehearsals...Dead Ringer For Love, All of Me, Song of Madness, Bible and a Beer...That would have been a great bonus feature.

The best example of this mediocre video quality can be seen on Two Out of three.

no matter what Ive watched it on, be it on a TV, Macbook, desktop, or ipod its the same deal.

Proof, notice the quality difference between angles. The minute the dark blue lights go on the quality of certain angles gets pixelated. very pixelated. On some sets maybe less then others (due to screen size, ratios of TVs, contrast, settings, and interlace settings) but its always still there vivid and noticeable as anything.

I have physical evidence, think i photoshopped this watch two out of three aint bad again closely... its the best example:

Good compression -

http://media.mlxxfc.net/vlcsnap-2012...h45m05s103.png

then the tables turn and some shots have.... this:

http://media.mlxxfc.net/vlcsnap-2012...7h42m08s37.png

Whoever was in charge of compression... who is most likely mr. Dan Hazell (credited as the video editor), this was horrid.

Buying the US release, cause maybe these issues are fixed.

The name and shame stuff continues. After ConcertOne, the Australian audience, Paul Crook now Dan Hazell gets it I see.

A video editor is most likely not going to be in charge of video compression. I would imagine this is more likely due to rubbish DVD authoring. The original video will still be good quality as it was HD. AND in most cases this "bad compression" would be due to automated processes, much similar to chucking in a DVD in an iMac (still no RW Blu Ray drive?!) and authoring a 1080p video. Artifacts will be all over the place.

I am already surprised there is no Blu Ray but I am guessing this is simply due to costs as Blu Rays are inevitably more expensive to mass produce and author.

Singling out people seems a bit unnecessary to me and I think some of it is really misguided and misdirected in this thread as much as "off topic" my opinion on this matter might be!

Youre right andrew, but understand this compression thing is inexcusable. Im putting blame on people who would most likely be at fault. I guess i shouldnt have done that, but im proving here that its not just peoples TVs, this pixillation is on the raw ISOs and VOBs.

this couldve been easily fixed by fixing the compression and pasting the new attributes of each clip in final cut.

Or perhaps spreading all the content over two DVDs. I always think MSO would have benefitted from that too (not just the bonus but spreading the concert over two discs so perhaps that would have been a 3 disc set). But again it's a cost thing I guess. :(

Am I the only the only person who actually thinks this looks alright in both shots? Surely it's more about the sound and the performance whether the concert is good or not? I don't actually care that much about the picture quality, so what if it's SLIGHTLY worse from a distance, you can still bloody see it it! Surely that's the main thing :-)

And I disagree strongly with the criticism of the camera shots zipping about all over the place. To me this is the first concert DVD that delivers the sense of energy and excitement at a Meat Loaf concert, and it does this BY zipping the cameras about. I think whoever did the editing did a good job.

:lmao:

On your first remark: A DVD is a VIDEO disc. So to me it matters. If it wasn't about picture but only sound we'd call it a CD :cool:

As for the second remark, I stated in my review that the only thing I had to give to the editor is that he shows on occasions how energetic the show is. The fact that he switches a lot can surely make the show more exciting. What bothers me (and some others) is the choices that were made. If Meat says "Ladies and Gentleman, Mr Justin Avery on piano" and the editor pans in on Randy Flowers... that's not good editing. If some energetic, powerfull lyrics are sung and we get a shot of the back of two, almost not moving musicians with a complete blue background, that's not good editing at all. And the problem with this show is that it happened a lot. Poor shot choices is not something you want from the editor ;)

And I can't say it enough, NO DTS :evil:


@AndrewG: Spreading over 2 DVD's is a good solution. Especially the bonus content.

No you're not the only one :-) :up:

:up:

Does that appear often? Is the editing rather random in general?

Reading the posts on the fast zipping editing along with angles and energy have my interest in this DVD has peaked more. The DVD has a set list similar to 2010/2011's Hang Cool Tour w/ new arrangements it's been said, and that got me hooked to buy this DVD. But to learn that it is filmed with fast shots and new angles, Wow! For the first time since we heard about this DVD I want to see it and not just listen to it. ;) ;)