Bat Out of Hell

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Bat out of Hell is the extremely successful second album of singer Meat Loaf (Marvin Lee Aday), released in 1977 (see 1977 in music).

The album featured music of a bombastic and Wagnerian style. When Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf started proposing it to music companies they had a lot of trouble finding someone willing to produce it. But when guitarist Todd Rundgren heard it, he immediately decided he wanted to produce the album. They still needed a label and it took them some more time before they finally settled with Cleveland International Records.

The album was not an immediate hit; it was more of a growing one. Bat out of Hell still sells about 200,000 copies per year and has sold an estimated 34 million copies worldwide, 16 million in the US alone, becoming one of the biggest selling albums of all time. It remained 474 weeks in the UK charts, a feat only surpassed by the 477 weeks of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. In 2003, the album was ranked number 343 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It is also one of only two albums that have never exited the top 200 in the UK charts. This makes it the longest stay in any chart in the world.

Steinman is credited with the album cover concept, which was illustrated by Richard Corben.

In 1993 a sequel called ' (with a cover by Michael Whelan modelled on the first one) was released, which includes the hit single "I'd Do Anything for Love (but I Won't Do That)". A second sequel, to be called ', is scheduled for an October 2006 release. [link]

Track listing

"Bat out of Hell" – 9:51
"You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)" – 5:04
"Heaven Can Wait" – 4:41
"All Revved Up with No Place to Go" – 4:20
"Two out of Three Ain't Bad" – 5:25
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" – 8:28
*"Paradise"
*"Let Me Sleep on It"
*"Praying for the End of Time"
"For Crying Out Loud" – 8:44

:(All music, lyrics, and spoken material by Jim Steinman.)

:(Arrangements by Jim Steinman, Todd Rundgren, Ken Ascher, Roy Bittan.)

The album also exists in numerous other formats and rereleases, including a twenty-fifth anniversary edition with three bonus tracks ("Great Boléros of Fire (live intro)," "Bat Out of Hell (live)," and "Dead Ringer For Love") and the Hits Out of Hell DVD, and a "Bat Out of Hell: Revamped" release featuring the song "Dead Ringer for Love."

Credits

Meat Loaf — vocals, backing vocals, percussion
Todd Rundgren — guitar, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals
Kasim Sulton — bass, vocals
Roy Bittan — piano, keyboards
Steve Margoshes — piano on "For Crying Out Loud"
Cheryl Hardwick — piano on "For Crying Out Loud"
Jim Steinman — keyboards, percussion, "lascivious effects," "Hot Summer Night"
Roger Powell — synthesizer
John Wilcox — drums
Max Weinberg — drums
Edgar Winter — saxophone
Ellen Foley — vocals
Rory Dodd — vocals
Marcia McClain — "Hot Summer Night"
Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto, Voice of the New York Yankees — "Paradise" play-by-play
Gene Orloff — concert master (New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra)

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