I know it’s been a few days but I have been thinking about Jim Steinman.
I was being driven home from school by my mum when a song called Bat Out of Hell came on. They played the whole thing. She got the CD out and I went into a new world. Paradise by the Dashboard Light was something else. I loved it and I heard Bat 2. I’m old enough to remember Anything For Love in the charts.
I went deeper into his world thanks to internet research, Bad For Good, Tanz Der Vampire and more. One thing about Jim is he reused musical and lyrical phrases regularly, I liked that. It made it all feel like one big tapestry.
Even demos that made it onto the web were incredible. Like many artists he had so many projects that never happened. One of those was the Bat Out of Hell musical. Far more than another We Will Rock You, this stemmed from 1969’s The Dream Engine, after so many rewrites as stage shows and screenplays it finally opened in Manchester 2017. I saw it 3 times. A fantastic bombastic production.
Steinman often said if you don’t go over the top, you won’t see what’s on the other side.
Well Mr Steinman, now your on the other side, the beat is yours forever. And for crying out loud, we thank you.
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