Bat Out Of Hell

Description

Overwrought and undeniable,Meat Loaf’sBat Out of Hellremains both one of rock’s biggest – and least likely – hit albums. The by-product of a partnership between beefy singerMarvin Lee “Meat Loaf” Adayand fellow journeyman/National Lampoon Road Show cast memberJim Steinman,Bat out of Hellmet 1977’s vaunted Year of Punk with a blast of neo-operatic, Wagnerian-scaled bombast that was as reactionary as anything the spiked set and their supporters could possibly imagine – 40 million units worth, and counting.

Bat Out of Hellseems to have thrived on the same formula that’s made Andrew Lloyd Webber a multi-millionaire knight: if you do kitsch, do it big. And what could be more kitschy and emblematic of the ’70s than the ubiquitous “classic rock” (an overused adjective that applies all too well here) of “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” or the breathless nookie-quest, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” replete with Phil Rizzuto calling the play-by-play?

The who’s who list of first-rate musicians here is also second to none, with producerTodd RundrenandUtopia,Roy BittanandMax Weinbergfrom Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band,Edgar Winter,Ellen Foley,Jim Steinman, and evenThe New York Philharmonic.

1. Bat Out Of Hell
2. You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)
3. Heaven Can Wait
4. All Revved Up With No Place To Go
5. Two Out Of Three Aint Bad
6. Paradise By The Dash Board Light
I. Paradise
II. Let Me Sleep On It
III. Praying For The End Of Time
7. For Crying Out Loud