Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
Encyclopedia
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, 29 years after Bat Out of Hell
(1977), and 13 years after Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell
(1993).
Produced by Desmond Child
, it is the only Bat album not involving Jim Steinman
in its production. The album was 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 tour
", followed the release, concentrating upon songs from the Bat albums.
report, Meat Loaf and Steinman started working on an 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.
The composer suffered some health setbacks around 2004. 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, in 2006, David Sonenberg
, Steinman's manager, said:
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 has stated 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.
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 other two were covers of Steinman's demos intended for musical theater projects, at the time unreleased. 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," in September 2007, he expected it to open in London
in 2010.
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 has said "continuity is an important thing." However, in another interview he said that his contribution was considerably less than on some earlier Meat Loaf albums.
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 has toured with Meat Loaf for over thirteen years. Finally, Jennifer Hudson
performs on "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be".
, 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
." "Blind as a Bat", written by Desmond Child, tells about how one is thankful for the love another has given him, even after he has done deeds to suggest that he does not deserve such love.
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 Pig (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:
"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.
"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 short one written by Steinman. A few lyrics of Cry to Heaven begin rather sweet, but turning rather bitter: (Cry baby cry/Cry, cry to heaven/If that doesn't do it for you/Go ahead and cry like hell.) The two parts are bridged by an instrumental dominated by an Irish flute
.
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."
and sold about 81,000 copies in its opening week, his best since Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell. However, it slipped to #60 after three weeks. The album also reached #3 in the UK charts, but quickly fell off.
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." 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 lamented Steinman's absence. According to Allmusic, "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, the review commended Meat Loaf's voice: he sings "his heart out as he valiantly tries to make this Bat a worthy successor to the originals."
, 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.
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 has said that it only took four hours to film. The music video for "The Monster Is Loose" consists of animation. Its storyline is about a biker who rescues a girl from an enormous bat.
The videos for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "Cry over Me" and "The Monster Is Loose" are included as bonus features on the 3 Bats Live
DVD, released in October 2007.
with Pandora's Box
. Steinman's demo of "In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher is King" was part of the preparations for the unrealized Batman: The Musical project. Steinman's "Cry to Heaven" demo was intended for the possibility that Steinman would provide songs for a musical based on the film Cry-Baby
. Cry-Baby
has since been staged, but without any work from Steinman. "Bad for Good" was featured as the title track on Steinman's 1981 album
. Some of the songs on the Bad for Good
album were once intended to be a Meat Loaf solo album. "Seize the Night" first appeared as "Carpe Noctem" in the German language musical Tanz der Vampire. It was also performed in English in the 2002 Broadway show called Dance of the Vampires
, and demos of the song in English became widely available around that time. "If It Ain't Broke, Break It" first appeared in the MTV film Wuthering Heights
, and a recording of the song was released on the soundtrack CD for the film.
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'd 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
.
's Royal Albert Hall
, and performed many of those songs on the rest of his 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, Uncasville, and Mexico City
.
Marion Raven joined Meat Loaf for the first leg of his 2007 tour, Seize the Night 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 was released in October 2007, entitled 3 Bats Live
. It also contains a bonus disc featuring the promotional videos and animations from Bat III.
Portions of the tour were captured on film in the Theatrical Documentary
Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise
, directed by Bruce David Klein. It's scheduled to be released in 2008.
The Neverland Express
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, the third and last in the Bat Out of Hell series. It was released in October 2006, 29 years after Bat Out of Hell
Bat out of Hell
Bat Out of Hell is the second album by American rock musician Meat Loaf, and his first collaboration with composer Jim Steinman, released in October 1977 on Cleveland International/Epic Records #PE-34974. Selling approximately 200,000 copies per year as of 2010, it is the fifth best-selling album...
(1977), and 13 years after Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell
Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell
Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell is a 1993 studio album by Meat Loaf and was written and produced by Jim Steinman. It was released sixteen years after Meat Loaf's second solo album Bat Out of Hell. It reached #1 in the US, the UK and Australia...
(1993).
Produced by Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
, it is the only Bat album not involving Jim Steinman
Jim Steinman
James Richard "Jim" Steinman is an American composer, lyricist, and Grammy Award-winning record producer responsible for several hit songs. He has also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer...
in its production. The album was subject to a legal dispute between Meat Loaf and Steinman, who had registered the phrase "Bat Out of Hell" as a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
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 tour
Seize the Night tour
Seize the Night is a 2007 world tour by Meat Loaf to promote the Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose album....
", followed the release, concentrating upon songs from the Bat albums.
History
According to a ReutersReuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
report, Meat Loaf and Steinman started working on an 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.
The composer suffered some health setbacks around 2004. 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, in 2006, David Sonenberg
David Sonenberg
David Sonenberg is known for being the founder of the music management label DAS Communications. Sonenberg also dabbled in the film industry as the producer of the Academy Award winning film When We Were Kings....
, Steinman's manager, said:
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
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
"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
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, for $50 million and to prevent further use by the writer/producer.
Meat Loaf has stated 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 other two were covers of Steinman's demos intended for musical theater projects, at the time unreleased. 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
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
on acid," in September 2007, he expected it to open in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 2010.
Production
Meat Loaf had announced that Michael BeinhornMichael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn is an American musician and record producer.Beinhorn started his professional career as a musician, playing keyboards in Bill Laswell's Material during the 1980s...
was producing the record, but Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
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
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
CDs to get the assembled musicians in the mood. In addition to musicians from his touring band, the Neverland Express
Neverland Express
The Neverland Express is the name for Meat Loaf's live band. The name is most likely taken from Jim Steinman's affinity for Peter Pan.This list does not contain guest members.-Current lineup:Paul Crook: Lead Guitars: Guitars, VocalsDanny Miranda: Bass...
, 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
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
, who played on "Bad for Good". The album also featured guest performances by John 5
John Lowery
John William Lowery , best known by the stage name John 5, is an American guitarist. His stage name was bestowed on him in 1998 when he left David Lee Roth and joined the industrial metal group Marilyn Manson as their guitarist, taking over from Zim Zum...
, Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
and John Shanks
John Shanks
John Matthew Shanks is a modern rock writer and Grammy Award–winning producer.Born in New York City, Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17....
.
Meat Loaf says that he does not enjoy recording in studios. He compares the process to "going to the dentist and having root canal
Root canal
A root canal is the space within the root of a tooth. It is part of a naturally occurring space within a tooth that consists of the pulp chamber , the main canal, and more intricate anatomical branches that may connect the root canals to each other or to the surface of the root.-Root canal anatomy:...
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
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
, 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 has said "continuity is an important thing." However, in another interview he said that his contribution was considerably less than on some earlier Meat Loaf albums.
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 KasimKasim SultonKasim Sulton is an American bass guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Best known for his work with Utopia, Sulton sang lead on 1980's "Set Me Free," Utopia's only top 40 hit in the United States...
... 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
Marion Raven
Marion Elise Ravn, born 25 May 1984 in Lørenskog, Norway, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, and former child actress. Her surname is of Norse origin, with Ravn meaning Raven, which she adopted as her stage name Marion Raven as well as her trademark raven logo. She was one-half of the now defunct...
duets on "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". "What About Love?" features Patti Russo
Patti Russo
Patricia "Patti" Russo is an American singer/songwriter/actress. She is perhaps best known as Meat Loaf's female lead vocalist, touring the world with his Neverland Express band for eighteen years.-Career:...
, who has toured with Meat Loaf for over thirteen years. Finally, Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...
performs on "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be".
Compositions
The album opens with the title track. "The Monster Is Loose" is highly influenced by the Gothic style of John 5John Lowery
John William Lowery , best known by the stage name John 5, is an American guitarist. His stage name was bestowed on him in 1998 when he left David Lee Roth and joined the industrial metal group Marilyn Manson as their guitarist, taking over from Zim Zum...
, who plays the main guitar parts. The song is hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, and continues Meat Loaf's association with Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
established with Phil Rizzuto
Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
's commentary on "Paradise by the Dashboard Light
Paradise by the Dashboard Light
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was first released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley...
." "Blind as a Bat", written by Desmond Child, tells about how one is thankful for the love another has given him, even after he has done deeds to suggest that he does not deserve such love.
According to Steinman, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now
It's All Coming Back to Me Now
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" is a power ballad, written by Jim Steinman. According to Steinman the song was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. The Sunday Times posits that "Steinman protects his songs as if they...
" was inspired by Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
, 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
Marion Raven
Marion Elise Ravn, born 25 May 1984 in Lørenskog, Norway, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, and former child actress. Her surname is of Norse origin, with Ravn meaning Raven, which she adopted as her stage name Marion Raven as well as her trademark raven logo. She was one-half of the now defunct...
, who had been working on her solo album with Child, was chosen because the timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
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
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
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
Cry Over Me
"Cry Over Me" is the second single from Meat Loaf's 2007 album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. It was written by Diane Warren and released on 7 May 2007 in the UK.- History :...
" 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
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
says "In the Land of the Pig (The Butcher is King)" is "five Olympian minutes crying out for a full production at Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
." Guitarist Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
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 slaughterhouseSlaughterhouseA slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
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
Patti Russo
Patricia "Patti" Russo is an American singer/songwriter/actress. She is perhaps best known as Meat Loaf's female lead vocalist, touring the world with his Neverland Express band for eighteen years.-Career:...
, is a sexually charged song that echoes "Paradise by the Dashboard Light
Paradise by the Dashboard Light
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was first released in 1977 on the album Bat Out of Hell, with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley...
" 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 lose.
- 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
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...
, "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be" is a pessimistic song based upon the myth that Pandora
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts...
closed her jar before allowing "hope" to escape (the song first appeared on the only album performed by female group Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box (band)
Pandora's Box was a female pop music group assembled by Jim Steinman in the 1980s. Some of its members had previously worked with Steinman, in the ensemble Fire Inc., on the album Bat Out of Hell, on live shows and on other studio recordings...
). 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 short one written by Steinman. A few lyrics of Cry to Heaven begin rather sweet, but turning rather bitter: (Cry baby cry/Cry, cry to heaven/If that doesn't do it for you/Go ahead and cry like hell.) The two parts are bridged by an instrumental dominated by an Irish flute
Irish flute
The term Irish Flute refers to a conical-bore, simple-system wooden flute of the type favored by classical flautists of the early 19th century, or to a flute of modern manufacture derived from this design...
.
Cover and booklet
The cover follows the style of the previous two albums called Bat Out of Hell. Julie BellJulie Bell
Julie Bell is an American painter. A fantasy artist and wildlife artist, she is a former bodybuilder and fantasy model for her husband, painter Boris Vallejo.-Career:...
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 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and sold about 81,000 copies in its opening week, his best since Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell. However, it slipped to #60 after three weeks. The album also reached #3 in the UK charts, but quickly fell off.
Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
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
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
-on-steroids approach', while the album was "overblown, frequently ridiculous and largely devoid of irony." 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
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
named it as 'Album of the Year This Week', calling it "absurdist, righteous majesty".
Some reviews lamented Steinman's absence. According to Allmusic, "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, the review commended Meat Loaf's voice: 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 NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, 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
Cry Over Me
"Cry Over Me" is the second single from Meat Loaf's 2007 album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. It was written by Diane Warren and released on 7 May 2007 in the UK.- History :...
", which was released on May 7, 2007.
P. R. Brown
Paul R. Brown is a graphic designer, photographer, and music video director.In 1996 he founded Bau-da Design Lab, which currently operates out of Los Angeles and New York. P.R. Brown is well-known for his album designs for musicians such as Mötley Crüe, Korn, Godsmack, and early in his career he...
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 has said that it only took four hours to film. The music video for "The Monster Is Loose" consists of animation. Its storyline is about a biker who rescues a girl from an enormous bat.
The videos for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "Cry over Me" and "The Monster Is Loose" are included as bonus features on the 3 Bats Live
3 Bats Live
3 Bats Live is a music DVD by rock singer Meat Loaf. Recorded in 2007 at London, Ontario during his "Seize the Night" tour, it mainly features songs from the Bat out of Hell trilogy.- Track listing :...
DVD, released in October 2007.
Track listing
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 albumConcept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
with Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box (band)
Pandora's Box was a female pop music group assembled by Jim Steinman in the 1980s. Some of its members had previously worked with Steinman, in the ensemble Fire Inc., on the album Bat Out of Hell, on live shows and on other studio recordings...
. Steinman's demo of "In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher is King" was part of the preparations for the unrealized Batman: The Musical project. Steinman's "Cry to Heaven" demo was intended for the possibility that Steinman would provide songs for a musical based on the film Cry-Baby
Cry-Baby
Cry-Baby is a 1990 American teen musical film written and directed by John Waters. It stars Johnny Depp as 1950s teen rebel "Cry-Baby" Wade Walker, and also features an expansive ensemble cast that includes Amy Locane, Iggy Pop, Traci Lords, Ricki Lake, Kim McGuire, David Nelson, Susan Tyrrell, and...
. Cry-Baby
Cry-Baby (musical)
Cry-Baby is a musical based on the 1990 John Waters movie of the same name. The music is by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger, and the book is by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. O'Donnell and Meehan also adapted Waters' film Hairspray for the musical stage...
has since been staged, but without any work from Steinman. "Bad for Good" was featured as the title track on Steinman's 1981 album
Bad for Good
On the original vinyl release, "The Storm" and "Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through" were the A-side and B-side, respectively, of a 33-rpm 7" single, enclosed with the album. These tracks, according to Steinman's concept, are supposed to be the prelude and epilogue, respectively, of the album. The...
. Some of the songs on the Bad for Good
Bad for Good
On the original vinyl release, "The Storm" and "Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through" were the A-side and B-side, respectively, of a 33-rpm 7" single, enclosed with the album. These tracks, according to Steinman's concept, are supposed to be the prelude and epilogue, respectively, of the album. The...
album were once intended to be a Meat Loaf solo album. "Seize the Night" first appeared as "Carpe Noctem" in the German language musical Tanz der Vampire. It was also performed in English in the 2002 Broadway show called Dance of the Vampires
Dance of the Vampires
Dance of the Vampires is a musical remake of a 1967 Roman Polanski film of the same name . Polanski also directed the original German production of this musical...
, and demos of the song in English became widely available around that time. "If It Ain't Broke, Break It" first appeared in the MTV film Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights (2003 film)
Wuthering Heights was a modern-day adaptation of the classic novel that aired on MTV in 2003 and was later released on DVD. It stars Erika Christensen, Mike Vogel, Christopher Masterson, Katherine Heigl, John Doe, and Aimee Osbourne. The screenplay was by Max Enscoe and Annie deYoung, from an...
, and a recording of the song was released on the soundtrack CD for the film.
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
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
's version of the album came with an exclusive bonus track: a live version of "Testify" (from Couldn't Have Said It Better
Couldn't Have Said It Better
Couldn't Have Said It Better is a 2003 album by Meat Loaf.Only for the third time in his career, Meat Loaf released an album without any songs written by Jim Steinman...
). 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
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
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
Classic Albums
Classic Albums is a documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.-Format:...
DVD.
The version of the album available from Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
's iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
store includes two bonus tracks, a live version of "I'd 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
Heads Will Roll
Heads Will Roll EP is Marion Raven's first EP that was released on October 31, 2006. All of the songs were written by Raven in collaboration with numerous artists including Nikki Sixx , Scott Stevens and Freddy Herrera , Keith Nelson and Xavier Muriel , and Raine Maida...
.
Tour
Meat Loaf embarked on a 112 date world tour to promote the album. He performed a concert performing some songs from all three Bat Out of Hell albums on October 16 at LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, and performed many of those songs on the rest of his tour as well. He also performed a "Bat on Broadway" performance on November 2, 2006 at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Palace Theater
Palace Theatre, New York
The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre was built by Martin Beck a California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario. The project experienced a number of business problems before...
, as well as shows in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Atlantic City, Uncasville, and Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
.
Marion Raven joined Meat Loaf for the first leg of his 2007 tour, Seize the Night tour
Seize the Night tour
Seize the Night is a 2007 world tour by Meat Loaf to promote the Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose album....
. 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 was released in October 2007, entitled 3 Bats Live
3 Bats Live
3 Bats Live is a music DVD by rock singer Meat Loaf. Recorded in 2007 at London, Ontario during his "Seize the Night" tour, it mainly features songs from the Bat out of Hell trilogy.- Track listing :...
. It also contains a bonus disc featuring the promotional videos and animations from Bat III.
Portions of the tour were captured on film in the Theatrical Documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise
Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise
Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise is an independent theatrical documentary film that captures rocker Meat Loaf and his life in rehearsals and on the road during his 2007 World Tour....
, directed by Bruce David Klein. It's scheduled to be released in 2008.
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Cria A cria is the name for a baby camelid such as a llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. It comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, crya , was coined by British sailors who explored Chile in the 18th century and were quick to describe the camelids onomatopoeically... |
Gold | 50,000 |
| United States | Gold | 500,000 |
The Neverland ExpressNeverland ExpressThe Neverland Express is the name for Meat Loaf's live band. The name is most likely taken from Jim Steinman's affinity for Peter Pan.This list does not contain guest members.-Current lineup:Paul Crook: Lead Guitars: Guitars, VocalsDanny Miranda: Bass...
- Paul CrookPaul CrookPaul Crook is an American guitarist currently recording and performing with Meat Loaf. He has also recorded and toured with Anthrax, Sebastian Bach and Marya Roxx.-Biography:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(tracks 2, 4, 6, 10, 13) - Randy Flowers – guitar (tracks 2, 3, 10, 13)
- Kasim SultonKasim SultonKasim Sulton is an American bass guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Best known for his work with Utopia, Sulton sang lead on 1980's "Set Me Free," Utopia's only top 40 hit in the United States...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Mark Alexander – organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
(tracks 10, 13) - John MiceliJohn MiceliJohn Miceli is the current drummer for Meat Loaf's backing band, the Neverland Express.-Meat Loaf:Miceli began touring with Meat Loaf in 1991, and was a part of the Neverland Express when Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell took off, launching a major industry comeback for Meat Loaf...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(tracks 10, 13) - Patti RussoPatti RussoPatricia "Patti" Russo is an American singer/songwriter/actress. She is perhaps best known as Meat Loaf's female lead vocalist, touring the world with his Neverland Express band for eighteen years.-Career:...
– female lead vocals (track 11), backing vocals (tracks 10-13) - Carolyn "C.C." Coletti-Jablonski – backing vocals (tracks 10-13)
Regular Meat Loaf Studio Sidemen
- Kenny AronoffKenny AronoffKenny Aronoff is an American drummer. He has played drums for many musicians, including John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, Belinda Carlisle, Elton John, John Fogerty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, The BoDeans, Gregg Alexander, The Smashing Pumpkins, Tony Iommi, Jon Bon Jovi, Vasco Rossi, Cinderella and...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, drums (tracks 2, 6-8, 11, 12) - Brett Cullen (track 8), James Michael (track 2), Todd RundgrenTodd RundgrenTodd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
(tracks 1, 3, 4), Eric TroyerEric TroyerEric Lee Troyer is an American keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and occasional guitarist, best known as a member of ELO Part II and its successor, popular live band, The Orchestra. Troyer was a founding member of ELO Part II, having been recruited by band leader Bev Bevan in 1989.-Life and...
– backing vocals
Session Musicians
- Corky James – guitar
- David Levita – guitar (track 3)
- Clint Walsh – guitar (track 6)
- Dan Warner – guitar (tracks 3, 14)
- Rusty AndersonRusty AndersonRusty Anderson is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and music producer. He is best known as lead guitarist with Paul McCartney, though he has worked with an extensive list of artists in addition to his own solo career.-Early life:Rusty Anderson grew up in La Habra, California...
– guitar (tracks 8, 11-13) - Eric Sardinas – electric slide guitar solo (track 10)
- Matt Rollings – piano, organ (tracks 2, 6, 10, 13)
- Bettie Ross – pipe organ (tracks 7, 8, 12)
- Randy Canto (track 10), Doug Emery (track 14), Harry Sommerdahl (tracks 2, 7, 9, 10), Chris Vrenna (track 6) – programming
- Stephanie Bennett – harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
(tracks 6, 14) - Eric Rigler – Irish fluteIrish fluteThe term Irish Flute refers to a conical-bore, simple-system wooden flute of the type favored by classical flautists of the early 19th century, or to a flute of modern manufacture derived from this design...
(track 14) - Gary Grant, Steve Madaio – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
(track 10) - Tom Saviano – tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
(track 10) - Don Marchese – baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
(track 10) - Victor Indrizzo – drums (tracks 1, 3-5, 9)
- Lee Levin – percussion (track 14)
- Graham PhillipsGraham Phillips (actor)Graham David Phillips is an American actor and singer.-Personal life:Phillips was born in Laguna Beach, California. During his K-9 school years he attended St...
– boy sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
(tracks 7, 13, 14) - Becky Baeling (track 11), Andreas Carlsson (track 8), Desmond ChildDesmond ChildDesmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
, Marti Frederiksen (track 11), Diana Grasselli (tracks 2, 7, 13, 14), John Gregory (tracks 3, 11), Storm Lee, Jeanette Olsson, Jason Paige, Keely Pressly (track 3), Camile Saviola (track 10), Maria Vidal (track 13) – backing vocals - Barbara Allen, Vernon Allen, Esther Austin, Bonita Brisco, Cheryl Brown, Sonya Byous, Jessica Jones, Joseph Powell, Sandra Stokes, Roshuan Stovall – gospel choir (tracks 8, 13)
Guest performers
- Brian MayBrian MayBrian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
– guitar (track 4) - Steve VaiSteve VaiSteven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
– guitar (track 6) - Eric BazilianEric BazilianEric M. Bazilian , is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.-Early life:...
– guitar (tracks 2-5, 7-9, 11-13) - John 5John LoweryJohn William Lowery , best known by the stage name John 5, is an American guitarist. His stage name was bestowed on him in 1998 when he left David Lee Roth and joined the industrial metal group Marilyn Manson as their guitarist, taking over from Zim Zum...
– guitar (track 1) - John ShanksJohn ShanksJohn Matthew Shanks is a modern rock writer and Grammy Award–winning producer.Born in New York City, Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17....
– guitar (tracks 8, 11) - Jennifer HudsonJennifer HudsonJennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...
– guest vocals (track 13) - Marion RavenMarion RavenMarion Elise Ravn, born 25 May 1984 in Lørenskog, Norway, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, and former child actress. Her surname is of Norse origin, with Ravn meaning Raven, which she adopted as her stage name Marion Raven as well as her trademark raven logo. She was one-half of the now defunct...
– guest vocals (track 3)
Orchestra
- David Campbell – arranger/conductor on multiple tracks
- Roberto Cani, Darius Campo, Mario de Leon, Joel Derouin, Bruce Dukov, Armen Garabedian, Berj Garabedian, Endre Granat, Gerardo Hilera, Sharon Jackson, Peter Kent, Songa Lee-Kito, Natalie Legget, Sid Page, Alyssa Park, Michelle Richards, Haim Shitrum, Tereza Stanislav, Sarah Thornblade, Philip Vaiman, Josefina Vergara, John Witenberg, Ken Yerke – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Denyse Buffum, Brian Dembow, Andrew Duckles, Matt Funes, Marda Todd, Evan Wilson – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Larry Corbet, Suzi Katayama, Steve Richards, Daniel Smith – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Nico Abondolo, Michael Valerio – double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Rick Baptist, Wayne Bergeron, Charles FindleyChuck FindleyChuck Findley is an American session musician. Most widely-known as a trumpet player, he also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone...
, John Fumo, Jon Lewis – trumpet - Steven Holtman, Alan Kaplan, Bill Reichenbach Jr. – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- William Reichenbach, Douglas Tornquist – bass trombone
- Steven Becknell, Joe Meyer, John Reynolds, Brad Warnaar – French horn
- Douglas Tornquist – tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
- Earle Dumbler – oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
- MB Gordy – orchestral percussion