Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
| Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Meat Loaf | ||||
| Released | October 20, 2006 (Ireland) October 23, 2006 (UK) October 31, 2006 (US) |
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| Recorded | 2005–2006 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, Wagnerian rock, heavy metal | |||
| Length | 77:28 | |||
| Label |
Mercury (UK) Virgin (US) |
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| Producer | Desmond Child | |||
| Meat Loaf chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |
  AllMusic
|
| The Guardian |
The Guardian
|
| The Independent |
The Independent
|
| NeuFutur |
   NeuFutur
|
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone |
Rolling Stone
|
Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose is the tenth studio album by Meat Loaf, and the third and final one in the Bat Out of Hell trilogy. It was released in October 2006, 29 years after Bat Out of Hell (1977), and 13 years after Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993).
Produced by Desmond Child, it is the only Bat album not involving Jim Steinman in its production. The album was subject to a legal dispute between Meat Loaf and Steinman, who had registered the phrase "Bat Out of Hell" as a trademark and attempted to prevent the album using the phrase. In the end, seven songs that Steinman wrote for various other projects were included.
As with its predecessors, the album received mixed reviews. A tour, named The Seize the Night Tour, followed the release, concentrating upon songs from the Bat albums.
According to a Reuters report, Meat Loaf and Steinman started working on an album in 2001. During the concerts in his Hair of the Dog tour, Meat Loaf made a point to mention that he and Steinman were putting out a new album.
The composer suffered some health setbacks around 2004. Meat Loaf says that "lawyers worked for over a year putting together a contract for Steinman to do Bat Out of Hell III. It was one of the best producer's contracts in the history of the record business." Ultimately, according to the singer, Steinman was not well enough to work on such an intense project and made what he calls the "selfish" decision to go ahead without him. In promotional interviews he said that he did not want to wait a year and a half just to find out that Steinman was still unfit. Describing himself as a "really loyal person," Meat Loaf says that "the decision not to use Steinman has taken its toll on me."
However, in 2006, David Sonenberg, Steinman's manager, said:
Jim's health is excellent. That's not the reason he didn't participate in (Bat III). He had some meaningful health problems about four years ago, but he's been totally healthy the last couple of years. His health in no way impacted on his involvement in the Bat Out of Hell project.
The development problems and confusion over Steinman's involvement is a result of a dispute of the trademark "Bat Out of Hell", which Steinman registered in 1995. Meat Loaf sued Steinman and his manager, in a complaint filed May 28, 2006 in federal District Court in Los Angeles, California, for $50 million and to prevent further use by the writer/producer.
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Wikipedia