bat out of hell

Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman had one of the biggest albums of all time with this rock opera inspired by Peter Pan. Steinman and Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday) met at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Steinman remembers: "He was larger than life. That was the first thing that registered to me. It was like a revelation."   The duo began working on an album. Meat Loaf says:   "The first time I ever sang a Jim Steinman song, it was a story song because that's what I do best. There are those out there who believe because Jimmy wrote in that style, that's when that all started for me, but it's not the case. I love Jim Steinman and everything about him. Sometimes, you get put in a box and they won't let you out of it though. You're in there forever. They punch holes in it so you can get air, but that's it...If you look at 'Bat Out of Hell', it wasn't a concept record, but all of the songs were based on Steinman's musical, 'Neverland'."


'Bat out of Hell' was produced by Todd Rundgren at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, NY; Utopia Sound in Lake Hill, NY; The Hit Factory in New York City; and House of Music in West Orange, NJ with Meat Loaf on lead vocals, backing vocals, and percussion; Todd Rundgren on guitar, percussion, keyboards, and backing vocals; Kasim Sulton on bass and backing vocals; Roy Bittan on piano and keyboards; Steve Margoshes and Cheryl Hardwick on piano; Jim Steinman on keyboards, percussion, "lascivious effects", and dialogue intro; Roger Powell on synthesizer; Edgar Winter on saxophone; Max Weinberg and John Wilcox on drums; Marcia McClain on dialogue intro; Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto on play-by-play; Ellen Foley on featured vocal and backing vocals; Rory Dodd on backing vocals; Gene Orloff as concert master; and Members of New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. Ken Ascher did string arrangements and Steve Margoshes provided orchestra arrangements. All of the songs were composed by Jim Steinman.

The lyrics are from a teenage perspective. Steinman says: "They're closer to the things in life that are really important. They're closer to the jugular, the feverish, the primal, the urgent, the intuitive aspects of being human...I've been called over the top. How silly. If you don't go over the top, you can't see what's on the other side."  Meat Loaf considers:  "Nobody writes like Jim Steinman. All these things - bombastic, over-the-top, self-indulgent - all these things are positives."

The album was finished without a label and eventually released on Cleveland International, a subsidiary of Epic Records. 'Bat out of Hell' had trouble breaking into radio because of the long songs; but eventually found its audience. It charted at number thirty in Norway; twenty-six in Ireland; fourteen in the US; thirteen in Sweden; eleven in Germany; nine in the UK; and number one in Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. 'Bat out of Hell' has sold over forty-three million copies worldwide, making it the sixth biggest selling album of all time.  Meat Loaf admits:   "I've always been described as the monster to his Dr. Frankenstein. If that's what they want to think, I'm for it."  Steinman reflects:  "There's no hate to it. It's much more love with tons of extenuating circumstances. When he performs my songs, I couldn't even dream of them being sung better. We're inexplicably bound by the stuff I wrote for him. It's strange."











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"You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)" went to thirty-nine in the US, thirty-three in the UK, twenty-two in Germany, four in the Netherlands, three in Australia, and number two in New Zealand. 

On a hot summer night
Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

Will he offer me his mouth?
Yes
Will he offer me his teeth?
Yes
Will he offer me his jaws?
Yes
Will he offer me his hunger?
Yes
Again. Will he offer me his hunger?
Yes
And will he starve without me?
Yes
And does he love me?
Yes
Yes

On a hot summer night.
Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?
Yes
I bet you say that to all the boys.







"Two Out of Three Ain't Bad"  went to number twenty-three in the UK, eleven in Australia and the US, and number nine in New Zealand.  The song was written as a response to Elvis Presley's 'I Want You, I Need You, I Love You'.

I want you (I want you)
I need you (I need you)
But-there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you
Now don't be sad (Don't be sad)
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
Now don't be sad (Cause)
'Cause two out of three ain't bad
 








"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" went to number thirty-nine in the US and number one in the Netherlands. 


Well I wanna make your motor run
And now our bodies are oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right
And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
C'mon! Hold on tight!
C'mon! Hold on tight!
Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard light
Paradise by the dashboard light
You got to do what you can
And let Mother Nature do the rest
Ain't no doubt about it
We were doubly blessed
'Cause we were barely seventeen
And we were barely-
We're gonna go all the way tonight












'Bat out of Hell'
full album:




All tracks written by Jim Steinman.

Side one
1. "Bat Out of Hell"   9:48
2. "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)" (intro spoken by Steinman and Marcia McClain) 5:04
3. "Heaven Can Wait"   4:38
4. "All Revved Up with No Place to Go"   4:19
Side two
5. "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad"   5:23
6. "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" (duet with Ellen Foley) (I. Paradise / II. Let Me Sleep On It / III. Praying for the End of Time) 8:28
7. "For Crying Out Loud"   8:45