Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15839 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-15
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: DVD-Video, Live, PAL
• Subtitled in: German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 145 minutes

DVD Description
Disc one 3 Bats Live From London Ontario 1. Revved up 2mins 2. Paradise 13 mins 3. Took the Words 6 mins 4. Frying pan 10 mins 5. Lemon 7 mins 6. Anything for Love 11 mins 7. Objects 17mins 8. R&R Dreams 7mins 9. The Monster is Loose 10 mins 10. Bad for Good 6 mins 11. Break It 4 mins 12. Blind As A Bat 6mins 13. 2 out of 3 10 mins 14. Bat Out of Hell 14 mins 15. Black Betty 6 mins 16. All Coming Back to Me 6 mins 17. Mercury Blues 5 mins 18. Gimme Shelter 5 mins

Extras: All Coming Back To Me – Video Cry Over Me – Video Monster is Loose Animated Short Film

Disc Two In Search of Paradise – Tour and Career retrospective documentary (90 Mins)

Extras: Making The Monster – Making of the Bat Out Of Hell III album

Packaging: Deluxe Limited Collectors edition box includes replica tour programme, tour poster, bat shaped sticker, and guitar pic and Standard amaray.

Synopsis
Meat Loaf perfroms songs from his classic, epic rock opera trilogy of BAT OUT OF HELL albums. Includes the songs 'Anything For Love', 'Bat Out Of Hell', 'Gimme Shelter', and 15 other tracks.

Customer Reviews

Paradise almost found
The mighty voice rip-roars through the songs from the Bat trilogy with all the power of a jumbo-jet tearing down a runaway and blasting into a hell-raising takeoff. Here is another Meat Loaf performance that goes far enough to make the original studio recordings sound timid (listen out for "Objects In The Rear View Mirror", "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" and "Bat Out Of Hell").

"Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through", "You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth" and "Blind As A Bat" are amongst the songs to be missing segments - pity that they should be somewhat 'incomplete' when they are sounding this good. It doesn't really matter that Meat Loaf doesn't always hit the notes like he once did or that he survives the chorus of "Blind As A Bat" with the help of a backing track because what he does sing, when he really goes for it, is all there.

I saw this show when the tour arrived in London, England by which point "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" had found a few great gags and "I'd Do Anything For Love" had a franticly awesome new opening arrangement (all of which are not present for this show). John Miceli's drum beats are pure rock, delivered like an earth quake bulging through an intravenous drip. The cover songs at the end are fine, but if Meat had the energy (and he does) it would be nice to hear him perform his own classics, after all, he has plenty more of those that aren't included on here. The show is superbly filmed and includes plenty of sweeping camera angles and a feeling that you're up on the stage next to him. It's this intimacy that helps give this DVD an edge over the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra DVD.

Where the show flounders is where the lead female vocals come into play, and they come into play frequently. Sure the girl can sing, but she isn't Patti Russo who, after 13 years, Meat Loaf appears to have unforgivably replaced in favour of a 'newer model', prior to the release of Bat Out Of Hell III, and a mistake that no amount of on-stage pyrotechnics can compensate for. Maybe Patti Russo was just too good. Russo is why I'll favour the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra DVD, and her absence here is my main reason for giving this DVD four stars and not five.

The bonus DVD is a fly on the wall documentary of the few weeks leading up to the show in London, Ontario and compliments Disk One perfectly. We see Meat rehearsing, driving his car, packing his suitcase, preparing for shows and collapsing from exhaustion after them. You might be disappointed to see this towering rock legend reveal enough of himself to make us realise how 'un-star' like the man behind the Meat Loaf character is: quiet, reclusive and fragile. It is a documentary that is in essence about the road leading up to the show on Disk One, and as for Meat Loaf himself - we are left little the wiser. Even his autobiography was told in glimpses. It does leave you realising that perhaps the on-stage and off-stage personas couldn't be flung any further apart.

The king of rock crown isn't leaving Meat Loaf's head (even if the king is missing his queen). Frankenstein has no hope of ever recovering this overweening creation.

Great live DVD!
This is an amazing DVD of Meat Loaf live in Canada, 2007. Meat and the band are on top form... yes Meat's voice is weaker than it used to be but he can still blow almost every other singer off the stage.

For me only one thing spoils this DVD; the audience. There is hardly any audience partition, and also the audience is very flat; There is very little singing along or cheering (or at least you can't hear it) which does ruin the atmosphere of the DVD slightly.

In response to an earlier posting, yes the show is little weaker without Patti Russo; she has such a powerful voice and had such chemistry with Meat after touring together for so long; it should be pointed out that she chose to leave, Meat did not sack her, and Aspen Miller has a great singing voice which complements Meat perfectly. Given a few more months or years singing together they would be awesome.

These are however minor gripes... Meat Loaf is still one of the greatest showmen and most powerful singers alive today... hopefully he'll recover from his current illness and return to rock us once more!

Even Better than Anticipated!
I saw part of Three Bats Live on Freeview TV and it was enough to make me rush to buy the DVD - the main reason being I wanted to see more of Meatloaf's new female lead singer Aspen Miller! I think she gave a fantastic performance - perfect timing; quality, powerful vocals and great acting. (She's totally sexy as a bonus too!). Some earlier reviewers mentioned they missed Patti Russo. These were surely written because they were said by (understandable) fans of Patti rather than because there was anything wrong with Aspen's performance.

I'm glad I bought the DVD because the rest of the band aren't bad either!
Infact, the band are flawless and play together seamlessly with tremendous sound quality and good dynamics.

Meatloaf himself does appear to be struggling at times - he has had throat health problems. Sometimes he therefore sings down instead of raising his voice up - but he still sings in tune. He's also lax about keeping time when it's just him and the piano, but the pianist does a great job to work around that. Apart from these small points, he still puts on a great show, and has other moments of brilliance and great expression. I'd rate this music DVD as up there with my favourites (along with Live in Amsterdam by Toto, and Journey 2001).

I hope Meatloaf recovers fully from his illness and keeps touring. Because after watching this DVD, I'd like to see him live again!