Bat Out Of Hell
 

It's been a while since I last heard the album so I've just listened to it from start to finish. I could write out paragraph after paragraph but I feel that everything can be condensed into this one sentence:

BAT OUT OF HELL IS STILL ~~~~ING TREMENDOUS.

I ask, when was the last time you listened to it? If you can't remember then it has been too long. So put the CD in, turn the volume up and enjoy the greatest album of all time. :twisted:

More than happy too, as long as it's the live one:D

I rare to never listen to Meat Loaf albums start to finish. I usually pass over Two Out Of Three and Heaven Can Wait when I pop in this disc. I will go for the Melbourne Symphony version of For Crying out Loud over the album version. I much prefer the urgency in Meats voice on that recording.

i must get the sacd version at some stage... havent listened to bat in a very long time though

I actually find it un-listenable to now a days.

Since Meat said his voice is sped up the whole album seems unnatural to me now.

Only song I prefer to the live versions Is Took The Words.

I did relisten to it just now, as its been forever, and Its an OK album.

Bat is an album thats better live.

why are the album vocals sped up?

His vocals sound exactly the same on the My Father's place tracks and those were in the exact same keys as the originals on Bat so I don't get why they would even need to consider speeding up Meat's voice when they were recording the album. I doubt it's what really happened dude. Probably more of a story to try to disregard a change in his voice in latter years, not that I need any explanation myself but I can understand why the constant "why, why, why" nonsense requires a few fibs here and there just to keep them quiet.

On top of that Meat came pretty close to sounding the same 20 years later on the Classic Albums documentary on Bat, which must be considered as one of the toughest vocals to pull off.

I think in general people listen too much to debates, stories and claptrap and let that influence their opinions too much and should just liten to the music instead. I reckon that's what Holy One is actually trying to point out here.

Meat has said himself on some interviews he did while promoting HCTB that the vocals on the original Bat were sped up to fit on a single record at the time.

but was it just the vocals that were sped up? cause that makes no sense to me, either the whole record, ie... music and vocals were sped up to fit on the record, or there was no need to speed up the record. Was the music also sped up??

....So where can i get my hands on this?? :D

Lots of places, probably, like this one.

Yeah, that reason never made any sense to me, either. I have no idea whether the vocals were sped up or not, but it makes sense that you would need to speed up both. I would think if that was the case, they would just edit the song a bit as is commonly done on singles.

I have a Springsteen single that has a live version of "Incident on 57th Street" that is over 10 minutes long as the B side, so it is possible to "fit" a long song on a vinyl 45.

Speaking of Bruce, I know that they sped up his vocal on "Hungry Heart", but I believe it was done for the sound (make his voice more "appealing"), and not to "make it fit".

You know, I was talking to a friend of mine - 6 years ago - and we were in a nightclub, the D|j played Paradise, and the whole dance floor filled, people loved the song, and we both agreed, Meat fans or not, Bat is an Album you can put on, no matter who the audience, and everyone will know at least one of the tracks.

Personally, I love the album, and spent many a lonely teenage night listening to it while my friends went on a Friday evening Cider binge

It's been a LONG time since I listened to the original and perhaps this is actually the first time I'm listening to the remastered 25th anniversary disc I bought years ago. It is definitely the first time listening to the original through my new studio speakers. I whacked up the volume and just a few minutes into Bat it made me want to jump up in the room grab the keytar synth and play along like a maniac.

Right on! :D
Masterpiece.

I guess I just don't hear that at all. Even on the "Classic Albums" video for VH1 or whatnot, when Meat sang along to Two Out Of Three, he got the pitch down PERFECT, and sounded the exact same. So if the vocals were sped up, I guess I just can't hear it. And his voice was the same on Rocky Horror and the More than You Deserve single, so I don't know.

Well that's exactly the problem. Some prefer listening to stories and rumours about than the actual music itself. :?

Interesting, never noticed the tape click at 3.24 before, when the orchestra kicks in on FCOL. Might only be on the remastered version. Left channel I believe.

CD? I prefer my 1980 audiophile vinyl. :)) Don't know if it's "the greatest album of all time" but it definitely is one of the greatest. It's unique and perfect from the first to the last track. I'm sure it will always remain on my personal Top 10 album list.

You don't like it anymore because Meat revealed something about how it was produced? Why didn't it sound unnatural to you before?

That's because some people try to be "scientific" when it comes to music and it's especially die-hard fans who often take certain things way too seriously. I bet most people wouldn't have noticed anything and would just have enjoyed the music if Meat hadn't told that story. How a Meat Loaf fan can consider Bat Out Of Hell "un-listenable" is beyond me.

I hear a click on mine at about 3:22 (not remastered version), but I think it might be a piano pedal being released. In any case, it sounds to me like a sound that was there in the studio, rather than the tape (if that makes sense).

Although, now that I'm thinking about it, didn't Steinman say there were problems with tape noise on one of the songs? I haven't watched the Classic Albums DVD in a while, so maybe I'm imagining that?

I remember listening to the vocal only tracks someone had ripped from the SACD version and you can clearly hear on the vocal track that Two out of Three had a slightly different original backing track (maybe just a synth to fill in for the unrecorded strings at that point or so) but it was quite evident going by the backing bleeding through the mic from Meat's headphones that the vocal track was recorded in stages as I could hear a few tape clicks here and there etc. We really take technology for granted now as overdubs are much easier to achieve now. Mixing Bat must have been literally "hellish" with so many analogue tracks.

Maybe it was also challenging and interesting? The trouble is, if something is "much easier to achieve" it becomes less distinctive because everybody uses the same or similar means. If you have to be more inventive in order to achieve something you're more likely to create something special.

That's very true.

I noticed that too. I'm surprised they didn't remove it when they did the remaster.

obviously beacuse I didnt know his voice was apparently sped up.

And I like it but not as much anymore given the new info on how it was produced. Some magic was indeed lost on me cause of the speed up shit. im not ashamed that I think that.

Its like saying King Kong instead of a stop motion puppet was actually a guy in a gorilla suit. the magic is gone.

And the click in FCOL while not present in the center speaker SACD recording by Dave, but you can hear breaths where it is, which may indeed be why its always stayed.

Its not a rumor if meat said it himself. Meat said his voice is sped up, i do indeed believe him even if I don't want to.

But this clip has made me rethink my first statement. i swear to god hes miming

YouTube Video

It wasn't just Meat's voice. The whole album was sped up by 1/8th so it would fit on an LP. I have no issue with this. Try slowing Two Out Of Three down by 1/7th and you'll find that it becomes pretty boring. :shrug:

No i don't think he's miming at all but of all the vids and audio from around that time, it's the closest to the original vocal that I've heard

Well yeah I know hes not miming, was making a point he does sound very close as hell.

ABSO...~~~ING...LUTELY

This, and Dead Ringer are the only Meat Loaf albums I still listen to in their entirity. Bat 1 because it is simply the Greatest Album Of All Time, Dead Ringer because apart from the first and last, the songs are almost as good.

Hey guys I'm new here. Been a Meat fan since 93.

Anyway, Bat Out Hell. I Love the Album....but it's not not my Favorite. However it does contain Crying Out Loud. Which my favorite song from anyone ever. So major point's for that. To be honest this is one of thr albums I listen to least. Still great though.

Mick

So something Meat Loaf said is more important to you than the impression the music originally made on you? A lot of "tricks" are used when recording an album, it is always artificial to a certain extent.

I don't care that much about what Meat says about his albums anymore. If I did, I would probably HATE HCTB and kick myself for having been stupid enough to buy Bat III. The music itself is more important to me than what Meat says about it. I either like or dislike a song / record based on my personal preferences, regardless of his statements.

Well Theirs a difference between speeding up a vocal and enhancing it.

I cant listen to it anymore without thinking "this voice is sped up"

What exactly is the difference? Both are alterations to the "natural" sound.

I rarely listen to the original Bat. I appreciate it for what it is, but it is by far my favorite vocal.

Having said that, i LOVE all of the songs on the original Bat provided they are sang by Meat's more mature voice. You have to remember, I didn't know much about Meat until i was about 15, or 2003, so I fell in love with his CHSIB sound first and foremost.

His vocals on HCTB are awesome, and the songs are a fresh and good change.

Hoepfully the next album is a mixture of Prize Fight Lover / Song of Madness style songs....and some new powerful ballads that are NOT AT ALL like DYELS...but more like I'd lie for you or not a dry eye.

I couldn't agree more. Prize Fight Lover and Song Of Madness are two of the best songs he has ever recorded while Did You Ever Love Somebody is one of the weakest :(. His best ballads are to be found on the first two Bat albums; the Warren songs on WTTN gain their strength from trying to be Steinman-like, in my opinion. Unfortunately Diane Warren's further contributions to Meat Loaf albums were less impressive.

Funny you should say that ... as I realise we both adore the same singer...
but I can honestly say I only listened to BOOH for at least five years, be it in my car.
Collage in either Oxford or Cambridge, has proven since than that plants grow to better to BOOH than to Bohemian Rapsody

It has something to do with energy-flowing?streaming...

FWIIIW ... Even today I still think CHSIB is his own peronal piece of Magic...

i just dont like sped up vocals.

Hear Hear, this post deserves a medal! CHSIB!

Funny you should say that, you've always come across as a chipmunks loving guy in my opinion. ;-)

But obviously you liked the album before you knew they were sped up. So what's the problem? If something sounds good enough for millions of people to buy and love it, why does Meat's statement suddenly make such a big difference to you?

All that sped up thing doesn't matter to me. Only exception is 2oo3, never liked the studio version of it and after Meat's post I got to know why.

Beacuse it just does :shrug:

The 2oo3 buisiness confused me for a few minutes there. First I thought you were talking about the year...

But now that I know it's Two outta three...I was under the impression everyone here made shrines to Bat Out Of hell like me, and held it on a pedestal nothing and nobody else could even touch, but apparently Meat Loaf fans are literally THE toughest critics around. Even people who hate meat love "2oo3". I know my dad had it on repeat in his car for literally years. And to me, the production, recording, and whatever else went into Bat was PERFECT. Sure, there were little things only we can bicker about, but to me there is no better collection of songs on a single record that BAT.

Totally agree, the songs are epic. I never said i don't like the vocals, or that i'm critical on them. I think the vocals on Bat are amazing. But I still prefer Meat's mature voice to his younger voice...just my personal preference :-)

2oo3 is one of my favourite songs when it comes to live environment, especially Bob's solo back in the 80's. :-)

I also think Two out of Three is better live. Love the guitar solo's it used to have.

Mick

And there in is my problem, so do I.

How is that a problem..just asking;)

Mick

I dislike with a passion what the piano solo did to 2oo3 on the last tour

Oh I hear you. I dearly DEARLY miss those guitar solos.

Mick

Thought it was utterly amazing myself. Never thought I would hear SUCH a good pianist playing the songs. Don't care who's gone before, Justin IS the man in my opinion.
Also the look on Meat's face after that at Wembley is priceless in my opinion.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._4805978_n.jpg

The originals on Bat 1 and 2 (Except for all the guitar filling in Bat and sax on Rock n Roll Dreams) hardly have solos as far as I'm concerned. If I want to hear solos I go to the shows.

i must confess, having only seen one live show from the current tour, i wasn't particularly moved by justin's solo

it didnt seem to have anything to do with the song in my opinion

he's a good player, but his playing did nothing for me

I'm with AndrewG on this one. Loved the piano solo. However I guess I firmly straddle the fence in that I also happen to enjoy the guitar solo but for different reasons.

Bob Kulick's solo had even less to do with the song, but it still kicked arse. :twisted:

that it did, it was awesome!!

The piano solo is their for Meat. Hes done that song live more then AFL.
Its only had two short term retirements: 1989 and 2008 and was omitted sparingly in 1994 and the WTTN tour on occation.

It makes the song fresher. I personally love the piano solo. The solo at PNC was excellent. Everyone stood up and gave Justin a standing ovation.

Even if you discovered Justin had pre recorded it at a slower tempo then sped it up on playback? :lol:

Kulick's solo had no business in that song........but damn I nearly fainted....so awesome.

Mick

I actually don't believe that is correct at all. I never heard it in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. In fact I would go as far as saying it seemed only to have been fully included on the 2005 tour.

It wasn't normally in the set on any of the other major tours here in the UK as far as I know during the 2000s, so how do you explain that and are you sure you therefore have your maths correct with total 2 out of 3 vs AFL plays? :shrug:

Youre right. I was wrong.

How dare you suggest that Wario may have made an error with his facts. :shock: Have you seen how methodical he is in regards to spelling and suchlike? :twisted:

Surely the fact that Two Out Of Three is 15 years older than AFL may have a bearing on the amount of times it's been played? :shrug:

The sped up renditions don't qualify.

I wonder if Wario's Bat 2 CD will go flying out the window when it dawns on him that Meat's vocals have been played around with to ~~~~~~y. :twisted:

Come to think of it, his voice did always sound very high pitched on AFL to me. Who knows?! :shrug:

lmao

Not likely, only if the vocals are found to be sped up will I throw it out the window.

That's what I should've said, I don't doubt that he's a genius (as Meat said) on the piano, it's just that to me what he played had absolutely nowt to do with the song in question.

Cheers Jonty