Regardless of your opinion of the album "Bat Out Of Hell 2: Back Into Hell",(I happened to enjoy it a lot!) this "Deluxe Edition" is ridiculous. Most, if not all, of the tracks on the second CD have long been available on promotional singles. These promo singles were produced in such large quantities that they found their way into used CD stores everywhere, never becoming rarities. Most of these tracks aren't even remixes, but rather edits. So, on this bonus CD, you don't get more, you get less of each track. This is one of the most padded and useless "Deluxe" reissues that I've seen in some time. There were rumours that this reissue was going to be cancelled, which would have made sense, but evidently they're going ahead with it. If you have the original CD, save yourself the added expense of acquiring this little extra bit of fluff. 4 stars for the original album itself, 0 stars for the second CD, for an overall 2 stars.

Mr. Himes is a great wordsmith but he knows nothing about good music. If you like Meatloaf you'll love this collection.

While I realize that the 1st Bat out of Hell album is regarded more highly than the 2nd album, Bat out of Hell 2: Back into Hell will always be my personal favorite of the 2 as well as my favorite Meat Loaf album of all time.

Origianlly released in 1993, this release put Meat Loaf back on top of the music world after a massive slump (especially here in the states) during the 80's in which most people had forgotten about him and written him off as a has been or a one album wonder.

Composer Jim Steinman (who also arranged everything) took over production duties on this album and it is just pure unadulterated Steinman. This is what Steinman's 1980 solo album Bad to be Good (which was supposed to be the true followup to Bat out of Hell) might have been like in terms of quality if Meat Loaf hadn't gotten strung out on drugs and lost his singing voice for a short time.

I can't really say much more positive about this album that people haven't already done on the multitude of reviews for the regular CD. Truly great music and it never fails to get me in a good mood when listening to it as well, which I can't say that about a lot of music. While the songs are very long at times, they never outstay their welcome.

Anyway, the main purpose of my review is to review the 2002 reissue (or deluxe edition) of the 1993 album.

While I had had the original 1993 CD since it came out, I was always a bit let down by the mastering job on the CD. The overall volume could have been done a bit higher and the album just lacked a certain punch in terms of the overall audio at times. This is especially surprising since by 1993 pretty much CD had completely taken over by that point and people had figured out how to properly master stuff for CD audio as well. The CD didn't sound bad per se, but it could've been done better at the same time.

This 2002 deluxe edition fixes all of the mastering issues I had by doing a 24 bit digital remastering of the album. All I can say is that my jaw was on the floor as to how much better the album sounds now. In fact, it finally sounds perfect!

the overall volume level now maxes out without having any digital clipping issues and the overall sound just sounds more vibrant with more clarity between all of the instruments/vocal parts. There is more punch to the low end as well without the mix being altered. Basically, this album now sounds absolutely perfect and this is the way the CD should have been mastered in the first place.

The 2nd CD is pretty much pointless and redundant as it just feautres edited single versions of album tracks along with some remixes. No live cuts are present which should have been included as well. I guess this is cool from a historical/completist viewpoint, but no one will ever listen to Disc 2 for the most part.

But I bought this mainly due to the remastered sound and in that respect I wasn't disappoitned. If you are an audiophile and like to have the absolute best sounding version of your favorite albums (or classic releases like this), then you owe it to yourself to upgrade to this deluxe edition if you are as big of a fan of Bat out of Hell 2 as I am.

Highly recommended!

After the success of Bat Out Of Hell, Meatloaf went into a tailspin. None of the albums that he released in Bat's wake were a success and in fact, most were down right bombs. Meatloaf fell into an emotional and monetary hole and in 1993 he was pretty much a relic of the 1970's. The time seemed right for him to rejoin writer Jim Steinman and create a sequel to his most famous effort. Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell was released at the height of alternative rock and its bombastic leanings seemed out of place. But instead of being shunned, the public welcomed Meatloaf back with open arms. The album was a huge success spurred on by the epic "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" that had a weird, medieval video. The song became Meatloaf's first and only number one hit and the album debuted at the top of the charts, a feat that the original album could not claim. This time around the album was produced by Mr. Steinman instead of Todd Rundgren, but most of the original players (including E Street Band pianist Roy Bittan) return and Mr. Rundgren sings backup on most of the tracks. The album isn't quite up to the original, but it has great tracks like the anthem to youth "Everything Louder Than Everything Else" and the sprawling "Objects In The Rearview Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are".

There is nothing else in popular music that comes close to equalling this masterpiece!!!! If nothing else, BAT OUT OF HELL II: BACK INTO HELL is worth buying for the first two tracks, "I'd Do Anything Fo Love (But I Won't Do That)" and "Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back" and for "Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are". Everything about the songs is overblown but that's the point about it; the first BAT OUT OF HELL notwithstanding, there has never been anything like this in popular music before or since!!!! The songs and the sound quality are excellent, and despite being 10-12 minutes in length, "I'd Do Anything For Love..." and "Objects In The Rear View Mirror..." are worth listening to all the way through!!!! The Deluxe Edition remasters the original album while adding a bonus disc with multiple single edits and remixes of four tracks ("I'd Do Anything...", "Life Is A Lemon...", "Objects In The Rear View..." and "Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through"). Go back into hell with BAT OUT OF HELL II!!!!!