Meat Loaf "Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell"

On episode 4 of Past Prime, Matty (reluctantly)
and Steve (religiously) buckle up for the legendarily wild,
bloated, melodramatic, 1993 smash "Bat Out of Hell II:
Back Into Hell." Written and produced by mad-scientist,
Jim Steinman, and performed by his inimitable
Frankenstein, Meat Loaf, the album is the sequel
to 1977s triumph, "Bat Out of Hell." Steve is an elite
Steinman-ologist while Matty has avoided this album for decades,
in part because of Steve's devotion, which briefly bordered on
addiction. The duo discuss how Steinman / Loaf music was born
from the same seed as "Born to Run" and how the campy soap opera
was decidedly intentional for Steinman but may have been less so
for Meat Loaf. They sumo wrestle with the length and girth of the
album and whether the "Rundgren cut" would have been better.
Ultimately, however, the two middle-aged friends have to
respectfully agree to disagree. Steve finally admits that he
likes gold toilets and that this is his diamond-crusted gold
toilet. And Matty admits that he loves Ben & Jerry's
"Vermonsters" but that this sounds like a Vermonster topped with
a Vermonster. In a touching moment, Steve agrees that he would be
open to a shorter edit of the album and Matty apologizes for
"yucking Steve's yum."


To read more about Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell II: Back into
Hell," check out the full essay at Past Prime.