Believe it or not, this is a concept album! This effort is the first from Meat Loaf since 'Bat out of hell 3: the monster is loose' and does not feature Jim Steinman at all...

Meat Loaf features on the writing credits for one song, the rest are written by guests or collaborators. This doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the album, though, they are well written and melodic. Meat sounds better than he did on 'Bat 3', which surprised me. While it’s not a Steinman album, many of the songs features here are powerful, leaving one begging for more.

There are a number guests which feature, Jack Black, Hugh Lawrie (on piano!), Steve Vai, Brian May and Justin Hawkins (the Darkness). Hawkins penned a number of songs too and his distinctive voice can be heard as backing vocals on those tracks (still sounding like he’s had his extremities slammed in a door).

The album should sell well, as it is enjoyable to listen to (particularly 'The Rose' with Jack Black) and a Meat Loaf effort generally does well commercially. I hope so - rock needs all the punting it can get! ****

****

Review by Nick van der Meulen