Hey Ma, the meatloaf! We want it now!

It has sold over 50 million copies worldwide and is certified 14x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was developed from a musical, Neverland, a futuristic rock version of Peter Pan.

It is one of those albums that people either love or hate – there’s not much in between.

Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf, was released on this day in 1977.

While Meat Loaf gets top billing, composer Jim Steinman was heavily involved. Many compare the relationship of the two to Elton John and Bernie Taupin. It was Steinman who first developed the musical in 1974. Fun fact: Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman first met working together on the National Lampoon Road Tour.

It’s been compared to Springsteen’s Born to Run and while I can sort of understand the comparison (large grand tracks), I’m more in Springsteen’s corner of music creativity and chops. It did help Meat Loaf that Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan (from the E Street Band) played on the album.

The album was produced by music icon Todd Rundgren who found the album hilarious, thinking it was a parody of Springsteen. The singer quotes him as saying: "I've 'got' to do this album. It's just so 'out' there." With no label yet to release it, it was another member of the E Street Band, Steven Van Zandt arranged to contact Cleveland International Records, a subsidiary of Epic Records. They snatched it up and released it in 1977.

This is epic pop – gothic, operatic and silly and that’s what makes it appealing. You don’t really take it seriously but you can’t not listen to it. Meat Loaf later went on to release Bat out of Hell II and III – with the third garnering a top 10 hit – So I guess for his career you could say, two out of three ain’t bad.