Although I voted for Paradise, Bat out of Hell is my all time favourite, roll down the windows, turn up the stereo and drive real fast song.
Yup, I hate the middle of that song so much that I mash the skip button and never hear the end. The first 3 minutes and 15 seconds are great though.
I voted Bat out of Hell for the best all around song. I’ve been into “For Crying Out Loud” lately too; it wasn’t one that I heard as a kid so it’s still shiny and new to me.
Given the right circumstances, I might offer my throat to the wolf with the red roses.
I bet you say that to all the boys.

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.
The more I learn about Todd, the more I’m convinced he’s a mad genius. Like a mad genius, you never know what he’ll do, or for what reason, but you can be sure it will be interesting or have a great story to go with it. Most likely though, both will be true.

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.
mmm
There you go, get to Netflix and add this to your list.
Don’t get the love for “Paradise”. The only song on the album that I prefer it to is the forgettable “For Crying Out Loud”.
“Heaven Can Wait” is the prettiest.
The dialog section before “You Took the Words Right Out of my Mouth” (… I bet you say that to all the boys) is the cutest.
“Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” is the saddest.
The song that rules is the title track though. That’s one passionate-strong piano-rocker of a tune.
For Crying out Loud is the stand out track for me, full blast on the car CD singing along as loud as possible! Brings tears to my eyes. It is now my kids favourite album, well after Back in Black and just beating Under a Blood Red Sky!
man I am I showing my age!
Is Heaven Can Wait related to the Iron Maiden song? Either way, I’m voting for it. Ooh, I know what best album polls I’m doing next.
I still consider it my all-time favorite album.
Paradise by a nose over Bat out of Hell.
For Crying Out Loud is the best, hands down.
I’m pretty sure Jim Steinman has been quoted as saying he likes that one best, as well.
I’ll also concur that the Classic Albums DVD is very cool to watch- I love the motorcycle guitar solo bit.