Seven years ago, my mum and I went to Hyde Park to see Meat Loaf play live, today; I sat in a room with Meat Loaf and two dozen other people as we enjoyed a preview showing of his new album, Hang Cool Teddy Bear.

Needless to say, for me, today was one of those once in a lifetime events.

Meat entered the room and proceeded to fire off jokes left right and centre, he then introduced the album.

At 1 hour 7 minutes long, Hang Cool Teddy Bear is another epic album from Meat Loaf, but this album is vastly different from his previous releases. A point he was clear to make when explaining the title:

“If you’re walking down the street and you see a poster that says, ‘Beyonce: Bootylicious’ or ‘Meat Loaf: Bat 4’ you won’t think twice and you’ll keep on walking.

But if you see a poster that says ‘Meat Loaf: Hang Cool Teddy Bear’ whether you like the title or not, it’ll have your attention for 3 or 4 seconds.”

Having explained the meaning behind the album, how it’s based on a short story and each song references the previous track ,which adds to a flowing narrative between the tunes, Meat took a moment to praise his producer Rob Cavallo revealing: “Rob gave me my voice 100% on this album”

Then, Meat took his seat, all of two seats away from me! And the playback began.

Throughout the album, Meat, through his body language and reactions showed me that he is incredibly proud of this album, and so he should be, as it is a wonderful record.

My favourite track of the album was California Isn’t Big Enough, a song co-written by Justin Hawkins of The Darkness fame. I felt this tune perfectly combined the soulful music and mischievous lyrics that Meat Loaf will always be remembered for.  

As the album playback finished, Meat thanked the audience for coming, he was visibly moved by the album and wiped away tears from his eyes, having heard Be Cool Teddy Bear, I believe Meat Loaf has an awful lot to be happy about with this album, as it is fantastic.