Hang Cool Teddy Bear (2CD)(Explicit)

Bat Out Of Hell is still one of the best ever but every album since then save Bat II has been terrible. This is just sellout, radio garbage. It's sad to see how low meat loaf is going these days, of how the mighty have fallen.

I truly enjoy all three of the Bat out of hell albums, they each had a style and feeling all their own. But don't be fooled, this CD does not fit in with the Bat albums in any way shape or form. Have you ever heard any of the Meat Loaf albums that were not co-written by a good song writer. Those ML albums that fell flat and strained to be good but just couldn't reach those memorable levels of greatness? Well, Teddy Bear is one of those albums. ML screams, yells, tries to be epic and even has a plethora of musicians having little jam fests throughout the songs.. But the whole mix comes out sounding forced, bland and uneventful. Even Elvis in vegas co-written by Jon Bon Jovi is forgettable at best and delivers a week, feeble punch to the CD. All the Meat Loaf fans better hang tight with teddy bear and hope that next time ML employs some better song writters for his efforts.. As for this one, it was an album out of hell alright but certainly not in a good way.

My disappointment in this album is making me hate it a little more than I probably should. Unfortunately I had high expectations because I had read a review saying Hang Cool Teddy Bear is the perfect 4th to the Bat Out Of Hell series. (I couldn't find that review again, but whoever wrote it is on crack).

Jim Steinman was Meatloaf's ketchup! The reason why I've enjoyed Meatloaf for so many years was because of the over-the-top theatrical sound of Steinman's music. Hang Cool Teddy Bear is a different Meatloaf! No Jim Steinman... meatloaf without ketchup! If you like plain old rock and roll without all the theatrics, you'll probably like this album. Just be prepared, Meat's voice isn't what it used to be. He is starting to sound more like a balladeer than a singer.

This album is supposed to be based on a short story of the same name. I searched for info about this story, and all I could find was ONE web site where you can read the 1st few chapters of the story, but ONLY if you sign up to the site. Seems like marketing BS to me.

My final thought is in regard to this 2 disk special edition. Disk #1 includes ONE extra song, California Isn't Big Enough, which is actually a fun song. Disk #2 is all live versions of old songs... listened to it once, and will very likely never listen to it again. I can't say I'd highly recommend this album to anyone, BUT if you are a fan you might as well spend the extra few bucks on the Special Edition, as you'd probably be even more disappointed with the "non explicit kid-safe" version.

I LOVE, LOVE, MEATLOAF - I HATE, HATE THIS ALBUM. ACTUALLY GAVE ME A HEADACHE TRYING TO LISTEN TO IT. THE SONGS GO ON FOREVER AND HAVE NO ARTISTIC MERIT. WITHOUT JIM STEINMAN - MEATLOAF IS PRETTY MUNDANE. I WISH i COULD GET MY MONEY BACK.

Nice collection of new songs, along with some "Live" renditions of older hits! Songs are timeless and let people remember their youth, Meat sings with the passion I've always admired. *****!