BAT OUT OF FUEL
Power ballad ham-meister Meat Loaf has belted his last, aged 74. His death comes the year after that of his longtime composer Jim Steinman. Among Steinman and the two artists who best defined his delightfully-over-the-top sound, only Bonnie Tyler remains. She needs a hero to keep her safe throughout 2023…
Dallas-born Marvin (later Michael) Aday’s stage name had its roots to his very beginnings – the “Meat” came first thanks to his crimson tone as a newborn, and his hefty frame gave way to the “Loaf” during his high school football days. He dabbled in a film-and-theatre career, which included Hair and of course The Rocky Horror Picture Show, alongside his early musical ventures. His music failed to gain traction prior to his partnership with Steinman, who met one another working on the same play. Both were enamoured with songs by Steinman initially intended for a futurist Peter Pan-inspired musical. With that as their bedrock, they’d then embark on a little project called Bat Out of Hell.
The duo’s unconventional, bombastic approach meant the project struggled to find a label willing to take the risk. It all paid off in the end, with the album a smash success that now stands as the fourth-best-selling ever. Songs like the title track – a grandiose expansion of the teen tragedy “the singer and/or their squeeze dies in a vehicular accident” plot point – and the more sombre “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” display Meat Loaf’s unique gift for drawing out every drop of drama from a song. His career tumbled amid a feud with Steinman, but they patched up and he came roaring back in 1993 with the sequel album, which spawned another huge hit in “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”. The trilogy was completed to a more lukewarm reception in 2006, which led to brief legal tussles between Meat Loaf and Steinman (who wrote some songs on, but was not producer for, the third album) over rights to the “Bat Out of Hell” name.
He released other albums through the years that never quite reached the heights of Bat Out of Hell, with another being planned in the interim between Steinman’s death and his own. He was a film and TV regular after his music superstardom, most notably in Fight Club. He experienced numerous health issues over the years including heart issues and various surgeries. That, coupled with a build not destined for old bones, meant Meat Loaf had been a consistent DDP pick since the days where Gerald Ford and Augusto Pinochet were still en vogue.
Meat Loaf died of COVID amidst speculation swirling over his views on vaccinations. We’ll focus on the music, rather than, well, that. So instead of regurgitating the “but I won’t get vaxxed” gag that’s been making the rounds, let’s cap this obit off by saying that 4 out of 498 ain’t bad in terms of his DDP pick rate.
Meat Loaf
27 September 1947 – 20 January 2022, aged 74
4 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 7 POINTS)