AMG Review of Hang Cool Teddy Bear

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Hang Cool Teddy Bear may not be an explicit sequel to Bat Out of Hell, but it sure has enough bombast to trick anybody into thinking it’s the fourth volume of Bat. It’s not, of course: unlike those three career-defining records, Hang Cool Teddy Bear boasts an actual narrative -- a hazy, unformed tale of a wounded soldier -- instead of merely being conceptual, a difference that should give the album shape, particularly when married with Rob Cavallo’s crisp, bright production. Cavallo corrects all the errors of the heavy-handed metallic Bat Out of Hell III -- its slick processed grind playing like an unfortunate artifact from the moussed and teased ’80 Sunset Strip -- but the album still lacks the songs of Steinman.