Meat Loaf’s newest release Hell in a Handbasket doesn’t feature longtime cohort Jim Steinman, who helped shape the blockbuster Bat Out of Hell series. That doesn’t mean the partnership is over, though.
“People don’t understand the situation with Jim and me,” Meal Loaf says. “We actually exchange emails with each other every six or seven weeks.”
Meat Loaf kicks off a new summer tour in support of Hell in a Handbasket on June 22 in Austin, Texas, and will continue touring through August. (Complete dates and cities are below.) Expect questions about a fourth installment of the Bat series — Meat Loaf’s signature franchise — at each and every stop. For his part, Meat Loaf is open to that idea — all while sending the ball squarely back into Steinman’s court.
“Jim gave an interview recently where he said that he wanted to do Bat Out of Hell IV, Meat Loaf tells Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited. “The guy that did the interview told me that he said he wanted to do Bat IV and I said, ‘Anytime Jim wants to do Bat IV then I am there.’ It is not me going around saying, ‘I don’t want to work with Jim Steinman.’ If Jim is ready to go to work then I am ready to go.”
Meat Loaf points to a few additional possible snags in getting another edition off the ground, including Steinman’s recent health issues and the time he often takes to complete these projects. Then, “you have to find a record company that is willing to give Jim the kind of money to produce Bat IV the way that he would want to produce it. Even if we did Bat out of Hell IV, it would not sell 17 million copies. We would have to get really lucky and get a song as good as ‘Rolling in the Deep.'”
Here’s a look back at our recent thoughts on Meat Loaf. Click through the titles for complete reviews …
MEAT LOAF – HELL IN A HANDBASKET (2012): Meat Loaf returns, but this time without Bat series co-creator Jim Steinman, promising a more personal collection of songs. In fact, Meat has already called this 12th studio effort his most honest ever. Well, it’s certainly one of his angriest — despite the presence of a bunch of his old pals from “Celebrity Apprentice,” including Lil Jon, Trace Adkins, John Rich, and Mark McGrath, on “Stand in the Storm.” Just when you think things can’t get any more pissed off, Meat brings in Chuck D, who adds a series of cranky raps to the the three-part performance piece, “Blue Sky/Mad Mad World/The Good God is a Woman and She Don’t Like Ugly.”
MEAT LOAF – BAT OUT OF HELL (1977): Man, oh man, did I ever hate “Paradise By The Dashboard Light.” “You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth”… icky. I bet I had a danged funny look on my face when I found out that Meat Loaf was the guy singing on my Ted Nugent record. Ironically, I went to one of his VH1-Storytellers shows a couple of years ago and kinda liked it.
Here are Meat Loaf’s ‘Mad, Mad World’ 2012 tour dates:
06/22 — Austin, Texas
06/24 — Del. Benito Juarez, Mexico
06/27 — Los Angeles, Calif.
06/30 — Snoqualmie, Wash.
07/02 — Eagle, Idaho
07/07 — Valley Center, Calif.
07/17 — Montclair, N.J.
07/19 — New Brunswick, N.J.
07/21 — Canandaigua, N.Y.
07/23 — Englewood, N.J.
07/25 — Bethlehem, Pa.
07/27 — Atlantic City, N.J.
07/29 — Salamanca, N.Y.
07/31 — Boston, Mass.
08/02 — Upper Darby, Pa.
08/04 — North Bay, Ontario
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