Review: Meat Loaf "Bat Out Of Hell III"

No one needs an introduction to Meat Loaf, the atypical rock star most famous for his original 1977 opus, "Bat Out Of Hell." Despite several other releases in the 80s, Meat Loaf pretty much found himself shoved into the back of the fridge with a half eaten rotting block of cheese. The 90s "sequel" to the 1977 blockbuster record brought Meat Loaf back into the limelight in a massive way. But once again, the follow-up efforts could not hold a candle to Bat II, and Meat Loaf was getting colder by the minute. The logic behind entitling the next record "Bat III" was more transparent than Saran wrap.

And you know what? It should have worked. This is a damn good album. Meat Loaf pours his heart and soul into this baby and recruited some of the biggest folks in the industry to record it. Shamefully, despite a solid debut at # 8 on the album charts in 2006, the CD has only gone gold and yielded no hit singles.

In the Meat Loaf tradition, he tries to deliver an album of epic proportions. Huge, sweeping songs with unexpected bridges and twists keep things interesting. The hooks are very strong for most of the songs, with backing vocals and harmonies galore. The songs are so dramatic one could argue it is to a fault and just too over the top. And some of the ultra-heavy rockers just stick out like sore thumbs, making the record as a whole inconsistent. For example, I can't shift gears from the heaviest song the Loaf has ever done ("The Monster Is Loose") to his cover of the Celine Dion (!) song, "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" (video - don't worry...it's the Meat Loaf version).

Bottom line: when the song works, it really works. Meat Loaf sings his lungs out and if you've enjoyed the theatrical sounds of the previous Bat records, you will like most of this one.

iPOD-worthy: 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11

Meat Loaf on MeatSpace...I mean MySpace. Official site.