# Best song on "Bat Out of Hell" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609 "2010-09-22T03:38:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/1 "2010-09-22T03:38:09Z")
The album needs no introduction. Everyone knows the songs. Let’s vote. I personally am voting for “Paradise By the Dashboard light.” I think the baseball call by Phil Rizzuto is a transcendent touch. I also love the title song. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/2 "2010-09-22T05:14:43Z")
Love this CD. I saw Meat on his _Back into Hell_ tour, got his autograph, spoke with him briefly, and got to listen while he talked with other fans. I used to love ‘_Paradise_’, but these days, I’m fond of the title track and the last song. I went with the last track, because I figure of the two, that’s the one that will get the least love. If you get a chance to see any of his ‘making of’ shows, or his VH1 Storytellers episode, I recommend them. The one ‘Making of’ show I particularly like is entitled, “_Classic Albums: Bat out of Hell_”. It has Meat and Todd Rundgren (individually) at a mixing board messing with the different tracks and talking about them, Jim Steinman at a piano, Ellen Foley, and others. It’s an hour long, has a lot of amusing stories and anecdotes, and it’s really quite informative and entertaining. Look for Jim’s whining, “Where’s the motorcycle sound, Todd?”, (in the title track) story, and how Todd did the motorcycle effect on his guitar, coming out into his solo, all in one take. Todd produced it on his own dime, and they said that the album was recorded and mixed for over a year before finding someone who would press and sell it. It’s now the fifth-best selling album worldwide, having sold 43 million copies, and no one would touch it! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/3 "2010-09-22T05:52:34Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Love this CD. I saw Meat on his _Back into Hell_ tour, got his autograph, spoke with him briefly, and got to listen while he talked with other fans. > > I used to love ‘_Paradise_’, but these days, I’m fond of the title track and the last song. I went with the last track, because I figure of the two, that’s the one that will get the least love. If you get a chance to see any of his ‘making of’ shows, or his VH1 Storytellers episode, I recommend them. The one ‘Making of’ show I particularly like is entitled, “_Classic Albums: Bat out of Hell_”. It has Meat and Todd Rundgren (individually) at a mixing board messing with the different tracks and talking about them, Jim Steinman at a piano, Ellen Foley, and others. It’s an hour long, has a lot of amusing stories and anecdotes, and it’s really quite informative and entertaining. Look for Jim’s whining, “Where’s the motorcycle sound, Todd?”, (in the title track) story, and how Todd did the motorcycle effect on his guitar, coming out into his solo, all in one take. BBC6 had a great series called “The Record Producers”. The episode about Todd was amazing. Todd had sent them duplicates of the multitrack master tapes. It is utterly fascinating. > [@](#): > > Todd produced it on his own dime, and they said that the album was recorded and mixed for over a year before finding someone who would press and sell it. It’s now the fifth-best selling album worldwide, having sold 43 million copies, and no one would touch it! In the recent interview of Todd by Roy Firestone, Todd repeated the story that the only reason he took on the project was that he thought it was a parody of Bruce Springsteen. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/4 "2010-09-22T05:54:58Z")
“Paradise” is the easy choice, so I won’t take it. Voted for the title track. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/5 "2010-09-22T05:56:38Z")
‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’ by a mile. This is a wonderful, classic album but I think I’m in the minority in that I actually prefer _Bat Out Of Hell II_ - song for song I think it just has a higher ratio of amazing stuff. _Bat Out Of Hell III_ was good too but doesn’t come close to the other two. ---
**Author:** ![Kurt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kurt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurt)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/6 "2010-09-22T06:51:49Z")
The creation of this thread officially marks SDMB as having collectively the most dad-like (the daddest) musical taste on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/7 "2010-09-22T07:00:11Z")
> [@Kurt](#): > > The creation of this thread officially marks SDMB as having collectively the most dad-like (the daddest) musical taste on the Internet. Feel free to make a Justin Beiber poll, sonny. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/8 "2010-09-22T07:13:15Z")
> [@Kurt](#): > > The creation of this thread officially marks SDMB as having collectively the most dad-like (the daddest) musical taste on the Internet. There haven’t been any U2 or AC/DC polls yet, so we’re not quite there. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/9 "2010-09-22T10:49:36Z")
I voted for _Paradise_, but frankly, there’s not a song on this album that I don’t love! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/10 "2010-09-22T12:29:54Z")
“Looks like he’s gonna make it.” Great album, but **Paradise** can’t be beat. Not only is it a great song, but it’s very sophisticated lyrically, especially at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/11 "2010-09-22T12:29:56Z")
I would have said _Paradise_, but the long middle section with baseball metaphors and grunting is really unnecessary, which takes it off the top spot for me. It’s still a hilarious and awesome song, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/12 "2010-09-22T12:51:31Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > The one ‘Making of’ show I particularly like is entitled, “_Classic Albums: Bat out of Hell_”. It has Meat and Todd Rundgren (individually) at a mixing board messing with the different tracks and talking about them, Jim Steinman at a piano, Ellen Foley, and others. It’s an hour long, has a lot of amusing stories and anecdotes, and it’s really quite informative and entertaining. Look for Jim’s whining, “Where’s the motorcycle sound, Todd?”, (in the title track) story, and how Todd did the motorcycle effect on his guitar, coming out into his solo, all in one take. This is available on [Netflix](http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Classic-Albums-Meat-Loaf-Bat-Out-of-Hell/26591005?personid=20002279&strackid=5dd64c9bee3ce59b_0_srl&strkid=67372036_0_0&trkid=222336). mmm ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/13 "2010-09-22T13:37:41Z")
This is a very hard call, because all the songs are wonderful. I chose Paradise for the way the three songs blend into each other, and the surprise ending I swore I would love you till the end of time. So now I’m praying for the end of time To hurry up and arrive, Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you, I don’t think that I can really survive I’ll never break my promise or forget my vow. But God only knows what I can do right now. I’m praying for the end of time. It’s all that I can do…hoo…hoo. Praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you!!! One of Jim Steinman’s best. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/14 "2010-09-22T14:53:23Z")
I have very mixed feelings about this record. It’s manipulative and insincere. It makes me emotional, and I love it. Pretty much all of the songs are masterpieces, but “Paradise” is one of my favorite songs of all time. “So now I’m praying for the end of time To hurry up and arrive 'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you I don’t think that I can really survive I’ll never break my promise or forget my vow But God only knows what I can do right now I’m praying for the end of time It’s all that I can do Praying for the end of time, So I can end my time with you” Edit: **Annie** , you bitch! You beat me to the quote! Joe ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/15 "2010-09-22T14:55:48Z")
Though it’s cold and lonely in the deep dark night, I vote for _Paradise by the Dashboard Light_. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/16 "2010-09-22T15:00:32Z")
Even though I voted for Paradise, I feel obligated to throw a little love at On a Hot Summer Night. “I bet you say that to all the guys.” ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/17 "2010-09-22T15:27:49Z")
My sister and I used to scare each other with the beginning to “On a Hot Summer Night…” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/18 "2010-09-22T16:37:21Z")
> [@Stauderhorse](#): > > I would have said _Paradise_, but the long middle section with baseball metaphors and grunting is really unnecessary, which takes it off the top spot for me. It’s still a hilarious and awesome song, though. Agreed, the baseball voiceover and moaning seemed trite even when listening as a teenager, and devalue an otherwise epic song. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/19 "2010-09-22T17:19:26Z")
When I worked as a DJ there was a caller who would call and request Paradise by the Dashboard Light each Saturday morning. I’d play it about 50% of the time, but it’s 8+ minutes long and that’s just a lot to ask of a DJ. Both to have to sit through it, and to re-schedule everything else to fit it into the timeslots. I got thoroughly sick of it by the end of my time at the station(2.5 years). So while I appreciate Paradise, I gotta go with Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Storm\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Storm\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Storm_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609/20 "2010-09-22T17:20:40Z")
A few years ago, I would have agreed with you all about “Paradise” and I still sing the crap out of it every time I hear it, but lately “For Crying Out Loud” has seemed to me to be pure musical genius… (probably has to do with some personal issues I have going on right now ☹ ) \*\*\*Says the girl who wore out 3 Bat Out of Hell tapes before she hit 18. Also, my Dad introduced me to the wonders of Meatloaf, so I suppose this might be a Dadlike thread… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-on-bat-out-of-hell/554609.md?page=2)