Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
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| Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose | ||
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| Studio album by Meat Loaf | ||
| Released | October 20, 2006 (Ireland) October 23, 2006 (UK) October 31, 2006 (US) |
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| Recorded | 2005 - 2006 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 77:28 | |
| Label | Virgin Records and Mercury Records | |
| Producer(s) | Desmond Child | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Meat Loaf chronology | ||
| Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2004) |
Bat out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose (2006) |
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Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose is an album by Meat Loaf; the third and last in the Bat out of Hell series. It was released nearly thirty years after the first album (1977), and thirteen after Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993). The album was released in 2006, in Europe on 20 October (in the UK on 23 October), and was released in the US on Halloween (October 31).[1]
It is produced by Desmond Child, and contains songs written by Jim Steinman, Diane Warren, and Desmond Child (in collaboration with several other songwriters). The following people have done vocal and/or instrumental work on the album: Todd Rundgren, Marion Raven, Jennifer Hudson, Patti Russo, Brian May, John Shanks, Steve Vai, and others.
A tour will follow the release featuring songs from this album and previous Meat Loaf albums.[2]
The title song, "The Monster is Loose" leaked over the internet several months before its release.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
Meat Loaf provides lead vocals on all tracks. Some tracks feature guest performances, vocal or instrumental, from various artists who are not members of the core band.
All of the Steinman songs were written for other projects. Like Bat II,[3] the album contains two songs that originally appeared on Original Sin, Steinman's 1989 concept album with Pandora's Box. Other Steinman songs were written for the unrealised Batman: The Musical project.
Amazon.co.uk had listed the UK release as including an extra track named "Echo/Heaven Can Wait". However, this was not included on the final release.
| # | Title | Guests | Songwriters | Brief history | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Monster Is Loose" | feat. John 5 | Desmond Child/Nikki Sixx/John 5 | 7:12 | |
| 2 | "Blind As A Bat" | Child/James Michael | 5:51 | ||
| 3 | "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" | duet with Marion Raven | Jim Steinman | First appeared on Pandora's Box's album Original Sin. Céline Dion's version of the song was a worldwide hit in 1996. | 6:05 |
| 4 | "Bad for Good" | feat. Brian May of Queen | Steinman | First appeared on Steinman's album Bad for Good. Meat Loaf performed the song live on the 1988 "Lost Boys and Golden Girls Tour". | 7:33 |
| 5 | "Cry Over Me" | Diane Warren | 4:40 | ||
| 6 | "In The Land Of The Pig, The Butcher Is King"[4] | feat. Steve Vai | Steinman | Written for the Batman musical | 5:38 |
| 7 | "Monstro" | Child/Holly Knight/Elena Casals | 1:39 | ||
| 8 | "Alive" | featuring John Shanks | Child/Michael/Knight/Andrea Remanda | 4:22 | |
| 9 | "If God Could Talk" | Child/Marti Frederiksen | 3:46 | ||
| 10 | "If It Ain't Broke, Break It" | Steinman | Featured in the MTV film Wuthering Heights | 4:50 | |
| 11 | "What About Love?" | duet with Patti Russo | Child/Frederiksen/Russ Irwin/John Gregory | 6:03 | |
| 12 | "Seize The Night" | Steinman | Used in the various Tanz der Vampire productions, appeared in German on the cast album released in 1997. | 9:46 | |
| 13 | "The Future Ain't What It Used To Be" | duet with Jennifer Hudson | Steinman | First appeared on Pandora's Box's album Original Sin, and performed by Erika Christensen in Wuthering Heights. The music for this song was first heard as "New Orleans Is Comin' To Me" from the 1976 Jim Steinman musical "The Confidence Man." | 7:54 |
| 14 | "Cry To Heaven" | Steinman | Adapted from a longer piece from the Batman musical, and considered for use in a musical of "Cry Baby". The song Angel's Arise from Dance of the Vampires was adapted from the same piece in the Batman musical from which this was adapted | 2:22 |
A 'limited edition' was released with an accompanying DVD, containing a short 'making of' featurette, the animated trailer, and "The Monster is Loose" career montage video. The US version also includes a photo gallery and the "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" video.
Best Buy's version of the album came with an exclusive bonus track: a live version of "Testify" (the original version is on Couldn't Have Said It Better). This track was originally announced to be on the CD itself, but Best Buy opted to include an insert in the packaging giving customers a code to download the song. Circuit City's version came with an exclusive downloadable track: a live version of "Life is a Lemon (and I Want My Money Back)." Target released a "Limited Tour Edition" with a concert ticket pre-sale offer. Wal Mart released the album as part of an exclusive 2-pack with the "Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell Classic Albums DVD".
The version of the album available from Apple's iTunes store includes two bonus tracks; a live version of "I Would Do Anything for Love", recorded at a concert in Australia, and "Heads Will Roll", sung by Marion Raven.
[edit] Development
Meat Loaf and Steinman started working on the album in 2001. During the concerts in his Hair Of The Dog tour, Meat Loaf made a point to mention that he and Jim Steinman were putting out a new album, due in September 2006.
The composer suffered some health setbacks, including a heart attack. Meat Loaf says that "lawyers worked for over a year putting together a contract for Steinman to do Bat Out of Hell III. It was one of the best producer's contracts in the history of the record business." Ultimately, according to the singer, Steinman was not well enough to work on such an intense project.[5]
However, Steinman's manager has said that:
"Jim's health is excellent. That's not the reason he didn't participate in ("Bat III"). He had some meaningful health problems about four years ago, but he's been totally healthy the last couple of years. His health in no way impacted on his involvement in the 'Bat Out of Hell' project."[5]
Meat Loaf had announced that Michael Beinhorn was producing the record, but Desmond Child took the helm. The singer reports that Child would say things that made him think he was sitting next to Steinman.[6]
Despite the fact that Steinman has not worked on the recording or production at all, the album does include seven of his songs, five of which are covers of previously released songs.
The album cover states "Songs by Jim Steinman and Desmond Child" (the previous two Bat albums had given credit to Steinman in this way). The CD liner contains a dedication "For thirty years of friendship and inspiration, Bat Out Of Hell III is dedicated to Jim Steinman".
[edit] "Bat Out of Hell" trademark dispute and resolution
The development problems and confusion over Steinman's involvement is a result of a dispute of the trademark "Bat out of Hell", which Steinman registered in 1995.[7] Meat Loaf sued Steinman and his manager, in a complaint filed May 28 2006 in federal District Court in Los Angeles, California, for $50 million and to prevent further use by the writer/producer.[8]
Meat Loaf claims that he contributed lyrics to the song, which he recorded and performed. He had used the phrase extensively for tours, to which Steinman had never objected "until a recent falling out."[7]
Steinman and his representatives approached Meat Loaf's labels, Universal and Virgin, asserting trademark ownership and threatening litigation[7] to prevent the album's release.[9]
An agreement was reached in Summer 2006. According to Virgin, "the two came to an amicable agreement that ensured that Jim Steinman's music would be a continuing part of the 'Bat Out Of Hell' legacy."[10]
In promotional interviews, Meat Loaf has played down the dispute with Steinman, pointing out that it was over in three weeks and was purely for the sake of business.
"I consider him to be one of my best friends but the real thing is about managers: I think Steinman's manager is the devil and Steinman feels the same way about my manager. So, we had to communicate through managers and he refused to sign some papers that would have allowed for the recording of Bat Out of Hell III without a hitch. So, really, I didn't sue Jim Steinman. I sued his manager."[9]
[edit] Artwork
Julie Bell designed the cover and the artwork that appears alongside the lyrics in the booklet. She also supplied the art for the "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" single.[11]
[edit] Critical reception
The album received mixed reactions, which are consistent with its predecessors. 'With a Bat Out Of Hell record,' says Meat Loaf, 'you either love it, and you really love it, or you hate it, and you really hate it and you despise everything about it.'[1]
Q gave the album a positive review, calling it 'the second-best album to bear the 'Bat' name', and saying that Child did an 'impressive recreation of Steinman's Andrew Lloyd Webber-on-steroids approach', while the album was 'overblown, frequently ridiculous and largely devoid of irony.' However, they were unimpressed with the title track, suggesting that 'whoever decided it would be a good idea for Meat Loaf to tackle nu-metal... should be tarred and feathered.' Q did, however, praise the 'operatic' vocals and May's 'fabulously hysterical guitar' on the track "Bad For Good".[12]
The Village Voice named it as 'Album of the Year This Week', calling it 'absurdist, righteous majesty'.[13]
Some reviews, however, have lamented Steinman's absence. The website All Music Guide focus upon this, saying that 'this Bat is quite obviously a patchwork, pieced together from things borrowed and recreated, never quite gelling the way either of the previous Bats did'. They criticised "The Monster Is Loose" as a 'disarming, a grindingly metallic riff-rocker that sits very uncomfortably next to Steinman's "It's All Coming Back To Me Now"', and Child as 'a professional who is playing a game without bothering to learn the rules'. On the other hand, All Music Guide commended Meat Loaf's voice, saying that he sings 'his heart out as he valiantly tries to make this Bat a worthy successor to the originals'.[14]
[edit] Singles
"It's All Coming Back To Me Now" was released as a single in the UK in October 2006, peaking at number three in the singles chart. "Blind as a Bat" co-written by James Michael was scheduled to be released in the UK on December 18, but was then put back to February 26th, as two CDs.[15] In turn, this single was pulled at the last minute, in favor of "Cry Over Me", which is to be released on April 30, 2007. [16]
It appears that "The Future Just Ain't What it Used to Be" will be released as a single.[17]
[edit] Chart performance
The album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 and sold about 81,000 copies in its opening week.[18] However, it slipped to number #60 after 3 weeks. The first single reached number one only in Norway (likely due to the inclusion of Marion Raven on the track), whereas the Steinman-produced "I Would Do Anything For Love, But I Won't Do That" from Bat Out Of Hell II reached number one in 28 countries. The album also got to number #3 in the UK charts, but quickly fell off.
However, the original Bat Out Of Hell did not have any big success with single releases, but instead slowly over time became a big cult hit selling strongly even to this day.
[edit] Tour
There will be a 112 date world tour to promote the album. Meat Loaf performed a concert performing all three albums in their entirety on October 16 at London's Royal Albert Hall, and will continue the trilogy performances for the rest of the tour as well. He also performed a "Bat on Broadway" performance on November 2 at New York's Palace Theater as well as shows in Toronto, Atlantic City NJ. Uncasville Conn, and Mexico City. He will continue touring in 2007 in the UK.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Kearney, Christine. "Meat Loaf serves another dish of "Bat Out of Hell"", Reuters, Oct 31, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan. Meat Loaf Awakens The Beast For 'Bat III'. Billboard. Retrieved on 2006-09-25.
- ^ "It Just Won't Quit" and "Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)"
- ^ In his blog, Steinman clarified that the word "Pig" was written to be sung in the singular. The two songs that are not previously released have been adapted from a musical for which Steinman wrote songs. That musical was based on the "Batman" comic book series, and was cancelled by Warner Bros., never making it to the stage.
- ^ a b "Meat Loaf goes through 'Hell' again" (cnn.com), Reutuers, October 30, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
- ^ Meat Loaf. Interview with Steve Wright. Steve Wright in the Afternoon. BBC Radio 2, London. 2006-08-04.
- ^ a b c Butler, Susan. Meat Loaf Sues Over 'Bat Out Of Hell'. Billboard. Retrieved on 2006-09-25.
- ^ "MEAT LOAF BATTLES FOR BAT OUT OF HELL TRADEMARK", contactmusic.com, June 6, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
- ^ a b Othman, Zul. "Man out of hell", ChannelNews Asia, 26 October 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
- ^ "MEATLOAF REACHES AGREEMENT OVER BAT OUT OF HELL", contactmusic.com, August 1, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
- ^ Larson, Randall. New Bat Out Of Hell Album from Meat Loaf. Cinescape. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
- ^ Q, October 2006
- ^ Harvilla, Rob. Stuff You Need to Know This Week to Avoid Ostracism. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Blind As A Bat *Multi-Buy* (1xCD1 + CD2). Townsend Records. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
- ^ BAAB/COM - The Final Word + Release Date.... Meat Loaf UK Fanclub forum. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ Reuters/Billboard. "Billboard single reviews: Meat Loaf, JoJo", Yahoo News, March 23 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-30.
- ^ Katie Hasty, "'Montana' Zooms By Manilow For Second Week At No. 1", Billboard.com, November 8, 2006.
