I’m not usually the type to participate in, much less start, threads about celebrities who have passed on, but damn it, Meat Loaf has died.
The linked article suggests a more complex relationship between the artist and the songs he sang than I had expected. I assumed, incorrectly it seems, that Meat Loaf himself wrote songs like “Objects in the Rear View Mirror.” I was also certain that Meat Loaf had experienced trauma and abuse as a child or he could not have written/performed such a song as he did. It’s a bit of a surprise for me to realize he didn’t write what he sang. Still, I think his own experiences must have informed his performances.
Thank you, Meat Loaf, for expressing teenage angst and sexual awakening, the after-effects of being savagely mistreated as a child, and the longing to break free of societal restrictions. I’ll always identify with and love the songs you sang.
Oooh, that one stings. “Bat Out of Hell” is one of my favorite albums of all time and he was the only singer out there with the bombast and flair to bring Jim Steinman’s lyrics to life. I’d like to imagine that in some other plane of existence, they’re hanging out in the high school parking lot after class, leaning on their muscle cars and flirting with the cheerleaders.
It was always an obvious source of frustration for Steinman that he couldn’t sing his own songs the way Meat Loaf did, but at least he had Meat Loaf to sing them. And “Bat Out of Hell” remains a glorious album.
Jim Steinman, who only died recently himself, wrote his most famous tunes. He was king of the epic sound, including other famous mega-hits for other artists like Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, and Celine Dion’s “All Coming Back To Me Now”. If you listen to them all, you can recognise a thematic consistency.
Anyway, Meat Loaf was the perfect vessel for those kinds of epic ballads, and he had a mighty fine time of doing so.
That part, at least, is true - Meat’s dad was an alcoholic who would disappear for days at a time on benders, and he claimed at least once that “Meat Loaf” was originally something his dad would call him to make fun of his weight.
I remember listening to Meat Loaf when I was a young kid of 8 or so. My older brother had just gotten Bat Out of Hell on vinyl, and that record had a lot of play on it.
I’ve been a fan ever since and I’ve seen him in concert twice.
I think it may have to be meatloaf for dinner tonight.
I had no idea he was that old, or at least didn’t make the association - I first encountered him in RHPS, so I should have, but I mentally have slotted him as a 90s singer.
“He had a certain naive charm, but no muscle.” Poor Eddie.
Man sure had some pipes on him.
Meat Loaf wasn’t one of artists that I particularly followed, for whatever reason – there were many popular musicians and bands that I just never connected with. But I do fondly remember him from the wonderful 1975 cult movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. From that alone, I mourn the loss of another icon of my past.
More than any other musical artists, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman provided the soundtrack to the happiest years of my life. I saw Rocky Horror over 70 times, and my ex and I even met Meat and got his autograph after a BOoH2 concert. Won’t deny, this one strikes deep.
