1978 Rock Album Stayed On The Charts For Almost Nine Years — And Changed The Genre Forever

On March 11, 1978, Meat Loaf's debut album Bat out of Hell began its record-breaking performance, climing the charts in the U.K. and the U.S. and remaining there for almost nine years straight.

In the years since its release, Bat out of Hell has become one of the best-selling albums of all time, with over 43 million worldwide copies sold. It is certified 14x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

'Bat Out of Hell' Was A Game-Changing Rock Album

Rock music was going through some major changes in the 1970s, with countless successful groups tugging the genre in different directions. There was the soft rock of Fleetwood Mac, the heavy metal of Black Sabbath, and the pop-rock of ABBA. However, in a time when rock music was inescapable, Bat out of Hell still managed to reinvent the genre.

In the years since its release, many experts have credited Bat out of Hell with spawning a new subgenre of rock music, driven by theatrical instrumentals, dramatic vocals, and dense lyricism. The album was clearly influenced by artists like Queen and Bruce Springsteen, but managed to be its own thing entirely.

The result of this musical experiment was a record-breaking charts performance that remains one of the most impressive feats ever accomplished in the music industry. In the United Kingdom, Bat out of Hell peaked at No. 9 but remained on the charts for almost nine years—with 416 consecutive weeks total.

In the United States, the album was slightly less successful—but still a commercial giant by any metric. It peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the charts for 83 weeks. It received mixed reviews, with Rolling Stone labelling the album "swell, but... entirely mannered and derivative."

Thankfully, Bat Out of Hell was critically revised in the years following its release, with many listeners coming around on the project with a little time. AllMusic called the album "epic, gothic, operatic, and silly, and it's appealing because of all of this."