by
Meat Loaf
- Record Label: Roadrunner Records/Loud & Proud
- Release Date: May 11, 2010
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Not that dignity was ever that important to Meat Loaf, but the shallow spectacle of Hang Cool Teddy Bear lacks the absurd joy of his best: you can hear everybody involved working far too hard to achieve next to nothing.
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While old-school rap nods and blunt lyricism add to the set's allure, its fluidity suffers.
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The passion and delivery are there, but the songs aren't. And two out of three ain't enough.
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MojoNow, by trying something a little different, he's mustered a late-career triumph. [May 2010, p. 92]
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Q MagazineIt's a qualified success, he rocks harder here than he has done for years, but there's still plenty of fat left to trim from the bloated ballads. [May 2010, p.121]
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Hang Cool, Teddy Bear is of a piece with the rest of his catalogue: the pounding guitars never slacken, emotions are writ very large and the lyrics rarely lack sly wit. Less happily, the tempo never varies--this album desperately needs a ballad--and 13 unrelenting tracks is a good deal more than enough.
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UncutAs is generally the case with Loaf's oeuvre, the ridiculousness of the enterprise is redeemed somewhat by a recognition of its own absurdity. [Jul 2010, p.112]