MEAT LOAF, BAT OUT OF HELL III THE MONSTER IS LOOSE CD REVIEW ON ROCK N ROLL UNIVERSE

Closing in on the 30th anniversary of his classic debut album ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ Meatloaf returns with his 3rd installment of the ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ series with ‘Bat Out Of Hell III – The Monster Is Loose’. Despite a falling out, Meat Loaf’s main songwriter Jim Steinman is back on seven of the album’s tracks. The other 7 tracks feature the songwriting skills of producer Desmond Child as well as James Michael, Diane Warren and the opening track “The Monster Is Loose” is written by Child along with Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx and Marilyn Manson guitarist John 5. The album is very pop orchestrated and seems almost like a “Rock Opera” and features many special guests on vocals as well as musicians.

The CD opens with the title track and it’s a great opening track for this album as Meat Loaf shows he can keep up with the times.The song is heavy with a “Nu” Metal sound, and features a cool solo from John 5. On the song “Bad For Good” a familiar sounding guitar kicks in which belongs to none other than Queen guitarist Brian May. The best song on the CD is “In the Land Of the Pigs the Butcher Is King” which features guitar wizard Steve Vai who rips a blistering solo while Meat’s vocals never sounded better. As I said earlier, although heavy at times the CD for the most part it is pop orchestrated and aimed at the top 40 crowd which really shows on the 3 duet tracks that appear on the album which are “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”(featuring Marion Raven), “What About Love”(featuring Patti Russo) and “The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be” (which features ‘American Idol’ contestant Jennifer Hudson).

Overall, I feel it’s a good album with great production and musicianship throughout the whole CD. I also was impressed with Meat’s vocals which are superb.I do like the “Rock Opera” feel to it but at times it tends to be a bit too pop oriented for my tastes. The title track and the phenomenal “In the Land Of the Pigs,the Butcher Is King” makes the CD well worth the price for any rocker. On the back page of the booklet reads "For thirty years of friendship & inspiration,Bat Out Of Hell III is dedicated to Jim Steinman"