Bat Out Of Hell (Coloured Vinyl LP)

 
Bat Out Of Hell (Coloured Vinyl LP) cover
$60.00 Low Stock add to cart more by this artist

Meat Loaf
Bat Out Of Hell (Coloured Vinyl LP)

[ Legacy / LP ]

Release Date: Friday 29 January 2021

Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 5 business days.

There is no other album like Bat Out of Hell, unless you want to count the sequel. This is Grand Guignol pop -- epic, gothic, operatic, and silly, and it's appealing because of all of this. Jim Steinman was a composer without peer, simply because nobody else wanted to make mini-epics like this. There never could have been a singer more suited for his compositions than Meat Loaf, a singer partial to bombast, albeit shaded bombast. The compositions are staggeringly ridiculous, yet Meat Loaf finds the emotional core in each song, bringing true heartbreak to "Two out of Three Ain't Bad" and sly humor to "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."

There's no discounting the production of Todd Rundgren, either, who gives Steinman's self-styled grandiosity a production that's staggeringly big but never overwhelming and always alluring. While the sentiments are deliberately adolescent and filled with jokes and exaggerated clichés, there's real (albeit silly) wit behind these compositions, not just in the lyrics but in the music, which is a savvy blend of oldies pastiche, show tunes, prog rock, Springsteen-esque narratives, and blistering hard rock (thereby sounding a bit like an extension of Rocky Horror Picture Show, which brought Meat Loaf to the national stage). It may be easy to dismiss this as ridiculous, but there's real style and craft here and its kitsch is intentional. It may elevate adolescent passion to operatic dimensions, and that's certainly silly, but it's hard not to marvel at the skill behind this grandly silly, irresistible album.
All Music Guide.

Tracks:

Side A:
Bat Out Of Hell
You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth
Heaven Can Wait
All Revved Up With No Place To Go

Side B:
Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad
Paradise By The Dashboard Light
For Crying Out Loud