Meatloaf says he's on the way out

Meat Loaf made his upcoming Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose without songwriter and producer Jim Steinman, who was intimately involved in the first two Bat Out Of Hell projects. The two men were involved in lawsuits earlier this year, which have since been settled, but Meat Loaf says his own sense of mortality was a big reason why he didn't use Steinman this time. Steinman has heart trouble and is a stroke survivor, and Meat Loaf told a press conference yesterday (Monday, September 4th) in Hong Kong, "If you look at my life as a gas tank on an automobile, I got a quarter of a tank left. I made a selfish decision that said, 'No, I can't wait, because I'm running on a quarter of a tank,'" according to the Associated Press.

MeatLoaf also said the legal issues, which involved ownership of the phrase "Bat Out Of Hell," were never really between he and Steinman. He said, "It's about managers. I think Jim Steinman's manager is the devil. Jim Steinman thinks my manager is the devil, so we had to communicate through managers... I didn't really sue Jim Steinman. I sued the manager. You just had to name him (Steinman). The lawsuit was over in three weeks."

MeatLoaf added that he will work with Steinman and Bat Out Of Hell III producer Desmond Child on a new project, but that it would not be Bat IV.

Bat Out Of Hell III comes out Halloween (October 31st).
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