1001 Other Albums<p>The next spotlight in our new “II Much II Listen II” series is number 786 in <a href="https://1001otheralbums.com/the-list/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The List</a>, submitted by kyonshi. Note for simplicity (i.e., too many – or “II” many – punctuation marks), I shortened the album name in the blog post title from <em>Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell</em>. </p><p>In this series, we consider how an album named “II” relates to the “I” that came before it. <em>Bat Out of Hell</em> (1977) was Meat Loaf’s wildly successful first solo album, a concept album developed largely out of Jim Steinman’s futuristic Peter Pan musical named <em>Neverland</em>, written in 1974 (as well as bit from a musical Steinman wrote while in college in the late 60s, <em>The Dream Engine</em>). Steinman and Meat Loaf had met the previous year, when Meat Loaf was cast in another musical of Steinman’s (<em>More Than You Deserve</em>). Following the success of <em>Bat I</em>, they would continue their collaboration – and the storyworld of <em>Bat I </em>– with <em>Bat II</em>, which was both written and produced by Steinman.</p><p>A lot could be said about the over-the-top but brilliant <em>Bat</em> albums and the duo of Meat Loaf and Steinman – the trials and tribulations of getting the albums made but then their ultimate success…the duo’s somewhat <a href="https://ew.com/music/meat-loaf-jim-steinman-tribute-bat-out-of-hell/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dramatic (if not tragic love-story-type) of relationship</a>, complete with legal disputes (e.g., to get <em>Bat Out of Hell III</em> [2006] made without Steinman’s direct involvement) and the two dying just months apart…how “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” was originally meant for <em>Bat II</em> but then was replaced by “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”, and then how <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8fHNdrZTSI" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Céline Dion’s spectacular cover</a> essentially stole the thunder as it came out before <em>Bat III</em>…whether or not Mr. Loaf actually says what the “that” is that he <em>wouldn’t</em> do for love…</p><p>While wondering what to focus on for this spotlight, though, Mastodon dropped an utter gem in my lap. As it turns out, Michael Whelan, the renowned sci-fi/fantasy artist whose brilliant work has graced hundreds of book, magazine, and album covers, decided to share a lovely behind-the-scenes look into the development of his original painting created for the <em>Bat II </em>cover, right on Mastodon (his handle is <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="u-url mention" href="https://mastodon.art/@MichaelWhelan" target="_blank">@<span>MichaelWhelan</span></a>). With Whelan’s permission I’m quoting the text of his 5-post thread here, but make sure you click <a href="https://mastodon.art/@MichaelWhelan/112790816244812156" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> to see the art he’s attached to each post, including the final full-sized acrylic painting (BACK INTO HELL [1993], 30″ x 20″) that would be cropped to fit the cover of <em>Bat II</em>.</p><blockquote><p>Like everyone else in the world, I was aware of the epic piece Rich Corben had done for the first BAT OUT OF HELL cover—so my first feeling was a sinking one.</p><p>I felt dismay at the prospect of trying to do a follow-up to such an signature effort. I was thinking maybe I could palm off something I’d already done so I wouldn’t have to squeeze in another commission I had no time for.</p><p>I showed Meat Loaf a concept sketch I’d done titled BIRD OF PREY, and his eyes lit up. “Yeah, yeah, this is what want, only different!”</p><p>As it turned out, he had a rather specific idea of what he wanted, but his songwriter Jim Steinman had a different idea entirely. It took no little back-and-forth before we arrived on a concept that was acceptable to both of them.</p><p>In the end I resigned myself to getting little sleep and working round the clock to get the painting done. BAT OUT OF HELL II ended up being a landmark comeback album for Meat Loaf, and it was named Cover of the Year by “CD Review” Magazine.</p></blockquote><p>Whelan has also painted the covers for a couple other albums also on The List (<a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/253625-Cirith-Ungol-Frost-And-Fire" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cirith Ungol’s <em>Frost and Fire</em></a> and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/57949-Sepultura-Beneath-The-Remains" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sepultura’s <em>Beneath the Remains</em></a>), so we’ll see his work again soon (spoilers: very soon, in fact)! But for now, enjoy the art of <em>Bat II</em>, and, as always, happy listening.</p><ul><li><a href="https://album.link/ca/i/1440790017" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Songlink: Meat Loaf – <em>Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell</em></a></li><li><a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/24293-Meat-Loaf-Bat-Out-Of-Hell-II-Back-Into-Hell" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Discogs: Meat Loaf – <em>Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell</em></a></li><li><a href="https://www.michaelwhelan.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Website: Michael Whelan</a></li></ul><p><a href="https://1001otheralbums.com/2024/07/23/ii-much-ii-listen-ii-meat-loaf-bat-out-of-hell-ii-1993-us/" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://1001otheralbums.com/2024/07/23/ii-much-ii-listen-ii-meat-loaf-bat-out-of-hell-ii-1993-us/</a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/1001otheralbums/" target="_blank">#1001OtherAlbums</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/1990s/" target="_blank">#1990s</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/concept-album/" target="_blank">#conceptAlbum</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/hard-rock/" target="_blank">#hardRock</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/ii-much-ii-listen-ii/" target="_blank">#IIMuchIIListenII</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/jim-steinman/" target="_blank">#JimSteinman</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/meat-loaf/" target="_blank">#MeatLoaf</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/michael-whelan/" target="_blank">#MichaelWhelan</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://1001otheralbums.com/tag/rock/" target="_blank">#rock</a></p>