I do not know about you, but I think Meat Loaf’s 1977 album, “Bat Out of Hell“, is one of the best ever made. Maybe it is because I was a teen when it was released, but songs like You Took the Words Right out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night), Two out of Three Ain’t Bad, and Paradise by the Dashboard Light just spoke to me. And even today, I still hold this album in a special place in my heart.
As apparently do both Meat Loaf (whose real name is Marvin Lee Aday) himself and Jim Steinman, the producer/songwriter who collaborated with Meat to make the best selling album. It seems the success of the initial “Bat Out of Hell” album started a rift between the two. Although Steinman wrote most of the songs for the album, Meat Loaf, as the singer, was getting all the attention.
Despite any problems the two may have had with each other, they knew a good thing when they saw it. In 1981, Steinman wrote more songs for Meat Loaf, but his voice was strained fro touring. Not wanting to wait, Steinman released the album “Bad for Good” with himself as the singer. It produced one hit “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through,” but didn’t achieve near the success that “Bat Out of Hell” did. After Meat’s voice recovered, the two collaborated on “Dead Ringer,” which didn’t do much on the charts.
Finally, in 1989, they realized the public was yearning for another Bat Out of Hell album. In 1993, the two released “Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell.” It jumped to #1 on the charts and produced the hit “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” Meat Loaf enjoyed a resurgence of success and fame.
Currently, Meat Loaf is working on “Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose.” Only problem is that this time, Jim Steinman wasn’t directly involved and he owns the trademark for the phrase “Bat Out of Hell” for CDs and music and he was refusing to let Meat Loaf use it on the new album. There are seven songs on the new album written by Jim – five from older albums and two from a cancelled musical Steinman wrote. Meat Loaf sued Steinman, saying he contributed to the lyrics and should also be able to use the trademarked phrase. However, the two have worked out a settlement and Meat’s new album will be released later this year.
After a long, tumultuous friendship and working relationship, Meat Loaf did play nice at a recent promotional event for the new CD when he said, “If it were not for Jim Steinman and his brilliance and his ability to turn a phrase and his concepts, we wouldn’t be here tonight.”