Motorbikes And Girls

20 Fans On Bat Out Of Hell

Jim Steinman

"When I was seven years old, I had a fortune-teller tell me that my entire life was gonna be a relentless, obsessive and ultimately self-destructive desire to astonish people."

"The answer is hidden in four words that grace the LP's cover - Songs By Jim Steinman"…"It glorifies motorbikes and girls"…"Jim is the MESSIAH of song-writing. Never forget that. His songs are chock-filled with more meaning than most novels. That's why it's great. Jim's visualization abilities are extraordinary"…"Its sheer power, its glory, its metaphor, and its story"…"Because it has the most bad ass rock song of all time (Bat), two of the best love songs of all time (Two Out Of Three, For Crying Out Loud), and two of the coolest date songs (Hot Summer Night, Paradise) one of the most fun songs (All Revved Up) and the single most inspirational song ever written (Heaven Can Wait)"…"The surreal movement of the character throughout the context of the album - You feel and see and hear and taste and want the character to love, but time is of the essence, and when he finally figures that out, heaven can wait no longer"…"The album refuses to grow old"…"When you're in the backseat of a car following step-by-step the lyrics of Paradise By The Dashboard Light, while actually hearing it on the stereo, you'll swear to the SteinGod of sex and drums and rock 'n' roll that there's no better record in history"…"It annoys my parents"…"The passion it captured is accessible to the listener. The music is clean. The lyrics are precise. The intent is clear. The balance between ballad and hard rock is sweet. All of this is hollow bull-shit, of course, because if anyone could really say why Bat Out Of Hell is the best rock album ever, then they would do it again and again and again. Bat Out Of Hell is the best rock album ever because I like it better than any other. That's why"…"If you have a pulse, you can relate to it"…"Bat Out Of Hell is the best album ever made because it always got me laid. I'm not trying to be ignorant or perverse. The power and the passion of the album always seemed to make women sexually aggressive. I have the album on 8 track, cassette, and it was the first compact disk that I ever bought"…"It's the musical equivalent of sex with a motorbike"…"An album that starts off with Bat Out Of Hell and ends with For Crying Out Loud couldn't be less than the greatest album ever recorded even if the songs sandwiched in between were all written and performed by Andy Gibb"…"It turns boredom into a party instantly"…"The album is impossible to get tired of. I've lost interest in my wife, my job, sex, even my life - everything except that album. It is my doorway to a secret place where I believe that there is some higher purpose to life beyond sucking up oxygen"…"It is a melding of the cinematic vision of Steinman and the presence of Meat Loaf…a magical joining of two wonderful talents that produced music that means something personal to each listener, and freezes a moment in time for each listener. No one can experience this magic and come away unaffected"…"I lost my virginity to it"…"I'm old now but every time I listen, I'm young and wild again"…"Todd Rundgren, the wizard - Meat Loaf, the monster - and Jim Steinman, the God, came together in glorious harmony."