Production
Meat Loaf had announced that Michael Beinhorn was producing the record, but Desmond Child took the helm. The singer reports 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 says, "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 says, 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 featured guest performances by John 5, Steve Vai and John Shanks.
Meat Loaf says that he does not enjoy recording in studios. He compares 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.
The album features three duets. Norwegian vocalist Marion Raven duets on "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". "What About Love?" features Patti Russo, who has toured with Meat Loaf for over thirteen years. Finally, Jennifer Hudson performs on "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be".
Read more about this topic: Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
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