Album Review: “Midnight at the Lost and Found” by Meatloaf

Meatloaf’s Bat Out Of Hell was a stellar catalog in all aspects, so how did it get from that to Midnight at the Lost and Found? Meatloaf had a falling out with longtime creative musical partner, Jim Steinman. The two were known for their epic one-two combination of songwriting and delivery, but as they were in the works for Bat Out Of Hell’s follow up, Meatloaf began encountering vocal problems. Packed with the absurd state of mind of the rock industry at that time, Meatloaf said, “I was nuts. I mostly turned it inward. And it was all over being famous. I didn’t want people to call me a star.”

Steinman shared his experience as well, saying, “I spent seven months trying to make a follow-up to Bat Out of Hell with him and it was an infernal nightmare,” added Steinman. “He had lost his voice, he had lost his house, and he was pretty much losing his mind.” It was reported that the hits “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” and “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” was given to Meatloaf by Steinman, but wasn’t successful as Meatloaf’s label refused to pay for it.

Under duress, Meatloaf tried his best to gather songwriters into the fray, with himself included in the creative sessions. The result was a dismal catalog, which didn’t even touch the golden age of the Meatloaf-Steinman partnership. The flop of an album was disliked by Meatloaf himself, who admitted his songwriting skill wasn’t the best there was.