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MEAT LOAF Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose (Mercury/Universal) |
 WHILE it's all too easy to poke fun about Meat Loaf being bats, the animal similes that come to mind here are more about a horse. That's dead. And being flogged. For while the original 1977 album was a masterpiece of theatrical rock, and its 1992 successor a passable, if less inspired, follow-up, everything about Bat Out of Hell III screams "cash-in attempt". Things actually get off to a good start with The Monster is Loose (co-authored by Desmond Child and ex-Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx) and Blind as a Bat but very soon they go downhill. Particularly atrocious is an update of It's All Coming Back to Me which is done as a duet with former M2M girlie Marion Raven. The absence as an active participant of Jim Steinman, who was the musical mastermind behind the first two Bats, is really felt, as all his contributions to this album were originally penned and released years ago (Bad for Good came out as far back as Steinman's solo debut in 1981!). It's also painfully obvious on songs like Seize the Night and The Future Ain't What It Used to Be that the epic sound' and structure are there without' really strong material to hang it on (even if I do like parts of the former track). Generally though, there is a haphazard, forced and cynical feeling to proceedings here, which makes it a far cry from the ambitious, overblown and sporadically brilliant original. |
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