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| re: Bat 4?????????? | |
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rockfenris2005 11:03 am UTC 04/02/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Bat 4?????????? - Klasien 10:48 am UTC 04/02/13 |
This is a piece from the World Tour 83 programme: The Hungry Fighter by Steve Gett MEAT LOAF's recently released 'Midnight At The Lost And Found' LP has met with a mixed response from both critics and fans. Many have concluded that a Meat album just ain't the same without the involvement of Jim Steinman, the man who penned 'Bat Out Of Hell' and 'Deadringer', and aspersions have also been cast over the quality of Mr. Loaf's voice. Meat can't sing anymore?!? You gotta be kidding… To these ears, 'MATL&F' is an excellent record, far superior to its predecessors. The material is more accessible and the overall direction extremely positive. Cuts like 'Razor's Edge', 'If You Really Want To' and 'Don't You Look At Me Like That' (a duet with former Rossington-Collins leading lady Dale Krantz) are all rock-solid proof that Meat can still deliver the goods and when I talked to him in New York recently he seemed over the moon about the record. "I'm really happy with this album," he declared enthusiastically. "The only way that it's different to me is that the songs are shorter and everything's more concise. All the dramatics are there — that's the one thing no one can take away from me — and I think this one's better produced than the other two. But I'm dealing with Tom Dowd, who's like…phew!" Tom Dowd, who's previously worked with the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton, has indeed done a fine job on Meat's LP and I was keen to know how he'd come to be selected for the job. "Well, it sort of happened, the same way it did with Rundgren," explained Meat. "I heard he was available and interested in talking to me so I went down to meet him. But Tom doesn't work with everyone he sees — he sort of feels you out to see whether you're somebody he feels he can actually work with. He says: "I go in to make hit records, and if you don't want to make a hit record, then don't come here"" "I told him that I like hit records, but that artistic credibility mustn't be lost. We had a couple of minor arguments but on the whole things worked out fine and now we're real good friends. He's an artist, and so am I, but he doesn't let his ego run wild. His thing is to make the best record he can for the artiste he's got." "The thing I liked about making this record is that I don't remember doing the vocals! People have said that I freeze in the studio, that I get uptight, and Tom was ready for me to do this. But when I did a vocal for the song 'Midnight At The Lost And Found' he looked at me and said: "There ain't nothin' wrong with you!" That made me feel a lot better." In the absence of Jim Steinman, Meat became more involved with the songwriting and actually co-penned siz of the 10 tunes on the record. "I hadn't written in years because of Jimmy and when I started I wrote 10 songs that I had to throw out because they were dreadful! But as I progressed I went completely nuts and in the end they had to stop me from writing. Really — I'm not kidding! Tom Dowd and everyone said: "You gotta stop, you're driving yourself crazy!"" What made you decide to record another duet? "I just like doing them — I've always done them. The first records I ever did on Motown were with a girl and I've always sung with girls on stage. I like it, I'm used to it adn I think audiences enjoy it too. Whenever you're playing live, the more people you can involve in an act, the more entertaining it is. There's more to see — it's like a Fellini movie!" Do you plan to go back on the road soon? "Yeah, in fact I can't wait. We're planning to go to Europe at the end of August/September and we'll be playing a lot more dates in Great Britain. On the last tour we basically did the big halls like Wembley and I guess we'll still be doing those, but I'm also hoping to go into venues like Hammersmith Odeon. I really enjoy playing in smaller houses." How did you enjoy last year's British dates? "Oh, they were fine except for a couple of shows. Like I had asthma in Brighton and I was running off-stage and getting shots from a doctor because I couldn't breathe. Nobody in the audience knew, but I thought I was gonna pass out about 17 times! Also the last night in Birmingham I felt we just drifted through — but I think everyone was just exhausted." You seem to be looking pretty healthy these days? "I feel it too. In fact, I've lost weight — can you tell? I'm gearing up for the next tour and I've lost about 40 pounds. I do it out of boredom — it gives me something to do!" What are your plans before you go back on tour? "Well, I'm actually coming to Britain soon to do some videos — I've even thought about going to live there. One of the reasons is because of the films, to tell you the truth. I'm a real film buff and all of my favourite movies eem to come from over there. I thought that 'Chariots Of Fire' was great amd something like 'Excalibur' I could watch six times in a row!" This video diversion aside, however, Meat is concentrating on his music and, although 'Midnight At The Lost And Found' hasn't been out long, he's already started preparing for his next studio venture. According to Mr. Loaf: "The next album's gonna be called 'Innocence, Dreams, Success or Failure' and it's real thematic. The way I'm planning to do it is in the form of stories of people who are born into success or whatever and the places that surround them. I've been into the whole thing for about four months now and it's real exciting." Will Tom Dowd be at the production helm once again? "As far as bot he and I are concerned, yes — unless some enormous catastrophe arises. We get on real well and he's very good for me. On this one he worked very hard at the vocals and I think he got me singing better than ever." "There's also the distinct possibility that Jimmy (Steinman) might be coming back to the scene̴it's definitely in the wind. And that could be good because I do think we're capable of working well together." I do believe that he genuinely likes Bat, Bat 2 (?), Welcome, CHSIB, Hang cool & Handbasket. And in an early 90s interview I once saw he said that he liked Bad Attitude. > Meat has always been good at saying "this is the best > damned thing I've ever done... I am so proud of it" > and going "it was shit, I never should have done it... I > never wanted to do it... but so-and-so made me do it" when > sales figures were disappointing, or when fans burned it > down... > Monster was no exception. > > As for the album itself, it holds a few nice songs... > It's so totally not of the same quality as the Bat albums, > but it's not that bad... > Teddy Bear was way worse IMO. > > -K- > > > > There will only be a Bat 4 if Meat is behind it because > > Jim doesn't recognise that Bat 3 exists. What did you > > think of Bat 3? Even Meat Loaf seems to hate it now. > > > > > It sucks, especially Loafers who crave new material. > > > Something good like Bat 4 might be something to really get > > > excited about. > > | |
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