6. Paradise By The Dashboard Light
 

This is the START OUT OF HELL & ARRIVE TO HEAVEN topic. Let's Go to Rock 'n' Roll!!!!!!!

Paradise By The Dashboard Light (8/10)

I have never been in Meat Loaf concert, but I've got the video of song and some live version. When I have heard this song first I hated. But with picture is fantastic. If you can image the moment it will be great. On the BOOH album it's not so good, but in Bats Out Of Hell or Live Around The World is good. Very-very funny. The music isn't very good, but it's not matter. You have to enjoy the feeling...

My score: in album 8
in concert 10



Average: 9.71 (339.75/35) [07/08/05]

The music isn't very good? The music is superb! It's great! It's a fantastic, song, great lyrics, an ultimate love song!
On the BOOH album it is already great, but the live versions are even better. Specially the fight between ML and now Patti.

It is your opinion, but i think you must think it over again cause i would give Paradise an 11 out of 10, if that was possible. This is THE song. Everyone knows it.

Everybody knows this song, that's why it is great. Its a song with a great impact, a great rock and roll song. I think Patti is the best opposite woman for this song.
The fight at the end on live versions is very great.

The only thing I hate is that some people cut this song.

I will give it a 8/9

I really don't get this. Paradise is the best known song all over the world, its a timeless song full of good music and voices. I must agree with Tim that when it was possible i'd even give it a 11 out of 10, or perhaps very more.

Still it's your opinion so i can't do much about it, not more than to make you chance your opinion and say that you're really wrong...

:twisted: Paradise ROCKS.
The music is great (especially the intro),pure rock and roll.
It's really funny to think of this guy getting more and more frustrated (Meat puts the desperation into the voice beautifully),so they get married and spend the rest of their lives cursing each other to hell.
I like the originallity of the concept,as far as I know nobody else has coverd this theme.
It's a funny (and horrible) thought that Paradise very nearly didn't make onto the album.No one could agree on the mix,until John Jensen mixed it.
10/10
P.S. The live versions are great.The arguments get better and better.

White you got 3 diff songs in one here what more do you want LoL

1000/1000

Peat Loaf, you took the words right out of my mouth!!

Well this has to be a 10/10

Hehehehe, the music isn't very good. very funny. the piano parts are extra ordinary, Superb. The melody is so, just so great. All 3 parts, i am sorry, 4 parts are great melodys. This song is broadcasted too much on the Dutch radio, it is really an overkill here. Nevertheless, this is the one i remember from my childhood, when my older sister played it everyday.
10/10.

Great song, timeless story, we can all relate to it, what else can i say??
My Score : 10

Excellant Song 10/10

Two Dutchies covered the song (paul de leeuw and sugar lee hooper)

You ~~~~ing kidding me, when did they pull that?

Would I make myself hugely impopular by saying that I really can't stand Paradise anymore? I think its hugely overrated and overplayed, and I wouldn't mind if it got skipped from the setlist in favor of, let's say, A Kiss... and For Crying Out Loud... but that is never going to happen, since Meat said in an interview with some dutch newspaper (A.D. I think) it is the ultimate Meat Loaf song and they still enjoy playing it... (or something along those lines -- please note: not an exact quote)

If only I could still enjoy listening it... heard it too many times, and mostly, I'm skipping to FCOL....

William

[ps: I'll have a blast with Paradise tomorrowinght anyway, but please... something else next time, okay?]

NP: Empyrium - ...A Wintersunset - 02 - Under Dreamskies

It's not just a song, it's a piece of history.

Name any song thats 25 years old or older that still gets played on radio, tv and bars and is still liked by the new generation as well as the older generation. A song that still will be in the top 100 in the upcoming 25 years.

There are not many songs that cover all of the above. This song will never be forgotten. (As the new songs of today are forgotten after 2 months).

The only song that comes close is Bohemian Raphsody (or whatever spelling is ;p and some Rolling Stones songs).

:)

I'm not disputing that, I'm just trying to make the point that I, personally, think it's rather overrated and hugely overplayed. Whenever people find out I like Meat Loaf, they're like "ooh, wait... Paradise By the Dashboard Light" and then I'm like... yeah sure, but he has lots and lots of better songs. To be honest, if I were to rank the song on BOOH, Paradise would come in 6th place, before 2 out of 3.


There's a whole lot more to Meat than just Paradise, Took the Words, Anything for love and I'd lie for you (and you're lucky if you run into someone (non-hardcore-loafer, that is) who knows any other song) and, well, maybe its just me... :-) ...but then that's my problem, and I just don't really like Paradise, so there you have it!

on Bohemian Rhapsody I have a slightly different view, I really like that one, musically and lyrically, but it's overplayed too....

William

Empyrium - ...A Wintersunset - 06 - Ordain'd To Thee [/i]

In 1993. On the album with the hit single Paul de Leeuw covered from Laura Pausini.

It's got to be higher than 11 :)) How high can we go? :lol:

Watching Meat and Patti sing Paradise on VH1 Storytellers is what got me hooked on his music in the first place :) I didn't even know who he was until I saw the show .. and now I'm having a ball making up for lost time.

I agree ... you've got to see Paradise live to really enjoy it. I'll never forget last year when I went to see him in New Brunswick, New Jersey. I was sitting right in front of the stage, off to the right. When they started the makeout scene, Patti pretended to brush him off and he started walking to our side of the stage. I stood up right away .... Meat saw me standing there, pointed and said to Patti "that one wants me". It was such a riot ... I'll never forget the look on either his or Patti's faces when he stood there waving his arms, trying to get me to come up on stage with him :)) Yes .. for a brief seconds I was the "other woman" in Paradise !!

Vicki

I saw Paradise in Liverpool in summer fun tour and the paramedics were dancing in the aisles. Also it came on in the pub back home once on a saturday night full of kids and the place went crazy!

1993 may be correct, but the album was "Voor U, Majesteit" (For You, Majesty) and he did it with Imca Marina.... I have it on tape somewhere....

"Ik Wil Niet Dat Je Liegt" (the Laura Pausini cover) was on another album, "ParaCDmol" I think its called

Yeah indeed, you are right, i was wrong. Well, i was in the right direction :lol:

He Vicky: great story :lol:

:twisted: Hi Bart.
I think you misunderstood me before :lol: .
I didn't mean that nobody had coverd the song (although what you said was a suprise for me),but that no other writter I can think of has coverd the subject of getting married for the wrong reason and spending the rest of your lives hating each other.But that is terrible news that Paradise has been coverd :evil: .Anyone got a noose? :mrgreen:
I understand what William (by the way,welcome to the forums) is trying to say.In my job I meet a lot of die hard Meat Loaf fans :roll: who for some reason are amazed when I tell them there is actually a Bat II 8O .
It is a shame when great songs suffer from overkill.But without that much exposure new generations might never learn about it.If you ask every Meat Loaf fan what was yout first Meat song?,you would not get many different answers.
I still enjoy Paradise (thankfully) but there are songs by other people which I though got real old real quick :? .

I love this one - loads of great memories associated with it, but also what a utterly fantastic song - i just love it!!!

9/10

Heat
xxx

STOP RIGHT THERE!

Actually, there is another cover version of Paradise by the Frisian (region of the Netherlands) group called De Kast. It's in het Fries (as we call it) and lyrics (both in Fries and Dutch) can be found here, amonst places.

Since I utterly detest that band (and as I said before, don't go completely nuts for Paradise) I can't say I like this version, but if you feel like tracking it down... hunt ahead!

Nice: A translation in "Fries". Only by read the lyrics I think this is better than the Paul de Leeuw-version. Than version is too short and the lyrics are translated, but the humor and the details of the lyrics are dissappeared :( Probably it's nearly impossible to make a good translation from a song with Steinman-lyrics, but it seems the "De Kast"-translation is quite good!

Actually, I think that with the Paul de Leeuw version, the "humor" in the lyrics --surprisingly I might add -- survived rather well... but not that I find Paradise a "funny" / "humorous" song... still don't like it that much... ah well...

I also think it's not a "funny" song. With humor I meant more: the nice way (originele manier) to tell a story which is actually really sad.
In the Paul de Leeuw-version I remember for example the "Praying for the end of time"-part isn't really translated. They sing global meaning of (this part of) the song but not the, a little cynical, way to describe this.

I've never heard the covers from Paul de Leeuw and de Kast (de kast means The Closet). But I would like to hear them.

Maybe you can search with Kazaa on "paradijs bij het dashboardlicht" from Paul de Leeuw (means Paul the Lion :D )

Paradise rocks - 10/10

10/10 it's a classic!

Paradise is the first Meat song that I ever heard, it was "the" song of my senior year in high school. For that reason alone (but for SO many other reasons as well) is rates: 10/10

Sherrie

Excellent song pure and simple 10/10, no one can say this song is overated and overplayed, it is pure Rock'n'Roll which everyone loves and this song will be loved for generations to come.

This one gets definitely a 10/10 because it's one of that songs, that makes me everytime happy, when i hear it. It's a great song.
Rushour :D :wink: :!:

Not 2 B a partypooper, but I've said that, I've meant that when I said that, and I will continue to say and mean that.... then you may think otherwise, but please, allow me to not like it, ok?

An absolute classic, surely one of the greatest live performance songs ever!

It is hilarious and still musically amazing. A wonderfully funny:

9/10

i give it a 9/10

This song is so fanominale, but just think how obsurd it sounded in 1976 when Meat and Jimmy were auditioning the record. I can still see them being kicked out of offices, but what did those a$$holes know, the record went on to sell...well you know, lol. The song is just so brillant and Meat's live performance is incredible as well. This is a song that whenever you turn it on it puts you in a good mood, much in the same sense as "Dead Ringer For Love". I think the tragic part at the end is hysterical but at the same time, you can also find yourself very much relating to it. Great Steinman song and great Meat performance.

10/10

In fact, there's no song featured on "Bat Out Of Hell" that I wouldn't give 10/10. I just love the record.

8) 9/10 8)

Does anyone know who sang the female lead on the "Rock and Roll Hero" album? It was a live performance from about 1987, I think.

I remember doing this song at Karaoke once a long time ago. Patti's job is definitely safe! :lol:

I bet that that live version on "Rock n Roll Hero" is the same as on the "Live (at Wembley)" album, so it must be either Amy or Elaine Goff (how would I know?)

It is the same. Maybe both are singing Paradise.

And both are kissing Meat :D , lucky ~~~~~~~ 8) :wink: :D

Lucky girls! :wink:

Re: 6. Paradise By The Dashboard Light
 

I agree White ! Like I've said before, it's just one of those songs you have to see to really enjoy it :))

In album --- Original version 7
In album --- Storytellers version 10 (it got me hooked on Meat !)
In concert ---- 11 /10 (can we go any higher?)

Vicki

Thanks Bart :)) After all this time, I still can't get it out of my mind :lol:
Vicki

Vickip!
One month ago you said PBTD is 11. At now only 7. What is the right?

I'm sorry White .. my mistake :oops:
Are we only rating album versions of the songs, or live versions too?

Last month I was only rating the live version of Paradise .... because to me it's one of those songs you just have to watch to enjoy it :) Meat and Patti make a fantastic team!

The original BOOH version is still very good .. but just not as good as the live version Meat does today :)) If you're only rating the original album version, it would be 7/10. But if you're rating a live version from today, it would be 11/10.

Does that make sense?

Vicki

it makes sense to me. :D

Thanks Bart :))

Vicki

It makes sense to me too, because I hardly ever play the album-version.
Think that is what we are rating here, right :??:
If so 7/10
If it's the live version 10/10

xxx

Mariella

Re: 6. Paradise By The Dashboard Light
 

I would say:
Album: 9 (original version)
In Concert: impossible to rate :lol:

That's great Mariella :)) I'm glad we think alike !
Vicki

I still remember as if it was only yesterday. When I listened to the BOOH album for the first time, back in '77, as a seventeen year old kid. I was absolutly stunned by the 5 songs I'd listened to up to this point. And then Paradise started! Holy Cow!
Geniuos, absolute musical genious.
And little did I know I had yet to hear the best song on the album.
Got to give this the overblown 11/10 what else could it be?

You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Dottie


Great plot, and vocals and music & everything else.

Original: 10
NOTP: 12

I agree with peat, three great songs in one, I even know the words to the baseball commentary off by heart (betya think im sad now lol)

10/10 for paradise, I'm sure you'll agree it deserves it!

I agree that paradise deserves 10 out of 10. Have got it as my ring tone

Debs :D

Debs said: Debs- I can scarcely contain my envy!!!! I have a stinky Verizon phone that does not offer a single Meat ring tone, so I had to settle for Honky Tonk Woman by the Stones. (Good one, true, but it's no Paradise!!!)

Sherrie

Absolutely classic Rock'n'Roll lust song (at least on the part of Meat!!!) - great tunes (all of them).

Vickip - you rate what you darn well like!!! :lol:

Wild_Honey - you've warmed me up :D

Anyway...

I reckon the original album version deserves about 9.75, and the live version 15/10!!! Really!

The first time I heard "Paradise" I have to admit that I just liked it. It was just a rock n' roll song!

Then I saw it live on MTV (The History Of Meat Loaf Live) in 94 and I thought:
What is this guy doing? .... 8O :mrgreen: okaaaayyyyy! he's having a ball for sure! :twisted: and so am I!

Once I saw it really live I was amazed and speechless!

"Paradise" is a short movie... you can't separate the sound from the image!


9/10 on the album
11/10 live!

nb: december Wembley version was really nice... maybe a bit too theatrical... but I do love the last part of "Guess the animal!" and the jacket is the best I saw 'till now!

nb2: I have a wish about "Paradise" live... but I'll keep it for me! :P nothing naughty, just technicaly! 8)

After id lie for you, :D and anything for love , :D :D The best duet with Mousie is paradise, :D when it gets to the arguing bit everyone goes ballistic. :D Love it :wink:

10/10

Hands up, who's tried this on kareoke?!!

Luke

Paradise is nice song. I laugh every time when I heard thet Play-by-play part. There is those background voices. :wink: 10/10

It's a great feel good song and for that alone it gets 9/10

(Dons flame proof suit)

I'm a little bored of it live now though, I know I've been lucky to see Meat live so many times, and I can appreciate why it is such a staple of his live shows, but for me I'd rather he used those 20 minutes for something else. Bat and Deadringer never seem to look tired and jaded, but Paradise does to me, it's become a bit of a parody of the great live song it was in my opinion. It's still good live don't get me wrong, but not as good as it has been, and there's such a wealth of material to choose from that I wish he'd drop the song now and again and give something else another chance.

finally! someone else dares to say it! The best version of Paradise I've seen in years was done a couple of years ago on a Dutch TV show, where they did the single version (the heavily cut version without the play-by-play) live. Lasted about 5 minutes, and it rocked.
But for 'real' concerts, I'd say do it in 10 minutes or so (no extended make out sections, no elaborate fight scenes, just play the song) and use the time which comes available for A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste, Sailor To A Siren, Surf's Up, Execution Day or whatever.

Impossible ofcourse to leave this song out during a concert. And 10 minutes its impossible too. Its just one of those songs were meat does no edit versions, just like Bat. he does edit live versions now with AFL and Took the words.

Excuse-me? :evil:
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

I raise my hand proudly and say, this is a fun song to act. I would love to sing this live in front of an audience someday, but all of you and I both know, that I would never be able to pull it off like Meat does. He is fantastic in this song. Both versions are awesome, but live its better by an inch.

OK, I've got my tin hat and flack jacket on ......

I don't think I've ever been overly struck on this one. I'm glad I'm not the only person who feels this one drags at concerts either. I've never been able to put my finger on why I'm not so keen on it - it's just me!

I agree with Bart. You can cut AFL, because everything Jim put in the song is still there. If you do it with Paradise, it isn't.

Listen to the live version on the Storytellers CD again, and tell me what you're missing. I find that to be enough proof it can be done, and done well, in less then 10 minutes.

Yes it can, but you know that the storytellers version has been cut.

Yup :x

But that's not the point: it proves you can play a decent version of PBTDBL in less then 10 minutes. And although it's cut - what did they leave out? The fight scene at the end (and yes, I'm completely ignoring the story in the middle from the DVD). If you leave the end in, it's still under 12 minutes...

Personally, I've had it with Paradise...

The first time i heard this song was a t a concert and I am actually quite disappointed that the album version aren't as long as the live one. ;)

A WHALE! :P

I also think the live version is greater than the original.

This Is one of the gratest songs ever made sheer poatry and supurb singing better when he dose it live

100000/100000

Absolutely brilliant song. Apparently the original demo version was 25 minutes long or something, I'd love to hear that.

9/10

Pud :twisted:

Amazing song!!! 100/10.

This is my story to the song. (I supose it's different for the everyone)

They meet and have a virgin relationship until they sleep together. Then she gets all loved up but he still ain't sure but gets engaged anyway. Then the fear of eachother just fizzles out the relationship until eventually even seeing eachother irritates them. they then leave eachother.


Story teller I aint.


Rock and roll to the finest at the core of all time rock and roll!!!!!!!!! I saw it live and it was the most funniest thing i have ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This song has absolutely everything !!

10/10 !

Man, that´s paradise! Do I have to say anything?

Well, I´ll do:
A song where the lyrics are more important than the melody. Just a great story! It´s like a lttle musical (well, most of Jim´s songs are).

The only thing I dont like on paradise is the guitar intro, I wouldn´t say I hate it but it doesnt really fit.
If I play it to people, they say what a crap that is just during the intro and then turn it off.

9,5 (because of the intro)

Owe this song discovery of Meat Loaf.

Great song and very original

10/10

Is there a better song to dance and sing to when you are p*ssed?

I have lost my voice a fair few times screaming my lungs out to this on the dancefloor.

10/10

Fantastic song! I can easily see why this has been voted near the top in countless 'Greatest Song' polls around the world.

10/10

Genius.

On the dancefloor???? You really wanna say that you´ve got clubs around where Meat´s music is played??? :shock:
That must be great, here is always such flat charts-crap played...:-(

Mostly at parties, but there was a club that used to play it. But that got shut down when it lost it's licence for admitting and selling alcohol to under agers. I think I last visited when I was 17.

Now you know very well that there isn't a demo of this song. Meat said the original performances went on for something like 27 minutes. They didn't 'demo' any of the songs on 'Bat' - as Meat said, it couldn't be done. Unitl they met Todd Rundgren, nobody had any idea how to turn these songs into a record. Hence why they used to play the songs live in people's offices! :cool:

Aparently, the 'Gonna go all the way tonight...' bit went on for AGES. Very Broadwayish, lots of harmonies and couterpoint. Todd just said "Whoa! What's going on here?!? Just sing it four times and move on!" (or words to that effect ;))

Anyway, back on topic - This song was the clincher for me. I'd heard Two Out Of Three, and loved it. Hearing Paradise just confirmed how great Meat/Steinman are, ie thhat they weren't a one-trick pony. It's also the first Meat Loaf song I ever performed live, so that would make it the song I've sung live MORE THAN ANY OTHER!!! How cool is that??!


10/10

10/10

Its a GOOD song. BUT it has some problems:
*In the verses before Ruzzutio, meat makes his high pitched 'I can see paradise by the dashboard Light" and sounds like a girl.
*It gets a little crumbliness sounding on the second "Doubly Blessed" corus
*Overplayed and preformed when he could be doing Reed'em and weep live or stuff he hasn't sung in years.

8/10

:|

QFT.

One of the pubs we go to, and I must admit it is more for the trendy poser type people will play a meat song for us. But we are limited to 1 and it is either paradise or dead ringer. It took us ages to convince the dj to play it and he was astounded that the place was jumping, and now it is played every week.

I love the intro - when it comes on it always gets a screechy woo hoo from me - especially when I've had a few too many!!

I've been to Flares Nightclub a few times and Paradise By The Dashboard Light has been played.

Amazing live but I have to give the album version an 8.

20

What's QFT mean?

yep normaly around 11pm with dead ringer

10/10 f###### excellent

What can you say 10/10 Dogs bits of a track