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This is one of the versions of the front cover artwork for "The Very Best of Meat Loaf". You can see the differences between this and the album if you compare them. I wish I had a poster of this, but without the Meat Loaf '99 written on it.  > > > > > Yes, I agree. And the "Bat out of Hell 2" cover art is my > > > favourite out of all of the albums. > > > > I love the idea of the giant bat perched on the Chrysler > > Building. Am I right that the Bat 2 cover art is also > > concieved by Jim? > > This is an old post from BMV that I dug up from my > archives. BMV was a member who used to post here, and he > also organized the two tribute albums "Nothing but a > merciless night". He was/and is well liked but we haven't > heard from in a while now. > > I think this might interest you: > > "Michael Whelan, the artist who created the Bat II and > Very Best of Meatloaf covers, is in Denver this weekend > for a Fantasy Art convention. I took off a few hours of > work today to go meet with him. I spent about 3 hours > talking to him about his work. One on one. It was great! > I've been a fan of his ever since Bat II. > > I asked a lot of questions about his work with Jim and > Meat and here are some of the points he made: > > Joe Stefko (drummer touring with Meat at the time) > recommended Whelan's work when Meat was looking for the > Bat II artist. Meat and Jim conceptualized the cover, but > had various disagreements (with Michael caught in the > middle!). One of them wanted the view looking down into > the city, the other wanted a view looking up. The end > result is the bizarre perspective of NYC skyscrapers on > the album cover. > > Apparently, Jim demanded an angel on the cover, but Meat > told Whelan "ah, forget all that angel shit." But, Jim was > adamant about having an angel on the cover. (Reminds me of > "Todd...where's my motorcycle??? from Bat I). > > The idea was the biker going back into Hell, but this time > the Bat was dominating and in charge. > > Regarding the Very Best of Meatloaf cover: > Michael really wasn't interested in doing this piece. He > had a great idea for the biker standing along a ruined > highway. From the impression he gave, neither Jim nor Meat > were directly involved with this concept, so it was left > to the ad execs for the record label. They wanted the > motorcycle in the sky. Michael did several versions (he > estimated about 12) before they found one they liked. > Michael had other commitments at the time and was finding > himself increasingly behind schedule for these other > projects. He was getting irritated with the record folks. > After all their demands, he finished the painting by > putting in a kitchen sink in the lower corner of the > cover. He said he wasn't sure you could see it in the > album cover, but when you view the full-size painting, > it's there. > > Regarding Bat III: > Meatloaf approached Michael about doing this cover. Meat's > original idea was having the biker riding across the > cover, with the girl/angel on the back of the bike, > holding a samurai sword, and slicing the head off the bat. > According to Michael the head was to be almost completely > decapitated with large amounts of blood oozing all over > the place. Michael turned down the conceptual sketch, > knowing that the ad execs would never approve it for > release. Eventually, the project went to Julie Bell. > > Michael mentioned that the original painting to Bat II was > purchased by Meatloaf. > > Michael keeps his original concepts/sketches and > occasionally brings them to shows for quick, cheaper sales > to fans. I asked him about the Bat II concept work and he > said he still had them, and that he'd run into them just a > few weeks back. He and I exchanged information, so I'm > going to try to buy a few off him. These will be the > original pencil/charcoal/acrylic sketches. I'll keep you > all updated! > > All in all, I've wanted to meet Michael Whelan for 13 > years. Nice to say I finally did. Guess I can check him > off my list. > > --BMV" | |