Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell is a 1993 studio album by Meat Loaf, and was written and produced by Jim Steinman. It was released sixteen years after the original Bat out of Hell. It reached the number one positions in the USA, the UK, and Australia. Three tracks were released as singles, including "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", which reached number one in 28 countries.
Some of the songs were written in the late 1970s for the sequel, but due to problems with the singer's voice, and other disagreements, they were first included on Steinman's projects Bad for Good and Pandora's Box's Original Sin album.
The album was released by Virgin Records outside of North America, where it was released by MCA. The third part of the Bat trilogy, Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, was released in October 2006.
History
In the midst of the success of Bat out of Hell, desperate for a follow-up, management and the record company put pressure on Steinman to stop touring in order to write a follow-up, provisionally titled Renegade Angel. In a 1981 BBC Rock Hour Special interview, Steinman recalls the writing process.
I started writing what I felt was Bat Out Of Hell part 2, definitely like The Godfather part I and part 2, that's how I saw it. I wanted to do a continuation and I wanted to do an album that went even further and that was more extreme, if possible, which a lot of people felt wasn't possible but I just wanted to see if I could make a record that was even more heroic because that's what I thought of it... Bat Out Of Hell to me was ultimately very heroic though it was funny... and I wanted to do one that to me would be even more heroic and more epic and a little more operatic and passionate.
In a 1993 promotional interview for the album, Steinman reasserts the continuation of the Bat world. "I didn't call it Bat out of Hell II just to identify with the first record. It really does feel like an extension of that... It was a chance to go back to that world and explore it deeper. It always seemed incomplete because I conceived it like a film, and what would you do without Die Hard 2?"
Steinman rejoined Meat Loaf and the band for a live performance in Toronto, Canada in 1978 with the intention of going through the songs for Bat II after the show. However, someone broke into their dressing rooms during the show and stole several possessions, including the new lyric book. Then, Meat Loaf lost his voice and was unable to record Renegade Angel. Steinman says "he sounded literally like the little girl in The Exorcist... like a dragon trying to sing - it was a horrifying sound." Steinman "kept writing the music to Bat Out Of Hell part 2... my sequel."Not being able to "bear for people not to hear those songs," Steinman recorded the album, retitled Bad for Good, as a solo project, although Rory Dodd contributed lead vocals on some songs. Four songs from Bad for Good were included on Bat out of Hell II. In 1989, Steinman formed all-female vocal group Pandora's Box. The album, Original Sin, was a commercial flop, but featured two songs which would also appear on Bat II. Meat Loaf says "Jim put "It Just Won't Quit" on Original Sin without telling me. I could have strangled him."
Personnel
Arrangers: Meat Loaf, Jim Steinman, Todd Rundgren
- Meat Loaf – lead vocals, backing vocals (tracks 2, 4)
- Pat Thrall – guitar (tracks 4, 5)
- Tim Pierce – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
- Eddie Martinez – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 6, 8, 9)
- Steve Buslowe – bass
- Roy Bittan – piano, keyboards
- Bill Payne – piano (tracks 6, 8, 11)
- Jeff Bova – synthesizer, programming
- Lenny Pickett – saxophone (tracks 3, 9)
- Justin Meagher – bagpipes, drums (track 8)
- Brian Meagher – bagpipes, drums (track 8)
- Brian Meagher, Jr. – bagpipes, drums (track 8)
- Kenny Aronoff – drums
- Jimmy Bralower – drums (track 9)
- Rick Marotta – drums (track 6)
- Jim Steinman – voice (track 7), backing vocals (track 2)
- Lorraine "Mrs. Loud" Crosby – female lead vocals (track 1), background vocals (tracks 2, 6, 8)
- Ellen Foley - additional vocals (track 6)
- Rory Dodd (also additional vocals on track 6), Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Stuart Emerson (tracks 2, 6), Amy Goff (tracks 2, 9), Elaine Goff (tracks 2, 9), Max Haskett (tracks 6, 8), Curtis King (track 9), Gunnar Nelson (track 2), Matthew Nelson (track 2), Robert Coron (track 2), Brett Cullen (track 2), Cynthia Geary (track 2), Michelle Little (track 2), Eric Troyer (track 11) – background vocals
Musicians (Live Tracks)
- Mark Alexander - piano, backing vocals
- Steve Buslowe - bass, backing vocals
- John Miceli - drums
- Patti Russo - female lead vocals, backing vocals
- Kasim Sulton - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
- Pat Thrall - lead guitar, backing vocals
Track listing
All songs written by Jim Steinman.
- "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" – 12:00
- "Life Is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back" – 8:00
- "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" – 5:50
- "It Just Won't Quit" – 7:21
- "Out of the Frying Pan (And into the Fire)" – 7:24
- "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer than They Are" – 10:15
- "Wasted Youth" – 2:41
- "Everything Louder than Everything Else" – 7:59
- "Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)" – 6:53
- "Back into Hell" – 2:46
- "Lost Boys and Golden Girls" – 4:29
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