343 - Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

[csberry]

Bat Out of Hell has the subtly of a telenovela or professional wrestling. It is a big album that lives by the mantra of "more is better." It isn't enough to have a choir of backup singers, those vocals are additionally chorused and more reverb is added for echo. Meat spends a lot of time shouting his lyrics at me. Every aspect of this production was turned up to 11.

Meat Loaf can sing well, but much of his singing is a kind of half-sung, half-shouted delivery. His vocals and much of the sound of the album seems to take the grandiose rock and roll storytelling recorded by Bruce Springsteen for Born to Run and give it a metal flavor. It turned out to be an interesting album to listen to after watching Rocky Horror during Halloween weekend and then to listen to Lou Reed's Berlin (an album that also sounds like it was originally recorded on a Broadway or West End stage). Bat Out of Hell has more of everything being thrown at the listener. I just found it overwhelming and overbearing.

Songs I knew I liked: None. I was familiar with "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" and "Paradise By the Dashboard Light," but certainly didn't like them.

Songs I didn't know but now like: Uh, no.

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: The whole album...just not my cup of tea.