I preface the rest of the material on the blog by saying that I have a personal attachment to the album at hand: "Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf holds great nostalgic importance to me. As a kid, my mother and I would listen to this album quite often, and so at an early age (earlier than to really know what I was singing about) I learned the lyrics to the majority of the album. When I listen to the album, I long to be with my mother. My mother was also introduced to the album by hers, meaning that the album has been a long time favorite in my family, and thus is packed with meaning for me personally. The phenomena occurring here is what drew me into this album for critical analysis. There is more going on here, for me, than just the music: I am experiencing generational nostalgia for an album that, without the nostalgia making its way down to me, I might not have ever heard of or paid attention to. After reading some critical context for the album, I was sold. I was officially curious about a few things. First, how did an album despised by rock producers become so successful? Secondly, what am I experiencing? How does nostalgia become attached to music and how does my attachment to "Bat Out of Hell" differ from my mother's, or grandmother's, attachment to it?
 |
| Me, my (irrelevant for these purposes) Aunt Sandy, my mother, and my grandmother. Summer 2010. |