My first real exposure to Steinman's work was not until 1993 when Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell came out, making a big splash with "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." I actually liked the subsequent singles better — "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" and, particularly, "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are." I am often drawn to different in music, and this was certainly different from the '80s pop I grew up on. The soaring melodies, operatic drama and long, unconventional song structures all ticked the right boxes for me. "Original Sin" is another favorite, released on Mr. Loaf's Bat Out of Hell II and as a single by Taylor Dayne (!) from the soundtrack of the movie The Shadow; her big voice was a fine pairing for Steinman's style. "Original Sin" was originally recorded by Pandora's Box.
There's a magical and poetic quality to the lyrics of "Objects in the Rear View Mirror …" There were endless winters and the dreams would freeze is a line that takes me somewhere. And those repeated passages of building drama and urgency (But I can see her rising up out of the back seat now / Just like an angel rising up from a tomb) … it deserved better than its peak of 38 on the Hot 100. The song sprawls over 10 minutes in its album version, but this one, via Spotify, is a nice edit:
Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are - AC Edit 3 aka Wild Car
