ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Ive been listening to your record a bunch this past week.
I woke up at 3:15 the other morning and listened to it seven times in a row.
Ill give you a perfect example.
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Why are you treating me this way?
I get very intense.
I get to the show five hours early.
If were on at 8 p.m., Im there at 3 in the afternoon.
You hear actors all the time say, Oh I cant watch myself in a film.
Do you know why?
Because thats exactly what theyre doing, theyre watchingthemselves.
I did it as Meat Loaf, and to this day, it drives me insane.
What movie was that?
Does this new album feel more hopeful than your last album,Hell in a Handbasket?
This record, theres not a single moment on this record that is Meat Loaf.
When rock and roll people start writing that kind of stuff, it is very unintelligent.
When you were working with Jim Steinman on this album, what were those conversations like?
What were the reference points?
Well, between Jim and I the discussions were more thematic.
Between Paul and Jim, they were musical.
That age, 69, thats a good year [laughs].
This was a whole new process.
So the Meisner process of finding the truth of the moment thats on the page, thats the same.
But finding out the characters truth of the page, that process is always different.
How are you feeling after your collapse earlier this summer?
I was just worn out.
Im not 32 anymore.
Do you ever think about your legacy and your influence?
I was just reading thatKeith Urban was sayinghis latest single is influenced by Paradise by the Dashboard Light.
Were you a big Nirvana fan?
I was after that.
Do you listen to any contemporary pop music these days?
Well, I really like Bruno Mars.
What do you like about him?
I love that he also changes characters as well.
Hes doing costumes and hair and stuff, to change characters that way.
Whether he knows that hes actually changing characters inside the song, I dont know.
But I like the fact that hes constantly revolving and moving and getting us to a different truth.
He reminds you of a young Meat Loaf.
Yeah, I really, really,reallylike him.
