Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose

Untitled

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 in October 2006, nearly thirty years after the first album (1977), and thirteen after Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993).

Produced by Desmond Child, it is the only Bat album in which Jim Steinman was not involved in its production. The album was the subject to a legal dispute between Meat Loaf and Steinman, who had registered the phrase "Bat out of Hell" as a trademark and attempted to prevent the album using the phrase. In the end, seven songs that Steinman wrote for various other projects were included.

As with its predecessors, the album received mixed reviews. A tour, named "Seize the Night," followed the release, concentrating upon songs from the Bat albums.

History

According to a Reuters report, 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 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 and made what he calls the "selfish" decision to go ahead without him. In promotional interviews he said that he did not want to wait a year and a half just to find out that Steinman was still unfit. Describing himself as a "really loyal person," Meat Loaf says that "the decision not to use Steinman has taken its toll on me."

However, the singer's assertions about Steinman's apparent ill health were refuted by the composer's team. In 2006, David Sonenberg, Steinman's manager, reported:

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.

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. 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.

Meat Loaf claims that he contributed lyrics to "Bat out of Hell." He had used the phrase extensively for tours, to which Steinman had never objected "until a recent falling out." Steinman and his representatives approached Meat Loaf's labels, Universal and Virgin, asserting trademark ownership and threatening litigation to prevent the album's release.

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." 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.

Despite the fact that Steinman was not involved in the recording or production, the album does include seven of his songs, five of which are covers of previously released songs. The agreement enabled Steinman to work on a musical theatre project based on all of the songs from Bat out of Hell. Describing the project as "Cirque du Soleil on acid," he expects it to open in London in 2009.

Production

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. Child began recording sessions by playing Slipknot CDs to get the assembled musicians in the mood. In addition to musicians from his touring band, the Neverland Express, several guest players contributed to the album. Meat Loaf says, "I didn't just want to bring in rock players — I wanted to go to extreme rock people" resulting in an album that "has all the touches of the other two Bats, but it's much more of a rock album." Child says, that one of the most memorable experiences working on the album was working with Brian May, who played on "Bad for Good". The album also featured guest performances by John 5, Steve Vai and John Shanks.

Meat Loaf says that he does not enjoy recording in studios. He compares the process to "going to the dentist and having root canal everyday." Whereas you really have to be flat for people to notice it in a live show, in a studio, every "nuance is under a microscope... and I'm a perfectionist who knows that there's no such thing as perfection but I try to get as close as I can."

Todd Rundgren, who produced the first album and arranged all of the background vocals for Bat II, arranged the background vocals for three tracks. In a promotional interview for the album Rundgren says "continuity is an important thing." However, in another interview he reveals that his contribution was considerably less than its predecessors.

And by the time they got it all organized and figured out, there were really only a couple of songs left for me to do anything on. So I came into L.A. for a couple of days and Kasim... came in, as was the routine, and we did maybe three songs... just so that I’d have a few fingerprints on the record. I think someone, maybe Meat Loaf, said that to keep everything covered, I had to be in there somewhere... but not necessarily running the whole thing. So my involvement was pretty much peripheral.

The album features three duets. Norwegian vocalist Marion Raven duets on "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". "What About Love?" features Patti Russo, who had toured with Meat Loaf for over a decade before leaving the Neverland Express shortly before the tour to promote this album. Finally, Jennifer Hudson performs on "The Future Ain't What it Used to Be."

Compositions

Associating the songs on the album with the two predecessors, Meat Loaf says "they're all very funny. They're all tongue-in-cheek. It's all these high, tense, emotional songs that are way over the top, and that's what makes them Bat Out of Hell".

The album opens with the title track. "The Monster is Loose" is highly influenced by the Gothic style of John 5, who plays the main guitar parts. The song is hard rock, and continues Meat Loaf's association with Major League Baseball established with Phil Rizzuto's commentary on "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."

According to Steinman, "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. In interviews, Meat Loaf has said that, in his mind, the song was always meant to be a duet. Norwegian artist Marion Raven, who had been working on her solo album with Child, was chosen because the timbre of her voice starkly contrasts to Meat Loaf's.

"Bad for Good" was one of the many songs written by Steinman under the inspiration of Peter Pan and lost boys who never grow up. This is reflected in lyrics such as "You know I'm gonna be like this forever: I'm never gonna be what I should." The song was written to appear on the follow up to Bat out of Hell, but which Steinman recorded himself. Because of this, Meat Loaf was aware that there is a "core of fans that know that song," so he "had that under the microscope more than any other on the album."

"Cry Over Me" is, according to Meat Loaf, a timeless song dealing with relationships of all kinds. In a 2007 interview, he says that it can be about your first or last loves, or dealing with your boss at work. Partially quoting the lyrics, the singer posits that there are times when "you want him to feel exactly like I felt when he said that to me."

The Guardian says "In the Land of the Pigs (The Butcher is King)" is "five Olympian minutes crying out for a full production at Glyndebourne." Guitarist Steve Vai describes it as "very Gothic; almost terrifying." It is about the intense power over subordinates:

Can't you hear the choir now?

Listen to the animals sing.

Can't you hear the slaughterhouse bells?

In the land of the pigs the butcher is king.

"Monstro" is a bombastic orchestral piece layered with chorals that lead into the piano introduction to "Alive." Meat Loaf decided to hire Desmond Child when he revealed that he had written "Alive" especially for the album. The song refers to how the singer has overcome difficult periods in his life.

"What About Love", a piano-based duet with Patti Russo, is a sexually charged song that echoes "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" from the 1977 album. Here, though, the singers are singing about love throughout, not bitterness. The final verse contains the most explicit lyrics about their first sexual encounter.

[Boy:]

I can't forget the feeling of your sweat upon my skin

And the tremble of your body on the day you let me in [...]

[Girl:]

On a summernight's surrender with nothing to loose

You were scared and so was I when I gave myself to you [...]

"Seize The Night" has a strong orchestral foundation underneath the lead vocals and a choir. A duet with Jennifer Hudson, "The Future Ain't What it Used to Be" is a pessimistic song based upon the myth that Pandora closed her jar before allowing "hope" to escape (the song first appeared on the only album performed by female group Pandora's Box). The lyrics reveal the hopelessness of the past ("Were there ever any stars in the sky?") and the future ("There's nothing so sad as a tomorrow gone bad").

The final song of the Bat trilogy is a lullaby written by Steinman. "Cry to Heaven" few lyrics begins rather sweet, but turning rather bitter: ("Cry, cry to heaven/If that doesn't do it for you/Go ahead, and cry like hell.") The two parts are bridge by an instrumental dominated by Irish flute.

Cover and booklet

The cover follows the style of the previous two Bat albums. 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. Like the first two Bat albums, Steinman's songwriting is credited on the cover, this time shared with Desmond Child.

The booklet contains all of the lyrics to the songs, each page featuring a small illustration. The CD liner contains a dedication "For thirty years of friendship and inspiration, Bat out of Hell III is dedicated to Jim Steinman."

Reception

The album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 and sold about 81,000 copies in its opening week, his best since Bat II. However, it slipped to number #60 after 3 weeks. The album also got to number #3 in the UK charts, but quickly fell off.

The album received mixed reactions, which are consistent with its predecessors. In a 1999 documentary celebrating the original album, Meat Loaf says that Bat out of Hell polarizes people: some hate it, and some worship it. The relatively high profile dispute between Meat Loaf and Steinman brought the latter's absence to prominence, with many reviewers commenting upon it.

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". The Village Voice named it as 'Album of the Year This Week', calling it "absurdist, righteous majesty".

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 criticized "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."

Singles and music videos

"It's All Coming Back To Me Now" was the first song released as a single. It reached number one in Raven's native Norway, and the top ten in both the UK and Germany. "Blind As A Bat" was scheduled to be released in the UK on December 18, but was then put back to February 26, as two CDs. In turn, this single was pulled at the last minute, in favor of "Cry Over Me", which was released on May 7 2007.

Meat Loaf's character mourning that of Marion Raven, in the 2006 video directed by P. R. Brown.

P. R. Brown directed the videos for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Cry Over Me." "It's All Coming Back..." is an elaborate production, in which Meat Loaf is being haunted by the memory of his dead lover. Told in flashback, Raven's character crashes her car to avoid a man standing in the road. She sings as an unseen spirit following Meat Loaf. It echoes Steinman's comments that the song is about the "dark side of love" and the "ability to be resurrected by it."

The video for "Cry Over Me" had the lowest budget since those for the original album. A simple video, Meat Loaf claims that it only took four hours to film. A compilation of other videos Meat Loaf has performed in or live stage clips comprise the video for the title track. Like the video for "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" this video is a shortened version of the actual song, running for 4:37 rather than 7:11.

The videos for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "Cry Over Me" and "The Monster is Loose" will be included as bonus features on the 3 Bats Live DVD, to be released in October 2007.

Track listing

1. "The Monster is Loose" – 7:12 (Desmond Child/Nikki Sixx/John 5)
2. "Blind As A Bat" – 5:51 (Child/James Michael)
3. "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" – 6:05 (Jim Steinman) duet with Marion Raven
4. "Bad for Good" – 7:33 (Steinman)
5. "Cry Over Me" – 4:40 (Diane Warren)
6. "In The Land Of The Pig, The Butcher Is King" – 5:38 (Steinman)
7. "Monstro" – 1:39 (Child/Holly Knight/Elena Casals)
8. "Alive" – 4:22 (Child/Michael/Knight/Andrea Remanda)
9. "If God Could Talk" – 3:46 (Child/Marti Frederiksen)
10. "If It Ain't Broke, Break It" – 4:50 (Steinman)
11. "What About Love?" – 6:03 (Child/Frederiksen/Russ Irwin/John Gregory) duet with Patti Russo
12. "Seize The Night" – 9:46 (Steinman)
13. "The Future Ain't What It Used To Be" – 7:54 (Steinman) duet with Jennifer Hudson
14. "Cry To Heaven" – 2:22 (Steinman)

All of the Steinman songs were written for other projects. Like Bat II, the album contains two songs ("It's All Coming Back..." and "The Future Ain't What it Used to Be") that originally appeared on Original Sin, Steinman's 1989 concept album with Pandora's Box. "In the Land of the Pigs" and "Cry to Heaven" were written for the unrealised Batman: The Musical project. Although written for Bat II, "Bad for Good" was featured as the title track on Steinman's 1981 album. "Seize the Night" first appeared as "Carpe Noctem" in the musical Tanz der Vampire. "If It Ain't Broke, Break It" first appeared in the MTV film Wuthering Heights.

Alternative releases

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" (from 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 from her EP of the same name.

Tour

Seize the Night

Tour by Meat Loaf
No. of shows	112
Meat Loaf concert chronology

Meat Loaf embarked on a 112 date world tour to promote the album. He performed a concert performing all three albums in their entirety on October 16 at London's Royal Albert Hall, and continued the trilogy performances for the rest of the tour as well. He also performed a "Bat on Broadway" performance on November 2 2006 at New York's Palace Theater as well as shows in Toronto, Atlantic City NJ. Uncasville, and Mexico City.

Marion Raven joined Meat Loaf for his 2007 tour. She was the supporting act, promoting her Set Me Free album. Meat Loaf introduced her on stage at the latter stages of the concerts to duet on "It's All Coming Back to Me Now".

A DVD of the tour will be released in the UK in October 2007, entitled 3 Bats Live. It will also contain a bonus disc featuring the promotional videos and animations from Bat III, alongside a career retrospective.

Certifications

Country	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada	Gold	50,000
United States	Gold	500,000
Australia	22x Platinum	1,540,000

Personnel

• Meat Loaf: Lead vocals
• Patti Russo - featured vocalist ("What About Love?")
• Marion Raven- featured vocalist ("It's All Coming Back to Me Now")
• Jennifer Hudson - featured vocalist ("The Future Ain't What it Used to Be")
• Eric Brazilian: Guitar
• Paul Crook: Guitar
• Randy Flowers: Guitar
• Corky James Guitar
• John 5 Guitar
• David Levita: Guitar
• Brian May - Guitar
• John Shanks: Guitar
• Steve Vai: Guitar
• Clint Walsh: Guitar
• Dan Warner: Guitar
• Kasim Sulton: Bass guitar, background vocals
• Matt Rollings: Piano, organ
• Mark Alexander: Organ
• Victor Indrizzo: Drums
• Kenny Aronoff: Percussion, drums
• Lee Levin: Percussion
• Dough Emery: Programming
• Harry Sommerdahl: Programming
• Chris Vrenna: Programming
• Stephanie Bennett: Harp
• Eric Rigler: Irish flute
• Graham Phillips: Boy soprano ("Seize the Night", "Cry to Heaven")
• Background Vocals: Patti Russo, Todd Rundgren, Eric Troyer, Storm Lee, Jeanette Olsson, Carolyn "C.C." Coletti-Jablonski, Diana Grasselli Storm Lee, Jason Paige, Camile Saviola, John Gregory, Marti Frederiksen, Becky Baeling, & Desmond Child.