Music Review by Bill Rendall

Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf

Bombastic, pretentious, overblown. These are terms used by critics of Bat Out of Hell. But the album is meant to be all these things. It is rock music at its most theatrical.

The songs on Bat Out of Hell were written by Jim Steinman who had previously been writing for the theatre. Steinman met Meat Loaf through a theatre production and was impressed by his passionate vocal style. They decided to make a rock album together even though they seemed unlikely to become rock stars. Meat Loaf's large frame made him look more like an opera singer.

Their songs really need to be accompanied by visuals for maximum effect. Meat Loaf becomes a character to match the songs. On the title track of Bat Out of Hell his character is a reprise of his role a few years earlier in the cult musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Steinman and Meat Loaf pitched their album to Todd Rundgren. Fortunately Rundgren was one of the few people in the rock industry who saw some potential in the songs. Although Rundgren doubted that the music would be commercially successful he agreed to be the producer. He also played lead guitar on the album and his band Utopia were involved as session musicians.

Bat Out of Hell was released at the time when punk rock was shaking up the music world. The album was the antithesis of punk but slowly grew in popularity in defiance of the reigning musical trends. It has stood the test of time to become a classic.

The songs on Bat Out of Hell range from slow ballads to uptempo rockers. Steinman takes the common rock song themes of car crushes and car crashes and turns them into mini operas. 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' is an example of the former theme. The title track of Bat Out of Hell is an example of the latter, albeit with a motorcycle rather than a car.

While attempting to record a follow up album Steinman and Meat Loaf had serious disagreements. As a result Steinman recorded Good for Bad singing the vocals himself. Steinman and Meat Loaf did get back together again some years later to record further albums. Bat Out of Hell remains the best ever combination of theatre and rock on an album.