Friday night special: Meatloaf.

Served well done, certainly seasoned.

It's been 30 years since lyrical rocker Meat Loaf's first album, the theatrical "Bat Out of Hell," catapulted up the record charts, and 16 years since he followed up with the similarly chart-topping "Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell"

Now he's gone back to the studio and back on stage.

At the Giant Center, he emerges dressed in Johnny Cash black and carrying a trademark red handkerchief.

He's here to re-create his rock-operaish style music, launch the third album in the trilogy, "Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose" and jump start his third musical comeback.

Meat Loaf, born Marvin Lee Aday, has some worn tread on his tires, but his pipes don't show much rust.

He can still belt out the songs with the magnetic range that garnered him a following three decades ago.

The hefty Texas-born singer, who has in the past tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds, has offered several explanations for his stage name, which he has variously attributed to a childhood nickname that stuck and a former coach's label. He also has given his date of birth as both 1947 and 1951.

The singer with gospel roots is also a stage, TV and movie actor. He made a memorable film debut in 1975 in the cult film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," in which he played the biker "Eddie."

On his "Monster' tour, Meat Loaf is backed up by a band years his junior, including a dark-haired female singer, Aspen Miller, he introduces as born in Hershey, Pa.

He starts the concert by bringing the members of the mostly Boomer crowd to their feet with "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," which includes an orchestrated love scene between the Meat and Miller.

Physically, Meat Loaf is no Mick Jagger or Rod Stewart, but vocally he is agile.

He seems to cradle the microphone with his entire body as he sings into it, crouching and trumpeting out the high notes with an intensity that brings on goose bumps.

Before the intermission, Meat Loaf feeds the audience a smorgasbord of his greatest hits, including "I'll Do Anything for Love, But I Won't Do That," and ends the first act with a rousing rendition of "Bat Out of Hell."

When Meat Loaf returns, he changes course by offering some of the songs from his newest album, "Bat Out of Hell III."

But he doesn't abandon the music that first got him recognized, including "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," which starts out with a riveting acoustic guitar solo.

After more than two hours on stage, Meat Loaf makes his exit.

But he and his band return for an encore, the crescendo of the whole evening.

Not just one song, but a medley of hits.

The final number, "Gimme Shelter," is a Meat Loaf tribute of sorts to another Rock n' Roll legend with staying power: The Rolling Stones.

Meat Loaf offers these parting words and advice.

"Keep on rockin."