Remembering Meat Loaf

What does Meat Loaf's music mean to me?

That's the question I find myself asking upon hearing the new of his passing. I have mentioned many times over the years that Meat Loaf is the reason I do what I do. I became a die-hard music fan because of "Bat Out Of Hell II", and those two albums have been with me so long I first got them on cassettes that are now worn out in places. Some of my earliest musical memories are tied around Meat Loaf, and it's obvious to me how much of my taste derives from the music with his name on the front cover.

So why am I asking myself that question? The answer to that is because of who Meat Loaf is. No, I'm not talking about Meat Loaf the person, who was a complicated mess of goofball and right-wing anger. The problem with assessing Meat Loaf's career is that Meat was merely a vessel for songs, and songs are the foundational unit of music that makes up everything. Yes, Meat's voice was at one time legendary, and no one could do what he did. I would never take that away from him. He is absolutely on my list of favorite voices (that list is coming at some point - I'm thinking it through), no doubt about it.

Meat Loaf was the vehicle, but Jim Steinman was the true voice of the music. If you listen to his "Bad For Good" solo album, or anything he wrote for someone else, you can hear the same role being recast with other actors. Meat played the part best, but it was lived and created by Jim Steinman.

There's also the fact that Meat Loaf's discography is like an amusement park shooting gallery, some targets hit so hard they have no paint left, while others look brand new. For every "Bat Out Of Hell", there is a "Blind Before I Stop". For every dramatic masterpiece, there's a song where he's embarrassing himself because he had no sense of quality control.

Meat Loaf is synonymous with Jim Steinman's music to most people, but there are plenty of songs that show he could have continued his success on a critical level (the sales and popularity are a different case) on his own. Diane Warren powered "Welcome To The Neighborhood" with three pitch-perfect clones of the 'Meat Loaf' sound, including his biggest non-Steinman hit. Desmond Child's half of "Bat Out Of Hell III" was the better half, if I'm being honest. And of all people, Nikki Sixx contributed great songs to "Couldn't Have Said It Better", which is Meat's best sleeper album.

Despite all the times I have played the great albums over the years, saying 'I'm a Meat Loaf fan' has always been hard, given how much of his music is damn near unlistenable. "Blind Before I Stop" and "Midnight At The Lost And Found" are awful. "Braver Than We Are" was a travesty, and one of the saddest things I've ever heard. But the point in time where I pretty much gave up on Meat Loaf was when he released "Hang Cool Teddy Bear". There are some positives to be found, but the lasting memory of that album is hearing a sixty year-old man screaming, "I can barely fit my dick in my pants."

Listening to that song was the moment I realized Meat Loaf was a conduit who would do or say anything he thought would get him back into the spotlight. Ok, hearing him also singing "Let's Be In Love" soon after the Britney Spears "If You Seek Amy" controversy (think about it), helped contribute to that.

Meat Loaf's career and legacy are complicated, and I think my feelings right now are much the same. Nothing will ever make me feel more connected to my younger self, or even the core of who I am, than those classic Meat Loaf albums. Meat Loaf's music is essential, but these days I can't listen to it without recognizing where I hear myself is in Steinman's writing. If Meat Loaf is so important to me, it's because he was my introduction to the sound that speaks to me like no other.

Today is a sad day, to be sure, but not sad to the extent Jim Steinman's passing was. It's somehow fitting they are both no longer with us, because they have always been thought of together. I can think of them separately, but that's a bit of a shame. They were always better together, and now they are once again.