Bat Out Of Hell 3

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

OK, anybody ponied up the $10 yet to listen to Meatloafs (Mr. Loaf?) 3rd flying motorbike & giant bat album yet? Is it as bad as it should be? Is it worth getting? Should I run away and forget it was ever pressed?

I really liked Bat out of hell 2: back into, but maybe thats just because I smoked way too much pot in highscool.

 

[Nomo]

Bat out of Hell is still a great album to me. I'd put it in my top 20.
Bat 2, I passed on. I heard parts of it a few times. Maybe I didn't give it enough time. Maybe.
Bat 3? It's just gotta be bad. Doesn't it?

Is Jim Steinman involved in this one? That would be it's only saving grace.
He's the only thing that set the first album apart from some of the other MeatLoaf releases.

 

[MDS]

I only recently picked up II. At first I thought it was just so-so but as the songs come on randomly playing in WinAmp on my computer, I find that I like some of them more and more. Definitely not as good as the original Bat out of Hell, but not bad.

Why don't you buy III and let all of us know whether it's worth buying or not.

 

[Geno]

Notes from Mr. Curmudgeon

Guess Mr.Loaf is an acquired taste - one that I've never acquired. I bought the first album way back when, listened to it once, just not my cup o'tea, I guess. Can't imagine this kind of stuff having much of a life these days.

 

[stratman]

Guess Mr.Loaf is an acquired taste - one that I've never acquired. I bought the first album way back when, listened to it once, just not my cup o'tea, I guess. Can't imagine this kind of stuff having much of a life these days.

I agreeeee big time. I'm all Meatloafed out (Rocky Horror Picture show anyone?) since the late 70's. No mo' please. Overweight rockers that sweat like greased pigs, nah.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I still like the original, and II was decent. I really didn't like III at all.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Why don't you buy III and let all of us know whether it's worth buying or not.

The local Wal*Mart had it in the $9.72 rack. So I picked it up (Hey, its cheaper than a combo at Quiznos). So far I've only been able to hear it with a very poor set-up (CD -> Apple AAC 320kbs -> FM transmitor -> Stock Ford van speakers), and I'll be sure to listen to it a few more times before I write up a thorough review.

1st impressions: Recording quality pretty good. Actually contains dynamic range. Musically leans towards theatric (which we expect from Mr.Loaf). Jim Steinman is credited with songwriting, but wasn't involved with the recording itself citing legal issues (according to the Allmusicguide). I certainly found it more enjoyable than 1/2 the '50 best' albums I bought blind on Pitchforks suggestion.

But like I said, I'll be sure to spin it a few more times and give a write-up in a week or so.

 

[deftech]

Press release; dateline june 14th, 2023... meatloaf releases "bat out of hell 13 today."

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

I was in a Navy barracks next to a guy who, I swear as God is my witness, owned only one freaking album -- BOOH, and he played it at full-volume day and night. I had to do battle with Black Sabbath to drown him out.

To this day I develop this massive facial tick and start humming "Children of the Grave" as loud as I can whenever "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" comes on the radio.

 

[jonnythan]

The Esteemed Mr. Erlewine's take, excerpted from Allmusic.com's review of the album:

"As the album's fall 2006 release date approached, Steinman took Meat Loaf to court over the record -- after all, not only had he written the Bat Out of Hell albums, but he owned the copyright to the phrase, so Meat needed permission in order to release the record. Permission was eventually granted in an out-of-court settlement, paving the way for the October 2006 release of Bat Out of Hell III, a record that had many Steinman songs but in no way features his involvement in the recording or production of the album. And, boy, is his absence ever felt! His presence looms large over the record -- quite obviously on the songs he wrote, but the very aesthetic of the album is copied wholesale from his blueprints -- yet it's the ways that Bat III is different, both big and small, that points out who is missing at this party.

....

jarring shifts in tone are common throughout The Monster Is Loose, not just as it moves from song to song, but within the tunes themselves, as Child's compositions chase after the grandeur of Steinman's work yet bare all the marks of a professional who is playing a game without bothering to learn the rules. The same is true for the very sound of Bat III. Although original Bat producer Todd Rundgren adds some necessary pomp with his vocal arrangements, the album is at once too heavy and too clinical, lacking the gaudy, gonzo soul that made Bat Out of Hell irresistible camp. It's a brightly lit mess, but there is one redeeming factor here and that's Meat Loaf, who is singing his heart out as he valiantly tries to make this Bat a worthy successor to the originals. That he fails is not the fault of his individual performance; it's the fault of botched execution. Perhaps if he were teamed up with a Steinman who was ready to play, they could have turned Bat Out of Hell III into something special, but going it alone, Meat Loaf was missing a crucial element of what made his Bat albums magic. It's like Harrison Ford shooting a fourth Indiana Jones without Steven Spielberg's direction."