Top 10 Best Songs by Meat Loaf

This is not a song, it is a play, a comedy sketch, and a rock opera in one. Eight minutes long you are swept up in the drama of teenage love: the lust, the promise ("I will love you until the end of time") and the eventual regret. The interplay with singer Ellen Foley is magical. It is funny, recognizable, and musically brilliant. A timeless classic that never gets old.

The ultimate motorcycle anthem. It begins with a screeching guitar that sounds like a revving motorcycle. The song races along for almost ten minutes. It is about escaping, speed, and ultimately crashing. It is a mini-opera full of tempo changes and drama. Meat Loaf sings as if the devil is on his heels. Spectacular and incomparable.

His biggest commercial hit and comeback in the nineties. An epic song of twelve minutes (in the album version) that has everything: motorcycles, a duet, and a mystery. The dynamics between soft verses and bombastic choruses are perfect. And what is "that" he won't do? The answer is in the lyrics, but the mystery makes it legendary.

A resting point amid all the violence. A beautiful piano ballad where Meat Loaf sings that he is not ready to die because he still has so much love to give. His voice is soft and full of emotion. It is a song about gratitude and zest for life, sung with an angelic purity.

It begins with the famous spoken-word intro about wolves and love. Then a cheerful, Motown-like rock song breaks loose. It is about the first time, about tension and desire on a summer evening. The chorus is an earworm you immediately sing along to. It is Meat Loaf at his most poppy and accessible.

The closing track of Bat Out of Hell. A nine-minute love song that begins with only piano and voice, and ends with a full orchestra. It may well be the most romantic lyrics Steinman ever wrote. Meat Loaf sings the stars from the sky. The moment the drums come in is one of the most powerful moments in rock history.

A rock anthem like only they can make. Grand, dramatic, and full of vocal acrobatics. The lyrics are full of regret and unconditional love. "I will love you, baby, always." It is a powerful, defiant rock song. It ends with an unbelievable vocal performance from Meat Loaf. A true tearjerker.

A classic powerballad about unrequited love. "I want you, I need you, but there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you." It is painfully honest. The melody is sweet and melancholic, which reinforces the contrast with the harsh message. Meat Loaf sounds almost apologetic, but also determined.

One of his most beautiful and personal ballads. The title is long, but the story is even longer. It is about traumatic childhood memories that haunt him. Meat Loaf sings here with rare vulnerability. The music swells and recedes again, like waves of sorrow. It is an emotional look back at loss and growing up.

This duet with Cher is one of the few times Meat Loaf found an equal who could match him vocally and in attitude. The tempo is high and the brass screeches. It is a flirty, screaming party song that sounds like a wild night in an American bar.