Meat Loaf never stops self-improving

A hard-rock legend, an example for a million of musicians all over the world, both beginning and experienced, and also a talented actor, Meat Loaf has been pleasing the audience with his creations for more than four decades now. His unique vocals never losing their power and charm, deeply thought lyrics inspired both by his rich imagination and life itself, have made the artist famous and his music never gets old. Well-known for his love of sullen gothic atmosphere Meat Loaf and his band often create the images of medieval castles with ghosts in their songs, with a tragic love almost always serving a base of all the events and plots. The things are not that predictable, though. This year Meat Loaf has turned to a bit different theme recording the album Hang Cool Teddy Bear, which characterizes him not only as an ever self-improving artist but also a deeply looking psychologist able to create most interesting pictures and make the listener think them through.

Hang Cool Teddy Bear lives up to your expectations

The protagonist of the album Hang Cool Teddy Bear is a soldier who finds himself on the edge of life and death. Many believe that a person’s whole past life passes in front of one’s eyes but Meat Loaf suggests we consider a different variant. Except for the opener Peace On Earth, on which we get to know the main character and learn about his sad destiny, each of the songs here tells one of the variants of the soldier’s future life. It is not a secret that everything is possible and naturally the only glue here is love – there can be only one woman in the protagonist’s life and it is her that appears in all his life’s versions. The protagonist seems to have quite a joyful character, likes jokes and entertainment as it is clear on the track Los Angeloser, but later we realize he is also quite vulnerable. One of the most curious numbers on the album is If I Can't Have You, for it does not only feature the backing vocals by DioGuardi, but also a piano verse from Hugh Laurie. If you watched Geeves and Wooster series you definitely know that Laurie is a classically trained pianist. When Meat Loaf guested in House M.D., he invited Hugh to play with him. An unfortunate love case is on the track Love Is Not Real (Next Time You Stab Me In The Back), one of the most emotional and powerful compositions on the album. The same is true about one of the record’s highlights Song Of Madness, on which Meat Loaf’s vocals sound almost twice stronger than the instrumentation. On the whole, the album will leave the brightest impression and lives up to your expectations.

A serious theme implying no sentiments

No doubt Meat Loaf's voice sounds on Hang Cool Teddy Bear in all its beauty and strength. Even after so many years today his works are surprisingly taken as fresh, up-to-date and respectable. It is especially true about this recording. For the first time a Meat Loaf's work is produced by Rob Cavallo, who has worked with such teams as Green Day, My Chemical Romance and others. Rob has been carefully watching the musicians’ creative work and has been very happy to get an opportunity to contribute to it, so all the arrangements are made perfect and the vocals really play the leading role here. Perhaps the only album’s drawback is the absence of a ballad – yet its theme is serious enough and does not imply any sentiments. Moreover, Meat Loaf is an artist who has already given the worlds a lot of slow and beautiful hits and this time he wants us to stay tense following the protagonist’s changing way of thinking. Thus the album Hang Cool Teddy Bear definitely enlarges one’s outlook and is going to be a priceless contribution to your rock-music collection.

Alexandra Zachernovskaya
29.04.2010