Meat Loaf voices rage over politics on new CD

October 18, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

There’s a chip on the shoulder of rock singer Meat Loaf.

It was there exactly 35 years ago when he released his breakthrough album, “Bat Out of Hell,” and it’s there today with the Texas-born singer touring in support of his latest effort, “Hell in a Handbasket.”

For whatever reason, Meat Loaf, who got his first break in the 1975 feature film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” claims critics and the music industry made life tough for him over the years. Now the “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” singer returns to the Rock Hall City for a show Wednesday at Play-houseSquare’s State Theater. The Vindicator talked to Marvin Lee Aday (aka Meat Loaf) about this chip, his memories of Cleveland and the possibility of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Q. Looking back to the original “Bat Out of Hell” tour, a quick look online shows you played Blossom Music Center in 1978. At that concert, you were presented with a platinum record for “Bat Out of Hell.” Do you have any memories of the show?

A. I remember the really good shows and the really bad ones. That was a good show. I remember it real well. We received a platinum album, but by that time the record had gone double platinum. We played Cleveland three times on that tour. We played once at the very old Agora, and then we moved to a theater where I didn’t have a pass, and the security guy wouldn’t let me in. I think the guy got fired.

Q. As for your latest album, “Hell in a Handbasket,” it includes guest appearances by Chuck D, Trace Adkins, Lil Jon and Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath, and genre-wise spans everything from country and gospel to rock and rap. Is this the album you’ve always wanted to make?

A. No. You know in the movie “Network” where the actor says, “I want everyone to turn off their TV, open your window and scream ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore?’” That’s how I feel. I get angrier every day. I’m giving mugs as my Christmas present this year that say, “I see dumb people,” because I can’t believe how many lemmings we have in this world.

Q. You’re talking politics?

A. Yeah, and I never get involved. I would never do it on stage. The audience came to hear the songs. But everybody has gone crazy. The album comes from how I feel about the world. So yes, there are political messages in [the song] “Mad, Mad World,” which is very true. There’s such a thing as, “You believe what you believe; I believe what I believe. Why should you attack me?” That’s what set me off. The Internet is the ultimate road rage. You can’t say anything. And now the Internet has built this invisible wall. Some of the things are horrible, and politics have gotten so insane. I’m frightened, and I’m being honest. I’ve never been more scared in my life.

Q. Back to your music career, do you feel like you still have a chip on your shoulder?

A. No, not anymore. [Pause] Not really. [Pause] I don’t think so. [Pause] You know what? I may have. That may be what keeps me going. Yeah, you know what, I may have.

Q. Finally, do you think there is any chance the Rock Hall ever comes calling regarding induction?

A. Um, no. That may be why I have a chip on my shoulder.