Search - Meat Loaf :: Hits Out of Hell

Great compilation for the Meat Loaf beginner

Braeden P. Jeffery | Melbourne, VIC Aus | 04/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Looking for a place to start your Meat Loaf collection? This is it. Though no-one should be without "Bat Out Of Hell", and this omits the best track from that album ("For Crying Out Loud"), it is nevertheless an ideal place to kick off your quest for Meat Loaf greatness. The five "Bat Out Of Hell" tracks that make up the majority of the album are, predominantly, the rock classics, with "Heaven Can Wait" and "For Crying Out Loud" having missed the cut. Regardless, I don't think anyone can turn down an album that contains "Bat", "Hot Summer Night", "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad", "All Revved Up" and "Paradise By The Dashboard Light".
The non-"Bat" tracks, however, are where the album really starts to show Meat's true brilliance. From "Dead Ringer" comes not only the title track but also the hit singles "Read 'em And Weep" and "I'm Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us". The latter in particular is a true highlight, a seven-minute spectacular that rips along in a brilliant combination of piano and bass.
Contributions from Meat's third and final album with Epic are also present - "Midnight At The Lost And Found" and "Razor's Edge" are both familiar to Meat Loaf fans, and are in fact two of his best tracks in general. Though "Midnight" is a hugely underrated LP, the songs from it are top notch.I originally got the vinyl version of this, and other than a slightly different arrangement, it also contained the brilliant "Modern Girl". This track really SHOULD have appeared on the CD as well (if you read the back cover closely, you'll see that it was meant to), but it made way for "Lost Love". This track was the b-side to the 12" version of "If You Really Want To" (First single from "Midnight") and is brilliant. Though not as good as "Modern Girl", it is definitely one of Meat's better efforts and it's criminal that it missed out on an appearance on "Midnight".All up - if you're looking to start your Meat Loaf collection, this is the ideal album with which to do it. Grab "Rock 'n' Roll Hero" while you're at it for his best stuff with Arista and you've got the ultimate combination.SONGS OF NOTE: Dead Ringer For Love, Midnight At The Lost And Found, You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth"

SOME OF THE BAT AND MORE

Pieter | Johannesburg | 05/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The criticism against the Loaf is that his brand of theatrical rock is overblown schlock rock, but what counts is how the melody and the words come together, in any popular musical genre. Rock is anyway known for excess, and that includes Alice Cooper, Queen and Marilyn Manson. I love Meat Loaf on the soundtrack of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and I love his solo recordings. This hits collection includes five hits from the zillion selling Bat Out Of Hell album: the title track, Two Out Of Three Aint Bad, All Revved Up, You Took The Words and the mini-operetta Paradise By The Dashboard Light. The rest of the songs is of the same quality - blistering melodic rock - and my favorites include Midnight At The Lost And Found, I'm Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us and Dead Ringer, a duet with Cher. There's no substitute for the BOOH album though so I recommend you get it. It remains a classic of dramatic overblown theatrical rock with each song a classic. For those who want a wider selection of Meat Loaf's late 70s and early 80s output, this album is ideal."