RoknRollJesus
30 Nov 2006, 16:21
Written by Nick Pascuzzi, Staff Writer
Excalibur Online
Wednesday, 29 November 2006
After several decades of rocking out, Meat Loaf is still an indelible force in the music scene
http://www.excal.on.ca//images/stories/2006_11_29/16-meatyloaf.jpg
Whether you know him for his epic rock opera vocal style or from those many times dressing up to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Bloor Cinema, it's clear that Meat Loaf has made a mark on popular culture.
I had the pleasure of talking with Meat Loaf, a rock legend and an accomplished actor who was not only involved with the Tenacious D album and movie, but who also recently released an incredibly successful album.
Bat out of Hell, Bat out of Hell II and this year's Bat out of Hell III are certainly worth praising, but he's also done various film roles in movies such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Fight Club.
The interview began with a discussion of the consecutive Bat out of Hell albums, and the reason he went back into the studio after so long.
"It just happened," said the veteran rocker, noting that these are albums that wouldn't work well if they were released so close to one other. "I feel it's better to be underexposed than overexposed."
He did say that while the gap between the first two actually felt like 16 years, "between the second and third, it did not feel like 13 years, I can tell you that."
The album, for those who haven't listened to it, leans towards the rock side than his previous epics, and Jim Steinman, who collaborated with Meat Loaf on the first two Bat albums, was missing from the process this time around. Instead, the producer for Bat out of Hell III was Desmond Child.
"I think the influence from Desmond was, well, it's really my influence, and I pushed Desmond into that way," he said, but went on to give Child credit for songs like "If It Ain't Broke" and the general atmosphere of the album.
The album features a number of other big names in rock including Nikki Syxx (Motley Crue), Brian May (Queen), Steve Vai (a great guitarist) and others.
"I'm such a huge fan of Steve Vai," he said enthusiastically, adding that, "if I would've had Jeff Beck, (Eric) Clapton and Steve Lukather (Toto/session player), I would've had the top five guitar players in the world."
When asked about a fourth Bat out of Hell, Meat Loaf laughed and said simply, "I'm not gonna say no just cause there's been too much communication going on since August," and that "if we do it, it won't be called Bat Out of Hell Four."
The discussion then moved to his appearance as Jack Black's father in the new film Tenacious D in: the Pick of Destiny. He laughed and said "I'm only in it for maybe three minutes.
"I liked the character because I didn't like him," he revealed, referencing his character's attempts to prevent Black from rocking out. "I didn't like who he was, so I enjoyed playing him."
On whether he was familiar with Tenacious D before they approached him, he had nothing but compliments for the hilarious power-acoustic duo.
"I'm real familiar with Tenacious D and Jack Black, and I really like Jack Black as a person and that's why I did it."
Laughing, he added, "Jack Black is exactly what you see; what you see is Jack."
Meat Loaf then told me that Black had him in mind for the role for over five years, and when the movie got the green light, "he called someone and said, ‘Can I have Meat's number?' and he called me and I said, ‘Of course!'"
When I asked about his take on the huge cult following of Rocky Horror, he had some interesting stories.
"It was a cult thing from when I did it onstage. I did it in L.A. and New York, and it was a cult thing in L.A., and people would come to the play dressed as the characters," he said, noting that the traditional "dress-up" Rocky viewing was around since the beginning.
"The celebrities were coming in droves to that thing, like Keith Moon (drummer for The Who) came like nine times, and every time he was there, there'd be a bottle of champagne on the stage, and you knew Keith Moon was there. And there were nine members of the cast, so there'd be nine bottles of champagne across the curtain call, and so you knew Keith Moon was there, and Elvis came, and it was crazy."
He also mentioned that he likes to keep his acting and his music separate, mentioning his role in Fight Club and telling me that until the Tenacious D movie, he hadn't sang in a movie since Rocky Horror.
"It's like, you know, I am an actor, I studied, and I still have a coach. That's what I do - I got a vocal coach; I got an acting coach; I got a golf coach," he said laughing. Then he added, "I'm coached out!"
When asked him what other artists with food-related names he was into, he laughed, but quickly mentioned a British singer who called himself Fish and the Cranberries, as some food item artists he likes.
I only had time for one more question, so I had to make it good.
I had to ask him, of course, who he would dress up as if he saw Rocky Horror today. Without hesitation, he simply said, "Magenta."
Article can be found HERE (http://www.excal.on.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2681&Itemid=2)
Excalibur Online
Wednesday, 29 November 2006
After several decades of rocking out, Meat Loaf is still an indelible force in the music scene
http://www.excal.on.ca//images/stories/2006_11_29/16-meatyloaf.jpg
Whether you know him for his epic rock opera vocal style or from those many times dressing up to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Bloor Cinema, it's clear that Meat Loaf has made a mark on popular culture.
I had the pleasure of talking with Meat Loaf, a rock legend and an accomplished actor who was not only involved with the Tenacious D album and movie, but who also recently released an incredibly successful album.
Bat out of Hell, Bat out of Hell II and this year's Bat out of Hell III are certainly worth praising, but he's also done various film roles in movies such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Fight Club.
The interview began with a discussion of the consecutive Bat out of Hell albums, and the reason he went back into the studio after so long.
"It just happened," said the veteran rocker, noting that these are albums that wouldn't work well if they were released so close to one other. "I feel it's better to be underexposed than overexposed."
He did say that while the gap between the first two actually felt like 16 years, "between the second and third, it did not feel like 13 years, I can tell you that."
The album, for those who haven't listened to it, leans towards the rock side than his previous epics, and Jim Steinman, who collaborated with Meat Loaf on the first two Bat albums, was missing from the process this time around. Instead, the producer for Bat out of Hell III was Desmond Child.
"I think the influence from Desmond was, well, it's really my influence, and I pushed Desmond into that way," he said, but went on to give Child credit for songs like "If It Ain't Broke" and the general atmosphere of the album.
The album features a number of other big names in rock including Nikki Syxx (Motley Crue), Brian May (Queen), Steve Vai (a great guitarist) and others.
"I'm such a huge fan of Steve Vai," he said enthusiastically, adding that, "if I would've had Jeff Beck, (Eric) Clapton and Steve Lukather (Toto/session player), I would've had the top five guitar players in the world."
When asked about a fourth Bat out of Hell, Meat Loaf laughed and said simply, "I'm not gonna say no just cause there's been too much communication going on since August," and that "if we do it, it won't be called Bat Out of Hell Four."
The discussion then moved to his appearance as Jack Black's father in the new film Tenacious D in: the Pick of Destiny. He laughed and said "I'm only in it for maybe three minutes.
"I liked the character because I didn't like him," he revealed, referencing his character's attempts to prevent Black from rocking out. "I didn't like who he was, so I enjoyed playing him."
On whether he was familiar with Tenacious D before they approached him, he had nothing but compliments for the hilarious power-acoustic duo.
"I'm real familiar with Tenacious D and Jack Black, and I really like Jack Black as a person and that's why I did it."
Laughing, he added, "Jack Black is exactly what you see; what you see is Jack."
Meat Loaf then told me that Black had him in mind for the role for over five years, and when the movie got the green light, "he called someone and said, ‘Can I have Meat's number?' and he called me and I said, ‘Of course!'"
When I asked about his take on the huge cult following of Rocky Horror, he had some interesting stories.
"It was a cult thing from when I did it onstage. I did it in L.A. and New York, and it was a cult thing in L.A., and people would come to the play dressed as the characters," he said, noting that the traditional "dress-up" Rocky viewing was around since the beginning.
"The celebrities were coming in droves to that thing, like Keith Moon (drummer for The Who) came like nine times, and every time he was there, there'd be a bottle of champagne on the stage, and you knew Keith Moon was there. And there were nine members of the cast, so there'd be nine bottles of champagne across the curtain call, and so you knew Keith Moon was there, and Elvis came, and it was crazy."
He also mentioned that he likes to keep his acting and his music separate, mentioning his role in Fight Club and telling me that until the Tenacious D movie, he hadn't sang in a movie since Rocky Horror.
"It's like, you know, I am an actor, I studied, and I still have a coach. That's what I do - I got a vocal coach; I got an acting coach; I got a golf coach," he said laughing. Then he added, "I'm coached out!"
When asked him what other artists with food-related names he was into, he laughed, but quickly mentioned a British singer who called himself Fish and the Cranberries, as some food item artists he likes.
I only had time for one more question, so I had to make it good.
I had to ask him, of course, who he would dress up as if he saw Rocky Horror today. Without hesitation, he simply said, "Magenta."
Article can be found HERE (http://www.excal.on.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2681&Itemid=2)