UPDATE: I am mistaken. The WAV file is the full version of the song, the MP3 is the "single version." So, uh, score one for higher-quality audio fans! Consider the hi-res "single edit" MP3 of "Bat" a bonus track.

Quick listen through the samples, and have to say is certainly different! Better than Tyce Greens take on the songs, as Caleb does have a much stronger voice.and having the NLE playing on the songs helps a lot as well. Think I'l wait till I've had a chance to see the show, If and When it comes to the UK before paying for this, but would say, for what it is, it's better than I expected!

BAT
 

I like this a lot, it's been on repeat all morning. I'm not comparing it with the musical (epic and different), nor with Tyce (something very different which I thought was a decent job in many cases) nor Meat himself (legend) but this is a perfect 'studio' version of what the NLE has provided for years in support of Meat with an extremely competent vocalist in his own right. There are some lovely arrangements, consistent with the stage shows and the playing is excellent (I do like that all songs 'finish' rather than fade. It's particularly nice to see Steve Buslowe back playing bass. Tom Brislin also contributes so it has a nod to the longevity of the NLE. Will definitely go and see if it comes to the UK

Yes, Paul has pointed out that words used on the page about editing BOOH are specific to the mp3 ONLY.

The album download includes:

- All the songs in Hi Rez WAV format.
- Artwork
- The buyer also receives all the songs in Hi quality MP3 format. This is where BAT has needed to be edited. ONLY THE MP3 is edited.


The Hi Rez wave contains the full version of BAT

I have now bought the new Bat-album to support Paul Crook and his project, but the download are sadly more than painfully slow... :(

You're getting two versions of the album for the price of one in the highest possible quality. (I believe the whole zipped file is 550 MB, somewhere in that range.) The good news is, two for the price of one! The bad news is, if your Internet connection's not the best, it's gonna be a bit of a slog.

I have a very fast Internet-connection, so the problem is certainly not at my end.

The download speed is between 50 and 90 kbit/sec. That's extremely slow.

Paul and his team should definitely do something about this.

What kind of connection do you have? I've got fiber-optic, and it took -- at most -- five minutes yesterday.

Fiberoptic 100 Mbps.

The download should take a minute or two. Instead it takes 2-3 hours.

No news on UK dates yet. Last I herd dates for UK was coming out 25 July

That was the info given by the promoter .. but sadly that fell through. Paul says they will not be touring the UK this year, but in the USA this autumn .. and I think perhaps the early months of 2019. But they still hope to tour in the UK .. so perhaps later next year? But currently no dates planned.

Thanks carly for info.i did get a text from Paul crook saying promoter. Took it as far as he could for UK.

Seems very odd though unless they plan on trying to release it to radio or as a single edit or something. Still you can always convert the wav to mp3.

That's what I ultimately did; thankfully, the newest version of Audacity makes it possible to get a similarly hi-res result.

"format requirements" could also suggest technical limitations for MP3 files imposed by the website. The full length Bat would have been over 25MB as an MP3, and perhaps the music player on the website does not support that.

True. Nice work on the discography page, by the way! Got that up in a hurry.

Well I have only had a chance to listen to it on my phone speaker so far... So not what you'd call HiFi... but my initial impression is that they have done a superb job. The backing tracks sound great and have better clarity and oomph than Bat itself (someone please do a full remaster on it please? Failing that put Meats vocals on these tracks). Anyway where was I?

Oh yes Caleb has a superb rock slightly bluesy slightly metal voice. While he doesn't put the level of drama and emotion into it that Meat does (let's be honest, who does?) He brings a fresh and energetic take to the songs that I think is welcome.

Can't wait to listen to it in the car.

And before anyone casts me aside as a sinner, the stereo in my new Fiesta is a factory fit 675 watt 10 speaker Bang and Olufsen unit with 360° sound and sub woofer.

It kicks ass and I know this cd will too.

I mean, in theory, one could... we do have the isolated vocal tracks from the SACD floating around, and Caleb's vocals do seem to be mostly panned to center channels... this could be an easy job in Audacity. Test mix, anyone?

Thanks. That's the beauty of being a web developer, you can sneak in some side-projects during work hours. Code is code. ;-)

This is really disappointing.
Not only are you betraying the trust of your employer so now my admiration for you has rocketed

Oh, lighten up. It's an illusion to think you can be focused on only your job for eight hours straight in *any* creative business anyway. If doing something else for a small amount of time helps you recharge/focus/whatever, go for it.

As long as he gets his work done who cares. :roll:

Lol to be clear though my preference is for a remaster of Bat haha.

I can confirm it rocks on a good stereo though.

Just had a listen through a proper stereo instead of my laptop and this album is really well arranged. Love the piano and background vocals. Caleb is very good if you go in not expecting Meat Loaf. His voice is fine, but Meat always had that song interpretation that was always conveying the feeling, emotion and little nuances he uses. I could do without the baseball part of Paradise honestly, but I guess many consider that integral to the song. Lacks in Jim's "lascivious effects" though. This is a quite good remake or reimagining or whatever you want to call it.

I bought the album, too and I like it very much. There is one thing that bothers me though. The drum sound is very clinical. It's missing some warmth, density and reverb. i am no studio engineer and I really have no idea how to achieve that. But there is something missing.

Having said that - I would love to hear more music in that style from Caleb in the future. He brings a little more soul to the songs (Meaning the musical style, not the soul itself. Meat has a lot of that). The band is great here, too. I love all the little deviations from the original album. Those really make the album worth buying.

Chops to everyone involved!