Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

If You're a Meatloaf Fan, You'll Love This

Great remix of most of Meat Loaf's best songs. Good to prepare for upcoming concert tour. November 29, 2008

The Original "High School Musical"

If all this record had going for it was the viscous cheesiness of Jim Steinman's lyrics, Phil Rizzuto's play-by-play fellatrix or the groin-bruising operetics of Mr. Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell would still qualify as an honorable mention in any discussion of late `70s arena-rock machismo. Fortunately, it is BOOH's musical undercard that continues to make it much more than a time period oddity. Supporting this teenage passion play is the production and guitar genius of Todd Rundgren abetted by two of rock's finest ensembles - Rundgren's own musical alter-ego, Utopia (Kasim Sultan, Roger Powell) and a lend-lease from the E-Street Band in the persons of Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan.

Rundgren retains his laurels as the era's most prolific front-man and technical Svengali. Right in the middle of a production run that included Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, XTC, Badfinger and Grand Funk, Rundgren drove the sonics of his all-star line-up through a heavy metal atom smasher that all but renders the sticky-fingered story-line hopelessly dazed, utterly confused and completely beside the point. Bat Out Of Hell is Wagnerian overkill designed for the one speaker technics of a 1972 Plymouth Duster - overwhelming, overwrought, overweight and over-the-top with every ear drum shattered and woofer blown.

Meat's opus-dopus remains joyously catatonic in it's blissed-out ignorance and is easily the smartest, dumb recording ever made. Five stars for this essential classic.
August 2, 2008

Bat out of Hell...still love it after all these years!

I first got hooked on this album when I was barely a teenager and could listen to it over and over. Now 30 yrs later I still occasionally enjoy listening to it. I no longer listen to rock music as I didn't care for the path it took over the years and pretty well only listen to country music now a days but Bat out of Hell has a timeless quality about it that I think I will still enjoy it in another 30 yrs. It is a great album in my opinion. July 23, 2008

Awesome

Love Meatloaf! Especially Bat Out Of Hell. last song is a live version! Must get! April 10, 2008

Da Da! Da Da! Da Da!

It begins... Bat out of hell! The glorious pounding of the piano begins, it builds! A breezy guitar line and airous drums only put in the freedom of being a bat out of hell. Cruising down the highway on your Harley!

That my friends, is the greatest 2 minutes of this album!

Eh, who am I kidding? This whole album, from beginning to end, is a boring, overwrought, cheesy, shallow piece of _____. Yes, it is quite like the emotions of being young (believe me, I know what this album is trying to say), but it doesn't help that this album tries to take itself waaaaay to seriously. He didn't even write the songs. Jim Steinman wrote them. If Jim's name would have been on here instead of Meatloaf's, maybe this album would have gotten my understanding or at least the respect that he's actually expressing himself (even if it's total _____).
So that alone is bad. It's Jim thoughts, so people would think it's the work of him, even though he didn't sing them. Depeche Mode's Martin Gore and Dave Gahan work together fine because it's simply not labeled Dave Gahan.

Even if you don't factor in the horrid lyrics and the whole damn reason why it was made, the music is boring, and Meatloaf is one of the worst singers I've ever heard. If the music had any chance of living, Meatloaf would kill it anyway. It is one of the most boring voices period. The only thing that has saved him from falling into another reject is his supposedly super trained voice. Well, ________ that. If he can't use that training to make something memorable, then you don't have talent. Technical or trained techniques are only good if they are used to make something memorable. I'm not affected at all. Whatever skills he possesses, it certainly doesn't work on me. So he fails as a singer, no matter what.

If you like this album, then you can enjoy it all. But for me, it's just a poor excuse for love ballads and rockers that don't have any energy at all. I'm going to listen to Big Star now. Bye. March 17, 2008

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