B Rock Note: Meat Loaf Rails Against Record Company

UPDATE: Meat Loaf has gotten his wish and Sony UK will no longer release a 40th anniversary edition of Bat Out of Hell.

Meat writes on Facebook, "Thanks to all of you...they canceled the release. Now [my Batcollaborator] Jim [Steinman] and I can complete our plans for a real 40th anniversary record, with some real bonus tracks that people have never heard. Thanks to all of you for speaking up."

Meat Loaf is railing against his former record company for issuing -- what he feels -- is a needless reissue of 1977's Bat Out Of Hell.

Meat Loaf posted on his Facebook page: "In June, Sony records in the UK, is trying to release another stupid version of Bat Out Of Hell only for them to make more money. For those of you who do not know, (composer) Jim (Steinman) and I get no royalties from Bat and never have. They admit they have sold 44 million (what have they really sold worldwide). Jim and I have gotten, I am serious, pennies. They have screwed me and Jim since 1981. It took us almost 13 years just to get statements. So I am asking all of you to not buy this record, to boycott this release completely. It is nothing but a greedy record company, trying to steal your money. Don’t buy, thanks, Meat and Jim... P.S. Spend your money and go see a great musical, Bat Out Of Hell the Musical."

He went on to post: "Let me just write this, Jim and I had (have) a great 40th anniversary album planned for over a year now, with some tracks that maybe 6 to 10 people have every heard.

Despite some well-received work over the years, Meat Loaf will always be best remembered for the 1977 blockbuster. He told us that Bat Out Of Hell has grown beyond a successful '70s album into a full-blown cultural phenomenon.

"It's no longer about me. It belongs to you, and you create your own stories, and you create your own place in time for that record. Everything is geared so that when you hear it, you're funneled right into that speaker, and it becomes a visual of your life as opposed to a visual of my life."

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