As even his harshest critics will admit, Meat Loaf is a genuine rock'n'roll superstar. And as even his greatest admirers must concede, he isn't exactly good at coming up with new ideas. For the last couple of decades he's done little more than churn out variations of his greatest hit Bat Out Of Hell - and the fact that it gets yet another airing here as a bonus track is a good warning of what's to come. Just about every one of these twelve (very lengthy) songs follows the same formula - Meat Loaf's been dumped, he's not terribly happy and he's going to let the rest of the world know all about it. The result is a collection of one-paced, old-fashioned rock ballads that even the old ham's fans will find it difficult to get too worked up about. True, his great bellow of a voice is in pretty good shape and at least he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. But it's still hard to escape the feeling that this is Meat Loaf on autopilot - and as such, not an album that anyone really needs in their collection.
