Author: Urban Bolta
Artist: Meat Loaf
Label: Mercury Records
Release: 2010
Running time: 64:56
Rating: 2.5/5
Meat Loaf’s career has seen plenty of ups and downs over its four decades, but his constant presence on the scene and countless hit singles that have climbed charts all over the world are reason enough that he’s still one of the biggest rock corporations on the planet. The man sticks to his tradition of releasing two or three albums a decade, which is enough to keep him plugged into the music machine, while touring roughly twice as often keeps the cash coming in for a carefree life. After 2006’s third chapter of the epic, “Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose,” this year it’s time for a new studio record, titled “Hang Cool Teddy Bear,” and, as is usual for him, a concept hangs over it again. The album is about a dying soldier who sees flashes of events before his eyes (each of the thirteen songs represents one) that he might have lived through if the Grim Reaper weren’t already calling him over.
Meat Loaf spent a good chunk of his career working hand in hand with Jim Steinman, the brilliant writer behind most of his hits; as sole songwriter, Steinman was the main reason the first two parts of the “Bat Out Of Hell” trilogy were such a success. Well, not this time. The eleventh studio record, “Meat Loaves,” is the fourth album without Steinman at the wheel, and despite plenty of other famous guests and songwriters who helped put the album together this time, it marks a swerve from decent to worse. If the previous album just about managed to feed the hungry fans, the new one definitely won’t. Missing out on the creative genius of Steinman is too heavy a blow, and not even Desmond Child, Justin Hawkins or Jon Bon Jovi can soften it. Those musicians, along with a whole bunch of others, contributed their share as writers to the new songs, but the fact remains that Steinman’s knack for ballads built on the interplay of piano, guitar and vocals is unique and can’t just be swapped out.
The album opens with Peace on Earth, with a fast rock’n’roll rhythm and some orchestral touches, but without that recognizable Meat Loaf chemistry it understandably zips past without leaving much of a mark. Living On The Outside lifts the mood a bit thanks to its cheerful main melody and a nice duet with Patti Russo, while Los Angeloser delivers the cold shower, with all the album’s key flaws caught in one song. Meat Loaf shies away from some of the more traditional musical elements that have defined his career so far and serves up a more modern approach instead. At the opening bars of Los Angeloser we have to double-check that Kanye West or some other hip hop act isn’t playing in the player, and the forced pile-up of different instruments in a single song feels utterly headless and annoying in Meat Loaf’s music. Song Of Madness is a departure from the standard tunes, setting itself against the many calmer pieces with a heavy rock riff, and as such it’s a welcome breath of fresh air, and the guest guitarist is none other than Brian May! Listening to the album, we get nostalgic for the days when every song was a real monument, built on tension and a majestic chorus, and Did You Ever Love Somebody comes close to those times. After a run of tracks well below the Meat Loaf name’s standard, the album closes with one of its peaks, the dreamy Elvis In Vegas.
Even though it’s well known that Meat Loaf has pretty much run out of steam after a long career, in 2010 we fans still expect more from him than what he gave us on “Hang Cool Teddy Bear.” Some of the songs seem to exist just for their own sake. A whole thirteen songs at first confidently promise a hearty helping of rock operettas, but the truth is far from it. For starters, Meat Loaf could have trimmed the album down to the ten or so best songs and separated the wheat from the chaff, ditching tracks like Like A Rose and a few other flowers that, in my opinion, aren’t exactly something to be proud of.
Where did all the pomp of his music go? The grand piano playing and the playful dialogues between male and female vocals are completely gone (and with them, admittedly, the over-the-top sugariness), and the gap is filled by a wider palette of instruments and not-always-successful choir parts that add no value, if anything the opposite. This time Meat Loaf took a somewhat more modern approach, perhaps utopianly aiming at new fans, but he’s playing with fire, because average rock ballads won’t pull anyone new into the world of his music, and at most some older follower will turn their back on him. Even the big-name guests, besides the stars already mentioned, the album also features James Michael, Steve Vai and Hugh Laurie, won’t convince the listener otherwise.
Lineup
Meat Loaf – vocals
Paul Crook – guitar
Randy Flowers – guitar, vocals
Tim Pierce – guitar
Justin Hawkins – guitar, vocals
James Michael – guitar, vocals
Rick Brantley – guitar, vocals
Rob Cavallo – guitar
Chris Chaney – bass guitar
Kasim Sulton – bass guitar, vocals
John Miceli – drums
Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards
Patti Russo – vocals
CC Coletti – vocals
Guests:
Kara DioGuardi – vocals (4)
Jack Black – vocals (6)
Brian May – guitar (5)
Steve Vai – guitar (5 & 7)
Hugh Laurie – piano (4)
Production
Rob Cavallo
Track list
1. Peace On Earth
2. Living On The Outside
3. Los Angeloser
4. If I Can’t Have You
5. Love is Not Real / Next Time You Stab Me In The Back
6. Like A Rose
7. Song Of Madness
8. Did You Ever Love Somebody
9. California Isn’t Big Enough (Hey There Girl)
10. Running Away From Me
11. Lets Be In Love
12. If It Rains
13. Elvis In Vegas
