Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose - Compositions

Compositions

The album opens with the title track. "The Monster Is Loose" is highly influenced by the Gothic style of John 5, who plays the main guitar parts. The song is hard rock, 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. 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 says 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 says "In the Land of the Pig (The Butcher Is King)" 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:

Can't you hear the choir now?

Listen to the animals sing.

Can't you hear the slaughterhouse bells?

In the land of the pigs the butcher is king.

"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 has 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.

I can't forget the feeling of your sweat upon my skin.

And the tremble of your body on the day you let me in...

On a summernight's surrender with nothing to lose.

You were scared and so was I when I gave myself to you...

"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 song first appeared on the only album performed by female group Pandora's Box). The lyrics reveal the hopelessness of the past (Were there ever any stars in the sky?) and the future (There's nothing so sad as a tomorrow gone bad).

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: (Cry baby cry/Cry, cry to heaven/If that doesn't do it for you/Go ahead and cry like hell.) The two parts are bridged by an instrumental dominated by an Irish flute.