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vinyl LP front cover
Illustration by Richard Corben
photo of album cover by Styrous®
On October 21, 1977, Bat Out of Hell was released by Meat Loaf. I already have an article about the album on the Viewfinder but it focused only on the cover of the album so it ended up in the "Just the cover, Ma'am" section (link below). This goes into more depth about the music and musicians.
Enjoy!
vinyl LP back cover
photo by Frank Laffitte
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Bat Out of Hell is the 1977 debut studio album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. The album was developed from the musical Neverland, a futuristic rock version of Peter Pan which Steinman wrote for a workshop in 1974.
There isn't a song on the album I don't like but, as usual, I have my favorites. At the top of that list is Paradise By The Dashboard Light, which has been described as the "greatest rock duet". It is actually in four parts, the first part is a man and a woman reminiscing about days as a young high
school couple on a date. They are parked by a lake and having fun,
experiencing "paradise by the dashboard light", until the young man insists they're "gonna go all the way tonight." But the girl says, "Stop right there! Before we go any further, will you love me forever?"
After several repetitions of the question, he replies, "Let think on
it!"
He
does and reluctanly agrees. "Lord I was crazed and when the feeling
came upon me like a tidal wave, started swearing to my God and on my
mother's grave that I will love you to the end of time!"
Les Sonnetts - 1892
Eventually,
it devolves into the man singing, "So now I'm' praying for the end of
time so I can end my time with you!" The woman joins this refrain for a
duet and by the end of the song they are both singing "Well, it was long
ago and it was far away and it was so much better than it is today" (complete lyrics below).
I think Paradise By The Dashboard Light is the most brutally honest love song ever written! I believe that is why it has enjoyed its almost 50 year popular longevity.
The four part song takes up the complete "B" side of the album which clocks in at a whopping twenty-three minutes.
Ellen Foley sang the woman's part on the album but Karla DeVito is in the video version of the song with DeVito lip syncing the Foley vocal. The two of them recorded a song referencing the adventure, I'm Just Happy To Be Here (link below).
A galaxy of musicians performed on Bat Out of Hell some of which were Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan from the Bruce Springsteen E Street Band, Kasim Sultan from Utopia, as well as Members of the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Bat Out of Hell was produced by Todd Rundgren, and released by Cleveland International/Epic Records. It spawned two Meat Loaf sequel albums: Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993) and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006) and has sold over 43 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked it at number 343 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. This year there was a musical made of the album (link below). They make musicals out of EVERYthing!
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Bat Out Of Hell - 9:48
A2 - You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) - 5:04
A3 - Heaven Can Wait - 4:38
A4 - All Revved Up With No Place To Go - 4:19
A2 - You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) - 5:04
A3 - Heaven Can Wait - 4:38
A4 - All Revved Up With No Place To Go - 4:19
Side 2:
B1 - Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad - 5:23
Paradise By The Dashboard Light - (8:28)
B2-I - Paradise
B2-II - Let Me Sleep On It
B2-III - Praying For The End Of Time
B3 - For Crying Out Loud - 8:45
Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Epic Records
Manufactured By – CBS Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Inc.
Copyright © – CBS Inc.
Published By – Edward B. Marks Music Corporation
Published By – Neverland Music Co.
Published By – Peg Music Co.
Recorded At – Bearsville Studios
Recorded At – Utopia Sound
Recorded At – The Hit Factory
Recorded At – House Of Music, West Orange, NJ
Mastered At – Master Cutting Room
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute
Credits:
Arranged By – Gene Orloff, Jim Steinman, Steve Margoshes
Arranged By [Strings] – Ken Ascher
Backing Vocals – Ellen Foley, Kasim Sultan*, Rory Dodd, Todd Rundgren
Bass – Kasim Sultan*
Consultant [Special] – Charlie Conrad
Design – Ed Lee
Design Concept [Cover] – Jim Steinman
Drums – John Wilcox, Max Weinberg
Effects – Jim Steinman
Engineer [Assistant] – Cliff Hodsdon
Guitar – Todd Rundgren
Guitar [Motorcycle Guitar] – Todd Rundgren
Illustration – Richard Corben
Keyboards – Jim Steinman, Roy Bittan, Todd Rundgren
Mastered By – Joe Brescio
Orchestra – Members Of New York Philharmonic*, Members Of Philadelphia Orchestra*
Orchestrated By – Steve Margoshes
Percussion – Jim Steinman, Marvin Lee*, Todd Rundgren
Photography By – Frank Laffitte
Piano – Cheryl Hardwick, Roy Bittan, Steve Margoshes
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By, Arranged By [With] – Todd Rundgren
Production Manager – Sam Ellis (4)
Production Manager [Assistant] – Richard Maiori
Recorded By – Ed Sprague, Jimmy Iovine, John Jansen, Mark Thomas (19)
Remix – Jimmy Iovine, John Jansen
Saxophone – Edgar Winter
Speech – Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto*
Synthesizer – Roger Powell
Vocals – Ellen Foley
Written-By – Jim Steinman
Notes:
Orange labels. Issued with custom printed inner-sleeve with credits and lyrics.
Runouts are stamped except for T1 and the final digits which are etched.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Rights Society: BMI
Pressing Plant ID (In runouts): T
Matrix / Runout (Label A): AL 34974
Matrix / Runout (Label B): BL 34974
Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 1): P AL 34974-4AF 1T E3
Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 1): 1T P BL 34974-3AF G7
Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 2): PAL34974-4AA D 1T
Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 2): PBL34974-3J 1T D
Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 3): 1T P AL 34974-4AA C
Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 3): P BL 34974-3BA T1 C
Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 5): AL 34974-4G 1T
Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 5): P BL 34974-3J 1T
Pressing Plant ID (In runouts): T
Matrix / Runout (Label A): AL 34974
Matrix / Runout (Label B): BL 34974
Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 1): P AL 34974-4AF 1T E3
Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 1): 1T P BL 34974-3AF G7
Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 2): PAL34974-4AA D 1T
Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 2): PBL34974-3J 1T D
Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 3): 1T P AL 34974-4AA C
Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 3): P BL 34974-3BA T1 C
Matrix / Runout (Runout A, variant 5): AL 34974-4G 1T
Matrix / Runout (Runout B, variant 5): P BL 34974-3J 1T
Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell
Label: Epic – PE 34974, Cleveland International Records – 34974
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Terre Haute Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1977
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Rock Opera, Hard Rock
Styrous® ~ Monday, October 21, 2024
Label: Epic – PE 34974, Cleveland International Records – 34974
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Terre Haute Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1977
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Rock Opera, Hard Rock
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Louder Sound ~ How Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman made Bat Out Of Hell
reddit ~ What is the meaning of the song?
The Second Disc ~ Ellen Foley Returns with "Fighting Words
Jim Steinman ~ Bat Out Of Hell - The Story Behind The Album
Stereo Embers ~ Bat Out Of Hell At 40: What The Hell Explains Its Appeal?
Subjective Sounds ~ Bat Out of Hell review
Variety ~ Meat Loaf: Secrets of Bat Out of Hell
YouTube links:
Jim Steinman ~ Neverland links
