Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell… by Meat Loaf

Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell put Meat Loaf back in the hands of Jim Steinman, who wrote and produced the whole thing, sixteen years after the original Bat Out of Hell. It arrived in September 1993 as his sixth studio album and the middle chapter of what became a trilogy, with MCA handling North America and Virgin the rest of the world. In the flannel era, here was the exact opposite: hard rock played as grand opera, big, long and shameless, with Meat Loaf bellowing every line like the fate of the world rides on it.

It worked, absurdly well: the album went to number one in the US, the UK and Canada and sold more than 14 million copies worldwide, and "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", one of 3 singles, topped the charts in 28 countries and won him the Grammy for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. The third Bat followed in 2006.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.