(Rock) Record of the Month - Jan 2018
- 180 Gram
- Translucent Red Vinyl
- 40th Anniversary Limited Edition/Gatefold Cover
In 1971, Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, was starring in the Broadway musical "Hair". It was during his time in New York that Meat Loaf met Jim Steinman, who became his principal collaborator on the creation of the album Bat Out Of Hell. Although they started the album in 1972, it was not released until 1977. During this production window, Meat Loaf performed in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (both movie and play) and sang lead vocals on Ted Nugent's Free-for-All album when Derek St. Holmes temporarily quit the band.
The record was produced by Todd Rundgren, whose credits include The Band, Grand Funk Railroad, Hall & Oates, Patti Smith and Cheap Trick, to name a few. He also played lead guitar on most of the album. When they finished the record, no label would pick it up because it didn't fit any known musical format. In 1977, Cleveland International Records decided to take a chance on the album and released it in October of that year.
Bat Out Of Hell has sold an estimated 45 million copies worldwide, with over 15 million units moved in the US alone. These numbers make it one of the best-selling albums of ALL TIME. It still sells over 200,000 copies a year. In the UK, it is one of only two albums that have NEVER left the Top 200 UK Chart. That's the longest stay on any music chart, anywhere in the world. The record also spawned a trilogy consisting of second and third acts Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. The combined sales of the trilogy is well over 50 million and Meat Loaf earned a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the song "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" off the second album.
Bat Out Of Hell 40th Anniversary Edition is our January Rock Record of the Month. We chose this reissue because it's one of the biggest records of all time and because it's still so unique that it can't be categorized; even today. Yes, it's a classic rock album, but it's unlike anything outside of the Bat Out Of Hell trilogy. The vinyl we curated for our January subscribers is a 40th Anniversary limited edition, 180-gram audiophile translucent-red pressing, with a gatefold cover. This album will forever be one of rock's most enduring masterpieces.
