Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell 3 Review

20 Sep 2006

I’ve always had a soft spot for Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” albums. You really can’t compare them to any contemporary music, since they’ve always been unapologetically out of step with current trends. Now in 2006 comes Bat Out of Hell 3: The Monster is Loose. I was fortunate enough to get some advance listens (it will be released on Halloween), and I thought I’d write a quick review.

Mr. Loaf’s longtime collaborator and producer, Jim Steinman, is more of a role player here, contributing 7 leftover songs from various projects over the years. Desmond Child now seems to be the main collaborator, and takes the producer helm as well. The record benefits from the change, and is much more enjoyable than I had any right to expect. Still present is all the theatrical, over-the-top bombast, but it also branches out a bit in the process. The rockers rock harder than ever, and many of the more personal songs are sung in such a way that you really feel Meat has lived the lyrics.

The first half of the disc is typically “Bat-like”. The production is solid and the songs are presented in such a confident manner that I eventually just gave-in and enjoyed it even though my brain was telling me otherwise. The opening track, “The Monster is Loose”, rocks harder than anything Meat Loaf has done to date. A couple of older Steinman songs, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and “Bad For Good” are here as well. I’m not sure why they would revive these songs, but they don’t sound terribly out of place, and fit in well enough with the rest of the album. “It’s All Coming Back” has been turned into a duet with the inclusion of phenomenal female vocalist Marion Raven.

It’s the second half of the disc where things hit their stride. “Alive”, “If God Could Talk”, “What About Love” and “Seize the Night” are my favorite songs on the album. In each, Meat’s vocals are so confident and sincere you can’t help but think that the lyrics hit close to home for him. Each also has a melody that will stick in your head and won’t let go. “The Future Just Ain’t What it Used to Be” contains some beautiful Brian Wilson-esque background vocals.

Taken as a whole, Bat Out of Hell 3 aims high and frequently delivers. While nothing will ever reach the heights of the original “Bat”, this was a pleasant surprise, and much more enjoyable than “Bat 2”. A confident and assured effort from start to finish, I think you’ll enjoy this disc if you’re looking for something different that rises above most of the phony pop-star dreck out there today. If you’re looking for subtlety, however, you’d best steer clear of this one.