Health issues, not legal issues, kept Bat Out Of Hell collaborator Jim Steinman from participating more fully on the third album in the series, according to Meat Loaf.
"That legal stuff had nothing to do with me and Jimmy personally," Meat Loaf said yesterday. "I had a problem with his attorney."
Steinman's representatives tried to copyright the phrase Bat Out Of Hell, but Meat Loaf said he owned the trademark around the world. "And they backed off quick. They knew they were wrong."
Some people assumed Steinman's limited involvement with Bat Out Of Hell III -- he wrote the songs, but producing duties were handled by veteran Desmond Child -- was the result of a spat. But Meat Loaf said it was more about Steinman's health.
"(Steinman) gave us the songs, but he didn't have a whole lot to do with it, and the real truth of the matter -- I'm going to be really honest with you -- is that it was kind of selfish on my part and in another way I didn't think it ever was going to happen," Meat Loaf said.
"Jim called me and said, 'Let's do Bat Out Of Hell III.' And I said, 'Oh God, I thought I was retiring.' But he sent me a whole bunch of songs. The thing is, after we talked about it for a year and a half, he'd had two strokes and a heart attack. And coming in to do a Bat Out Of Hell record is mentally and physically demanding. It hurts."
Meat Loaf said Bat Out Of Hell III might not have come out until 2009, at the earliest, had he waited for Steinman to be healthy enough to devote himself completely to the production. "So I'm sitting there in 2004 and I had to ask myself, 'Do I want to wait five years?' " Meat Loaf said. "So I had to make a selfish decision. I said, 'I want to do Bat III, and I've got these songs, so I'm going to go and see what's out there.' "
It took Meat Loaf a long time to settle upon Child. But when the pair met, Meat Loaf knew he had the right man. "He was so excited, telling me, it's his destiny, he was born to do this. (Child) was not put on the face of the earth to write Livin' La Vida Loca -- he was put on the face of the earth to produce Bat Out Of Hell III."
