12 Most Overlooked Meat Loaf Songs From Every Album

The album that Jim Steinman wrote to replace the Bat Out Of Hell sequel that never was (of which more later on), Dead Ringer is chiefly famous for the title track, Dead Ringer For Love, a brilliantly gonzo duet where Cher matches his eye-rolling, rafter-raising drama high note for high note.

The rest of the record never quite lives up to the heights of that glorious collaboration, but album opener (and final single) Peel Out comes closest. It's a heady, uptempo snarl of a song, a paean to the outlaw life and a refusal to settle for anything ordinary or middle of the road.

The Dead Ringer album was notable for neither Steinman nor Jimmy Iovine being able to coax a full high-quality vocal from Meat Loaf, both men leaving production on the project midway through out of sheer frustration.

This brief parting of the ways would mark the first serious schism between Steinman and Meat Loaf, a breakdown in their on-off-on-again relationship that would end up characterising much of their future careers.

However, Meat Loaf finished the album with journeyman producer Stephan Galfas, and the selection of Peel Out to kick it off is almost a statement of intent: straying from the theatrical highs and lows of the biggest singles from Bat Out Of Hell, it doesn't let up for over six minutes, a frenetic gallop that perfectly complements the sneering, rebellious lyrics.