Meat Loaf 'Bat Out of Hell 3' album

MEAT LOAF, one of the singular, game-changing performers in the annals of American rock, will return to unleash the long-awaited third installment in the most successful rock album series of all time, Bat Out of Hell III, this coming fall. The album, released on Virgin Records in North America, delivers to a new generation of listeners -- and to his many millions of longtime followers worldwide -- the still-unique, still-audacious, and still-unequalled Meat Loaf fusion of baroque, operatic emotion, brilliant, larger-than-life storytelling, jaw-dropping theatricality and raw rock-and-roll electricity.

The greatest epic saga in rock history opens its new chapter on October 31, 2006, with album release on Virgin Records in North America, and Universal Records outside of North America. “Meat Loaf holds such a unique place in pop culture,” Virgin Records Chairman/CEO Jason Flom commented. “His name, voice and artwork have come to symbolize great American pop/rock music. We are excited to be involved with Meat Loaf and Bat Out of Hell III because good things always come in threes -- and the only thing better than Bat Out of Hell is Bat Out of Hell II, and the only thing better than Bat Out of Hell II is Bat Out of Hell III!”

The album was produced by hit-maker Desmond Child (Kiss, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Cher) with additional vocal arrangements by Todd Rundgren (producer of the first Bat out of Hell). “Bat Out of Hell albums are really renegade records; when they come out they are never like anything else,” observed album producer Child. “(In this project), Meat Loaf saw a door open to a new style that is the future of Bat Out of Hell. He wears all of his emotions on the outside.” Meat Loaf agreed: “I took all the songs a little more personal; I became more internal on this record, (and) there were less character studies.”

Seven songs on the album were written by Jim Steinman, producer of Bat Out of Hell II, and principal songwriter of the first two albums in the trilogy. His involvement follows the resolution of a lawsuit over the Bat out of Hell trademark between the longtime friends and collaborators Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. The two came to an amicable agreement that ensured that Jim Steinman’s music would be a continuing part of the Bat out of Hell legacy.

Bat Out of Hell III also includes songs by Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue), John 5 (Marilyn Manson), and Marti Frederiksen (a contributing Aerosmith songwriter). Nikki Sixx confirmed that the boundary-busting creative spirit of the first two albums has been maintained on this third episode of Bat Out of Hell. “We were not worrying about the format of the songs…just making a great piece of music,” he said. Added John 5: “The world knows that's he's an amazing talent. He's back and he wants to kick ass…He's living those lyrics.”

Co-starring vocal and instrumental performers on the album include Steve Vai, on the Gothic thriller “Land of the Pigs;” the legendary Brian May of Queen, on a revival of Steinman’s song “Bad For Good;” and Marion Raven, in her U.S. introduction. Raven is featured on Meat Loaf’s interpretation of the Jim Steinman-penned immortal, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” and is the first female recording artist since Cher to duet with Meat Loaf. He enthused: “Marion’s perfect for the song because she's a real personality.” Added Child: “She's mystical, she’s dark; she’s icy but she’s warm; she’s fun but she’s also really deep. She was meant to do it.”

Packed out with such newly-written hits as “Blind as a Bat” and “The Monster is Loose,” Bat Out of Hell III extends the Meat Loaf saga into an epic trilogy, taking its place as a classic among classics. The release of Bat Out of Hell III marks the triumphant return of a franchise that is unique in the rock era, said Meat Loaf manager and CEO of 10th Street Entertainment, Allen Kovac. “It’s a well-thought out, well-crafted record, made at the high standard that a Bat Out of Hell album has to be.” The album was mixed by Grammy-winning studio engineer Greg Collins (U2).

The two previous albums in the series have sold an estimated 45 million copies to date around the world. Bat Out of Hell, the immortal and genre-transforming original, released in 1977, with songs by Jim Steinman and production by Todd Rundgren, ran for an extraordinary 82 weeks on the Billboard album chart and has sold in excess of 14 million copies in the U.S. alone. It included the Meat Loaf/Jim Steinman signature hits “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth,” and the show-stopping “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.”

The second installment, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, released in 1993, included the classic international chart-topper “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” and earned Meat Loaf a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Solo Performance. Meat Loaf has a total of 24 multi-platinum, platinum and gold RIAA awards.

Meat Loaf has appeared in the movies The Rocky Horror Picture Show (as Eddie); Roadie; Fight Club; Wayne’s World; Out of Bounds; The Squeeze; and Leap of Faith, among a total of nearly 60 television and film roles. At the outset of his performing career, he also appeared onstage in Hair in Los Angeles, Detroit and on Broadway.

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Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell 3