Bat Out Of Hell – Meat Loaf – 1977

First listen?: Yes

I’ve never understood the appeal of Meat Loaf. This is coming from someone who’s only experience with Meat Loaf is the ridiculous I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), the title track of this album and his performance in the cult classic musical Rocky Horror. Safe to say I’ve never made it all the way through a whole album of Meat Loaf’s trademark theatrical rock, and after Bat Out Of Hell I’m not sure I ever will again. That’s not to say that the album is bad, it’s just a bit ‘much’ for me. The title track opens the album as it means to go on, self indulgent and ridiculous as it nearly reaches the 10 minute mark. The main hook appears every now and again, but the rest of the song becomes lost in the madness. Things don’t really change from this point on, the next few songs keeping things a bit more simple at about 5 minutes each before Paradise by the Dashboard Light and For Crying Out Loud take things back to the self indulgent start again. There are some enjoyable moments, such as the hook of You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, but even these are mired by overlong instrumental sections that extend the album for no reason. Maybe I’ve completely misinterpreted Bat Out Of Hell, I can already hear many of you wondering what the hell I’m on about, but I couldn’t help but wish it would all just end soon on my first listen. I guess the ridiculousness and over the top songs are what made Bat Out Of Hell such a successful album. It’s interesting to note that this is the lowest charting album in the whole top 40, it only ever made it as high as number 9 in the album charts. Consistently decent sales over the years puts Meat Loaf into the top 2o biggest selling albums of all time.

Rating: 4/10

Will I listen again?: No

Best Track: You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth