CHECKING IN WITH. . .MEAT LOAF : Setting Life’s Big Moments to Music

The only thing more unlikely than Meat Loaf’s original success in 1977--when his operatically scaled hard-rock opus “Bat Out of Hell” began its march toward the 12-million sales mark--was his return to the charts in 1993 with “Bat Out of Hell II,” which brought him into the spotlight again after a commercially moribund decade and a half.

Now the rotund rocker has released a new album, “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” yet another turn around his familiar turf (see review, Page 74) . Meat Loaf, who was born Marvin Aday in Dallas 48 years ago, spoke in a recent interview about his expectations and his unswerving approach to music.

Question: What are your expectations for the new album after the success of “Bat Out of Hell II”?

Answer: I don’t make commercial records . . . I don’t think that way. I only wanted to ever sell enough so that they’ll let me make another one.

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Q: Yet you have one of the best-selling records of all time.

A: Yeah, which is like--it’s not real. It doesn’t feel like anything. You don’t get anything back . . . except you know a lot of people have reacted strongly to the music. But as far as somebody coming up and telling you you’ve sold that many records, that and $2.75 will get you a brandy cappuccino at Starbucks.

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Q: When “Bat Out of Hell II” became a huge hit in ’93 were you as surprised as everyone else?

A: Yes and no. Having a No. 1 single is a surprise, are you kidding? Having anything in the Top 10 is unbelievable. But I thought it would be more successful than people gave it credit for. I don’t think the press actually understood the depth of “Bat Out of Hell” and didn’t know the fan base that that had.

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Q: Why does your music sound the way it does?

A: The fallacy of what people write is, they say, “Oh, he makes it so big.” But I don’t make it big. They come big, because all these things are the moments in your life where you say to yourself, “This can’t be happening, this isn’t real.” I go for that world. I’m that kind of dramatic kind of guy. I’m over the top.

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Q: What about a song like “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”?

A: I had this Ford convertible, and I remember I took the mayor of Dallas’ daughter out parking at this lake. And that was an event that was so unreal, but it was really happening. I visualized that moment in my mind forever. It was extraordinary--here I am, I got the mayor of Dallas’ daughter sittin’ next to me, she’s half nekkid--this is not real! I know that feeling, I know that emotion, so that’s what I got “Paradise” written off of.

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Q: A whole new generation has come up since that era. How do you fit into today’s musical environment?

A: I don’t fit. But I’ve never fit. We didn’t fit in ’77. In 1977, “Bat Out of Hell” was a strange being from another planet. Sometimes I do want to fit in. Sometimes it’s really hard not to fit in. You want to be part of it. And at some point you realize that your reality is that you don’t fit, and that’s your lot and you deal with it.

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Q: What music do you listen to?

A: I listen to everything, I really do. There’s a band called Offspring. I kept playing their record before we cut every track on this record. I kept saying, “I want it to sound like this,” and the band looked so puzzled. I didn’t want them to play like that, but I wanted them to hear the focus and the energy on this thing. If there was an inspiration on “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” it’s Offspring.