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Meat Loaf
YEARS OF EXISTENCE: 1976-present (with time off along the way for convalescing and personal credit repair).
YEARS OF DECENT EXISTENCE: Define "decent."
BEST RECORDS: Bat Out Of Hell (1977)
WORST RECORDS: The rest.
GO DOWNLOAD: The entire Bat Out Of Hell disc.
FILE UNDER: Teenage White-Trash Symphonies From Valhalla
SIMILAR SOUNDING DINOSAURS: Queen, Styx and anybody big on pomposity. Turn around, bright eyes: Who do you think is the cornerstone of the foundation of the First Church Of Andrew W.K.?
THE MUSIC: In the late '60s, the seriously overweight, Dallas-born Marvin Lee Aday, aka Meat Loaf, was earning a living singing in various on- and off-Broadway musicals. During one of these jobs, he met Jim Steinman, a classical-music prodigy with a taste for the grandiose. The two collaborated for a musical project that was supposed to "rock out" the story of Peter Pan, but ended up being the mythology of every '70s suburban teen. Somehow, a little label from Cleveland, Cleveland International, signed the duo and spent a whole lot of cheddar hiring Todd Rundgren to produce. The resultant album, Bat Out Of Hell, is the textbook example for everything bombastic, overblown and pretentious in rock music-string sections, massive overdubs and full-on heart-on-sleeve over-emoting that would even make Chris Carrabba utter the phrase "big fat fuckin' pussy." (Oh, wait, he already did that recently? Damn.) Bat went on to sell 15 million copies, and to this day, Cleveland International founder Steve Popovich is fighting with Sony over the considerable income owed to him (oneamericanagainstsonymusic.com). In 1981, Meat Loaf and Steinman had a falling out; lawsuits were exchanged and Meat's career went to hell. After a clutch of albums that littered the cut-out bins and Goodwill stores of America for nearly 15 years, the duo reconciled in 1993 for Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell. And five million of your stupid parents ate that shit up.
WHAT THEY SAY: "[Bat Out Of Hell is] epic, gothic, operatic and silly. And it's appealing because of all this." -AllMusic Guide To Rock
WHAT I SAY: This shit is unintentionally hilarious. But what the hell do I know? I have The Black Parade stuck inside a Discman with the hatch glued shut...
WHY YOUR (GRAND)PARENTS LIKE HIM: Are you kidding? You were probably conceived during the teen-sex melodrama "Paradise By The Dashboard Light," not long after "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" was the last song played at your 'rents senior prom. And they have the nerve to make fun of your emo records.
CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: Back in your face, babies: Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose was released this Halloween. (Hint: "In The Land Of The Pig, The Butcher Is King" is not a Cattle Decapatation cover.) Producer Desmond Child dragged Meat and his '70s bombast with enough tricked-out 21st century guitars and ProTools rigs, Tenacious D would strip off their clothes and jiggle through the streets in abandon. Can Michael Bolton's post-hardcore disc be on the horizon? Let me check the Book of Revelations... -Jason Pettigrew
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