Bat Out of Hell is the debut studio album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and was released 49 years ago today. Composed by 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. It was recorded during 1975 and 1976 at various studios.
Bat Out of Hell has sold over 43 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Bat Out of Hell is often compared to the music of Springsteen, particularly the album Born to Run. Steinman says he finds that "puzzling, musically," although they share influences; "Springsteen was more an inspiration than an influence." A BBC article added "that Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan from Springsteen's E Street Band played on the album only helped reinforce the comparison." There are certainly similarities. Bruce always said he wanted to capture the Phil Spector "wall of sound". Steinman said he wanted everything including the kitchen sink thrown in.
Steinman and Meat Loaf had difficulty finding a record company willing to sign them. According to Meat Loaf's autobiography, the band spent most of 1975 writing and recording material, and two and a half years auditioning the record and being rejected.Manager David Sonenberg jokes that new record companies were being created just so the album could be rejected.
They performed the album live in 1976, with Steinman on piano, Meat Loaf singing, and sometimes Ellen Foley joining them for "Paradise." Steinman says that it was a "medley of the most brutal rejections you could imagine."Meat Loaf "almost cracked" when CBS executive Clive Davis rejected the project. According to Meat Loaf's autobiography, Davis commented that "actors don't make records" and challenged Steinman's writing abilities and knowledge of rock music. Meat Loaf asserts "Jim, at the time, knew every record ever made. [He] is a walking rock encyclopedia." Although Steinman laughed off the insults, the singer screamed "Fuck you, Clive!" from the street up to his building.
In one 1989 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Steinman labelled Todd Rundgren "the only genuine genius I've ever worked with.". Rundgren created the motorcycle guitar and recorded his part in the title song in one take. In a 1989 interview with Redbeard for the In the Studio with Redbeard episode on the making of the album, Meat Loaf revealed that Jimmy Iovine and Andy Johns were potential candidates for producing Bat Out of Hell before being rejected by the singer and Steinman in favor of Todd Rundgren, whom Meat Loaf initially found cocky but grew to like. Rundgren found the album hilarious, thinking it was a parody of Springsteen. The singer quotes him as saying: "I've 'got' to do this album. It's just so 'out' there."
The album continues to sell about 200,000 copies per year and has sold an estimated 34-40 million copies worldwide, including 14 million in the United States and over 1.7 million albums in Australia, where it is the country's highest-selling album as of 2016, being certified 26× platinum. The album has stayed on the UK Albums Chart for 522 weeks,making it the UK's fourth longest charting studio album behind Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? In 2022, Bat Out of Hell was named as the biggest-selling debut album in UK chart history.