Dates kick off in the US with a Feb. 23 show in San Diego. The theatrical rocker then heads to Canada through mid-March, and wraps up the North American leg with a bunch of East Coast dates that extend into mid-April. North American shows are listed below.

In May, Meat Loaf will head to Europe, where he'll play gigs in the UK, Ireland and Germany through June. Those dates can be found on the singer's website.

Thirteen years in the making, "Bat Out of Hell III: the Monster is Loose" is the third installment of the rock epic. Meat Loaf released "Bat Out of Hell" in 1977 and "Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell" in 1993. The first two albums of the series have sold nearly 50 million copies worldwide, according to the artist's website.

Meat Loaf said in a statement that his latest project was the most ambitious, committed and emotional of his three-decade career.

"I knew I would have to shoot for the moon, or the end of the universe, if I was going to do 'Bat Out Of Hell III.' The Bat just has a life of its own, so you can't say you’re gonna top it or you’re gonna beat it; you just have to try to do something special."

The singer has hinted that "Bat III" may be the last in the series. A few songs from the new record are streaming at Meat Loaf's MySpace page, including a new version of "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" featuring Norwegian singer Marion Raven.

Coinciding with the record's release, Meat Loaf recently starred in a series of one-night shows staged at London's Royal Albert Hall, New York City's The Palace, Toronto's Elgin Theatre, Atlantic City's Estes Theatre and Uncasville, CT's Mohegan Sun. Each of the show's three acts was devoted to the songs of the "Bat Out of Hell" albums, in sequence.

Meat Loaf also appears in the new Tenacious D movie, "Pick of Destiny."