Crowd of Full Pockets

After two strong original tracks, Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell makes its first foray into Steinman’s back catalogue with a cover of the epilogue from Bad for Good. I reviewed the original a while ago, so this one will focus on what’s different in this version v. Steinman’s 12 years prior. As…

After the stunning album opener, Steinman surprisingly follows up with probably the closest thing he’s ever written to a straight-up metal song. It’s a cavernous, booming rocker that absolutely thrums with teenaged misdirected anger. On release, many critics ripped the lyrics on this album, claiming that they were infantile and ludicrous. I suspect an awful…

The first sound we hear on Bat out of Hell II is exactly what one would expect: a motorcycle revving its engine. I presume that it’s a guitar just with a better version of the motorcycle effect than what Rundgren had back in 1977, though it could easily be a synthesizer instead. When Roy Bittan’s…