The Sound and the Fury of Meat Loaf: 'I Am Not a Rock Star'
 

Recent Rolling Stone article:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/f...-hell-w516067#

What a disappointing, shallow and lazy interview. It dwelled on Meat's current incapacities because of his back, augmented by stuff from a dozen interviews we've seen. It didn't explore his fight to get it resolved, his burning desire to get back to creating and performing, the fact that despite this and the constant pain he still made a TV series last year. It failed entirely to celebrate all he has achieved and explore the poignancy of the situation he is in, his feelings about the possibility he may not sing on stage again.

Instead it paints a dismal picture in which Meat is somehow a wreck, finished, rather than that of a man brought down by mechanical failure, but still with a head filled with ideas for the future and determined not to go quietly into the night of retirement, but wanting to get back to performing and entertaining. It would be foolish to imagine Meat would have continued the big rock tours through to his 80s .. but still wrong to write him off as done. So, imo superficial and rather dull in that it missed out on so much of what the man still is, and is determined and fighting so hard to be. Given he was invited into Meat's home, at a time when he is in extreme pain, I think the interviewer could have shown more empathy and done him better justice.

His fans know how much Meat wants to get back to working, and I can't believe nothing of this nor of Meat's ideas and hopes came up, or could have if the right questions were asked. If he didn't get the interview he expected the issue is the interviewer, his inability or laziness in not asking the right questions. Faced with a man in extreme and continuing pain, (and looking "frail" as much as anything due to losing a lot of weight but probably in the clothes that fitted before the weight loss I suspect), the interviewer just made a superficial assumption in my view, dwelling on Meat's current physical limitations .. and snarky reference to "thinning hair" and "real-old-duffer's walker" :roll: He was so busy writing him off he missed out on the man he was there to interview, his determination, his hopes, all the ideas he has in that head for things he still wants to do, and if he can get his back sorted will do.

I liked the photo though ;) Lovely parody of that photoshoot from a few years ago wearing the metal finger jacket :lol: I can hear Meat calling out "Hey Deborah ... get me a fork!!" :lol::lol:

I personally enjoyed the interview. I think most of us are aware of Meat's current struggles, but hopefully his health improves so we can hear more interviews from him.

I posted it without comment because I just found the whole thing so strange. I assume Rolling Stone wanted the interview and Meat obliged, yet it seemed to just kind of sit there. They portrayed Meat in a light health-wise of being not so great and not really doing anything much career wise so why did they want the interview? Meat has future plans he hopes to achieve and is working to get better after his back problems but if he mentioned any of those the writer omitted them and dwelt on the musical and Meat not going while he needs a walker, although I suspect just the travel would be physically torture right now. I really don't get what they wanted here, I assume Meat got an interview request and granted it so he didn't have anything prepared to discuss and was just being gracious and the interviewer showed up unprepared. I can't imagine Meat being too happy with what they printed and I wonder how much was left out to fit the writer's narrative.

Yes, it seemed odd to me. Like you, I think it would have been at their request, and while I don't know exactly when it took place, given Meat was booked originally for surgery in early January I have to think it would have been before Christmas, which was a time when Meat had a movie he was hoping to work on in July and other plans for the autumn. I too wonder what was omitted to suit the story the interviewer in my view decided as soon as he saw Meat's situation .. and even given that, there was no sense of him using the opportunity to solicit Meat's feelings looking back; probably because Meat didn't see himself that way, even if he was despondent at not being able to sing while his back was causing him such pain.

I'm sure there are fans who enjoyed this interview, just as I am sure there are those who like me, and I think you too, who found it superficial, lazy and not doing a man who had been gracious enough to agree to go through with it any justice.

LOVED the pic tho!

All I have to say is this: To this day, there is no interviewer that understands Meat, even when he invites the person into his home and brings him into his livingroom. Meat is always full of surprises. I'm a cautious optimist. I will wait for Meat to do the unexpected. I'm ignoring the article. Not reading the damn thing twice.