From ‘Bat’ to ‘Bear’

[roomster]

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/artic...ol_teddy_bear/

Larger-than-life rock star and actor Meat Loaf hangs cool on his new concept album.

Q. You’re hitting the road again, you’ve got a new album, you seem revitalized. Are you excited?

A. Yeah, I think the show is amazing. We’re doing new songs, we’re doing old songs, they even talked me into doing “Hot Patootie’’ from “Rocky Horror [Picture Show].’’ I swore I would never do that. I felt like the “Godfather’’ — it was something I couldn’t refuse.

Q. Your new album “Hang Cool Teddy Bear’’ is a concept record about a soldier on a battlefield experiencing a series of flash-forwards, sort of like a reverse “It’s a Wonderful Life.’’ I have to confess I didn’t get all that the first time through — is that OK?

A. The point was that you didn’t need to. It’s really a screenplay, but we kind of converted it to a short story. If you read the screenplay it would all make sense. [Laughs.] But I didn’t tell the writers [about the screenplay] when we were writing the songs. It was like going to summer camp. There were 10 writers and we brought them in to producer Rob [Cavallo’s] house and we planted them in the living room, the pool room, his media room, the kids’ playroom, and out on the patio. We had them in teams and then split the teams. And Rob and I were going from place to place and we had the band there and we were recording. It was like making the record the old-fashioned way.

Q. You have a lot of your famous friends on here, including Justin Hawkins of the Darkness, Jack Black, Steve Vai, and Brian May of Queen. You even have “House’’ star Hugh Laurie playing piano on one track. Did you invite him to the recording sessions when you did a guest spot on the show last season?

A. Yes, but Hugh Laurie and I did comedy sketches with Stephen Fry in London in 1985. And I was good friends with Freddie [Mercury] and Brian and Roger Taylor [of Queen] since the late ’70s. I’ve known Steve Vai since the early ’90s. And Justin Hawkins of the Darkness opened for us for about 24 shows right before they broke. I loved them.

Q. A few years ago you had some medical problems, the creative part of the “Bat Out of Hell III’’ experience didn’t go well for you, and you were talking about hanging it up. You must be glad you didn’t.

A. I just couldn’t go out with “Bat III.’’ It sold really well but that didn’t mean anything to me. It was a bad taste in my mouth and it left me feeling depressed. At least if I’m going to go away now, I’m going away with “Hang Cool Teddy Bear.’’ You can’t compare anything to “Bat Out of Hell’’ because it’s just not allowed, it’s illegal, but this is the best record since “Bat Out of Hell.’’

[mib]

Thanks for posting that.

[Jeanie]

Thanks, Roomster. :)

J. xo