Meat Loaf's hard work paying off in Bat III

Meat Loaf's feeling good these days about his new album Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. He scored a Number Eight debut in Billboard on sales of over 80,000 copies, putting him ahead of former American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler. It's got to be especially gratifying for Meat Loaf, because he told us that he only makes a Bat Out Of Hell album when the songs force him to work harder than he'd like: "'It's All Coming Back To Me Now' -- not easy. 'The Monster Is Loose' -- not easy. 'Blind As A Bat' -- ridiculously hard. 'Cry Over Me' -- God almighty! The easiest thing on the whole record to sing was 'Seize The Night,' and that's not exactly a walk in the park. So if it's hard to sing, and it's, I know that to do this is going to be the most painful thing, process I can possibly go through, then it's right for Bat Out Of Hell."

Meatloaf's next show is on Friday, November 10th, at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey.