Bombast. Pompous. Schmaltz. Over The Top.

…but in a good way.

How else could you describe the career of musician/composer/producer Jim Steinman, who passed away three years ago today in 2021.

Steinman stole every 1950s Rock ‘N Roll teenage romance trope he could think of and subverted them; like making out in the dark, Steinman turned on the high-beams to reveal the saliva, pimples and—gasp!—commitment. He wrote songs’ titles first like comic book editors do with cover art, the logic being to grab a potential listener’s attention and then flesh out the actual song. But he could write a killer lyric as well…

Started swearing to my god and on my mother’s grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore I would love you to the end of time!

So now I’m praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don’t think that I can really survive

– From “Paradise By The Dashboard Light,” Bat Out Of Hell, Meat Loaf, 1978

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I’m only falling apart

– From “Total Eclipse of The Heart,” Faster Than the Speed of Night, Bonnie Tyler, 1983

Regarding the operatic Bat Out Of Hell, the evergreen hit album from which today’s song originates, it was shopped around and turned down by everybody, but everybody! Former manager David Sonenberg joked that record labels were created just to turn them down!^[1] Meanwhile, it’s gone on to sell over 43 million copies worldwide since its release in 1978.

Singer Meat Loaf, whose fame was arguably in tandem with Steinman’s songwriting, died only nine months after Steinman. Instead of putting it down to cosmic indifference and mere coincidence, I like to think their connection was so ingrained, however strained during their careers, they just couldn’t live without one another.

Now that’s Steinman.

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