Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose

Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose is the ninth studio album by Meat Loaf, and the final album in the Bat Out of Hell trilogy. It was released in Ireland on October 20, 2006, 29 years after Bat Out of Hell, and 13 years after Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. It was released in the UK on October 23, 2006, and in the US on October 31, 2006.
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.

History

According to a Reuters report, Meat Loaf and Steinman started working on an album in 2001. During the concerts on 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 said 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 said 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. 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.
Meat Loaf has stated that he contributed lyrics to "Bat Out of Hell". He had used the phrase extensively for tours, to which Steinman had never objected "until a recent falling out". Steinman and his representatives approached Meat Loaf's labels, Universal and Virgin, asserting trademark ownership and threatening litigation to prevent the album's release. An agreement was reached in Summer 2006. According to Virgin, "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." In promotional interviews, Meat Loaf has played down the dispute with Steinman, pointing out that it was over in three weeks and was purely for the sake of business.

I consider him to be one of my best friends but the real thing is about managers: I think Steinman's manager is the devil and Steinman feels the same way about my manager. So, we had to communicate through managers and he refused to sign some papers that would have allowed for the recording of Bat Out of Hell III without a hitch. So, really, I didn't sue Jim Steinman. I sued his manager.

Despite the fact that Steinman was not involved in the recording or production, the album does include seven of his songs, five of which are covers of previously released songs. The other two were covers of Steinman's demos intended for musical theater projects, at the time unreleased. The agreement enabled Steinman to work on a musical theatre project based on all of the songs from Bat Out of Hell. Describing the project as "Cirque du Soleil on acid", in September 2007, he expected it to open in London in 2010.

Production

Meat Loaf had announced that Michael Beinhorn was producing the record, but Desmond Child took the helm. The singer reported that Child would say things that made him think he was sitting next to Steinman. Child began recording sessions by playing Slipknot CDs to get the assembled musicians in the mood. In addition to musicians from his touring band, the Neverland Express, several guest players contributed to the album. Meat Loaf said, "I didn't just want to bring in rock players — I wanted to go to extreme rock people" resulting in an album that "has all the touches of the other two Bats, but it's much more of a rock album." Child said that one of the most memorable experiences working on the album was working with Brian May, who played on "Bad for Good". The album also features guest performances by John 5, Steve Vai and John Shanks.
Meat Loaf said that he did not enjoy recording in studios. He compared the process to "going to the dentist and having root canal everyday". Whereas you really have to be flat for people to notice it in a live show, in a studio, every "nuance is under a microscope... and I'm a perfectionist who knows that there's no such thing as perfection but I try to get as close as I can."
Todd Rundgren, who produced the first album and arranged all of the background vocals for Bat II, arranged the background vocals for three tracks. In a promotional interview for the album Rundgren has said "continuity is an important thing." However, in another interview he said that his contribution was considerably less than on some earlier Meat Loaf albums.

And by the time they got it all organized and figured out, there were really only a couple of songs left for me to do anything on. So I came into L.A. for a couple of days and Kasim... came in, as was the routine, and we did maybe three songs... just so that I’d have a few fingerprints on the record. I think someone, maybe Meat Loaf, said that to keep everything covered, I had to be in there somewhere... but not necessarily running the whole thing. So my involvement was pretty much peripheral.

Compositions

The album opens with the title track. "The Monster Is Loose" feature the Gothic style of John 5, who plays the main guitar parts. The song is very heavy and continues Meat Loaf's association with Major League Baseball established with Phil Rizzuto's commentary on "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". "Blind as a Bat", written by Desmond Child, tells about how one is thankful for the love another has given him, even after he has done deeds to suggest that he does not deserve such love.
According to Steinman, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. In interviews, Meat Loaf has said that, in his mind, the song was always meant to be a duet. Norwegian artist Marion Raven, who had been working on her solo album with Child, was chosen because the timbre of her voice starkly contrasts to Meat Loaf's.
"Bad for Good" was one of the many songs written by Steinman under the inspiration of Peter Pan and lost boys who never grow up. This is reflected in lyrics such as "You know I'm gonna be like this forever/I'm never gonna be what I should." The song was written to appear on the follow-up to Bat Out of Hell, but which Steinman recorded himself as the album Bad for Good. Because of this, Meat Loaf was aware that there is a "core of fans that know that song", so he "had that under the microscope more than any other on the album".
"Cry Over Me" is, according to Meat Loaf, a timeless song dealing with relationships of all kinds. In a 2007 interview, he said that it can be about your first or last loves, or dealing with your boss at work. Partially quoting the lyrics, the singer posits that there are times when "you want him to feel exactly like I felt when he said that to me."
The Guardian said "In the Land of the Pig " is "five Olympian minutes crying out for a full production at Glyndebourne." Guitarist Steve Vai describes it as "very Gothic; almost terrifying". It is about the intense power over subordinates:
"Monstro" is a bombastic orchestral piece layered with chorals that lead into the piano introduction to "Alive". Meat Loaf decided to hire Desmond Child when he revealed that he had written "Alive" especially for the album. The song refers to how the singer had overcome difficult periods in his life.
"What About Love", a piano-based duet with Patti Russo, is a sexually charged song that echoes "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" from the 1977 album. Here, though, the singers are singing about love throughout, not bitterness. The final verse contains the most explicit lyrics about their first sexual encounter.
"Seize the Night" has a strong orchestral foundation underneath the lead vocals and a choir.
A duet with Jennifer Hudson, "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be" is a pessimistic song based upon the myth that Pandora closed her jar before allowing "hope" to escape. The lyrics reveal the hopelessness of the past and the future.
The final song of the Bat trilogy is a short one written by Steinman. A few lyrics of "Cry to Heaven" begin rather sweet, but turning rather bitter: The two parts are bridged by an instrumental dominated by an Irish flute.

Cover and booklet

The cover follows the style of the previous two albums called Bat Out of Hell. Julie Bell designed the cover and the artwork that appears alongside the lyrics in the booklet. She also supplied the art for the "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" single. The cover features the long-haired biker fighting the giant bat from the second cover, while the angel from the same cover hides behind a destroyed pillar. Like the first two Bat albums, Steinman's songwriting is credited on the cover, this time shared with Desmond Child.
The booklet contains all of the lyrics to the songs, with most pages featuring a small illustration. The CD liner contains a dedication "For thirty years of friendship and inspiration, Bat Out of Hell III is dedicated to Jim Steinman."