Meat Loaf - 3 Bats Live [Blu-ray] [2007]

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Customer reviews

review by: Epideme date: 2009-01-02 rating:
Meatloaf is a lemon, and I want my money back...
This concert is stupendously staged, with a great supporting band who give it their all. It's dramatic, well lit, well filmed, and Aspen Miller does a superb turn singing in "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" as the kind girl all the boys really would be after at school - and I'd be surprised if we don't see more from her in the future. It's the kind of concert that Meatloaf would have loved to be a part of were he still alive.

I saw Meatloaf in concert a couple of years ago, and it took him three songs to warm into anything like what he used to sound like. Regrettably, his re-animated corpse murders "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", followed by "On a Hot Summer Night", before going on to some of the less well known songs - and therefore the ones with less expectations; "Out of the Frying Pan", and "Life is a Lemon".

He's certainly putting a fair bit in, but he seems short of energy, breath and to be perfectly honest, the tunes for his hits. He flounders for notes, and sweats profusely from the first song... though he does play the audience extremely well. He looks as though he knows he's not doing his songs justice, and appears annoyed at his supporting musicians when they showcase.

The concert did however get me to find my old tracks and listen to them again, and as I only paid £9.95 (I bought my copy from Woolworths as they were closing down) I shouldn't really have anything to complain about.

The Small Print: I should say at this point that I haven't yet watched the full concert - I was that disgusted - and I haven't yet watched the Bonus DVD (which is by all accounts excellent). Meatloaf was still very much alive as I wrote this review, despite my earlier comments.

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review by: date: 2008-08-29 rating:
His Voice Has Gone!
I am so disappointed by this dvd. I've seen Meat Loaf perform live over a dozen times & his voice just seems to go downhill every time.

I guess he's getting on a bit now, but I now wish he would retire gracefully, as this performance is painful to watch.

He struggles through virtually every song & his timing is way off. His fantastic backing band & backing vocalists try to mask his shortcomings, but it seems to just magnify his own woeful vocals!

The first time we played this DVD at home, we actually couldn't stand to listen to any more after the first half hour. Meat's contant straining & re-interpretation of the vocal harmonies & melodies are nowhere near as good as the original versions (let alone in tune) & his physical contortions are not comfortable to watch as he strains his way through each song.

I found myself almost willing him to sing just a small part of each song well, but he just kept on losing his way, missing his cues & then rushing his lyrics - just horrible.

A sad demise for a once great singer & performer.

The only plus points are his excellent band & a decent documentary... but that's about it!

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review by: date: 2008-02-23 rating:
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!

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review by: date: 2008-02-10 rating:
an insight into a fading star
this review, like the product, has to come in two parts;

firstly to tackle the 2nd disc, which features "in search of paradise" a documentary filmed at the start of meat loaf's "3 bats" world tour. its very interesting to see the tour preperations, and is a genuinely well made documentary, to which i would give 4/5. the reason it doesn't get a 5 is two-fold, firstly that it doesn't even refer to the fact that meat loaf cancelled the entire tour after the newcastle show in england (which they could easily have added in at the end) due to vocal cysts, and secondly meat loaf himself doesn't really say a lot of interest.

as for the concert itself...fantastic effects, great band, good backing singers, well-filmed...but meat loaf himself simply murders some of his own songs. he is even miming the chorus in "blind as a bat". you can see his band casting disbelieving looks at him as he misses notes time and time again. its actually sad to watch a once great singer at times performing terribly, almost collapsing on stage and bent over at awkward angles. having said all that, when he hits it, he puts on a great show, and the performances of "the monster is loose" and "black betty" in particular are brilliant.

in all, i would recommend that if you just want a live meat loaf dvd - get the storytellers one from a few years ago before his voice went. if you are interested in the makings of a tour etc, this is worth buying for the documentary. sadly this concert represents an artist who has missed his time to call it a day.


review by: date: 2007-12-19 rating:
Absolutely fantastic
Having seen the concert in London it is great to have a reminder of a fantastic concert. I was going to see him again but he cancelled! Almost the full concert, the vocals are great from Meat and the girls. I think Aspen Miller sounds and looks great and hams it up superbly in the set pieces! and as for CC....wow, everyone's girl next door....not! Can't recommend this DVD more for Meatloaf fans. Turn the lights down, turn the sound up and enjoy two hours of great music and stage show....

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Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . 12
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