The album continues to sell about 200,000 copies per year and has sold an estimated 34-40 million copies worldwide, [60] [61] including 14 million in the United States [62] and over 1. It was presented as a foldout double-disc set enhoused in a slipcase, with an extensive booklet with liner notes and rare photographs. After listening to the spoken word intro to " You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)", founder Steve Popovich accepted the album for Cleveland. There is a suggestion to "support Tibet House, an organization dedicated to the unique culture of the Tibetan people which has the potential to make a valuable contribution to the world at large". That doesn’t mean I don’t like it, anything but, it’s just an aspect such as this that would likely deter modern listeners who have yet to fully grasp the musical impact Meat Loaf had throughout his career.

It is also the best-selling album in Australia, having been certified 26× Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

As well as providing thematic consistency with the original, the repetition of iconography also acted as a vital marketing tool.

This title is (was) also available in DVD-Audio format; now OOP and only available on 2nd hand market. entirely mannered and derivative" and noted that the arrangements "aren't bad", and commended the musicians.According to Meat Loaf's autobiography, the band spent most of 1975, and two and a half years, auditioning the record and being rejected. This disc does have a multi-channel layer, but I don't know if there's any information about whether the original recording was actually multi-channel? All orchestrations and arrangements that were non-rhythm in nature were performed by members of the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras, under concertmaster Gene Orloff. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also referred to the length of the songs, in which they said Steinman "vomits up 75 minutes of endlessly repeated choruses". AllMusic appreciated the bombast and "the pseudo-operatic splendor of Jim Steinman's grandly cinematic songs.

Recording of the album took place at Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles, California, then at The Power Station in New York City, New York. Now onto the disc itself, the main problem I noticed was how badly the surrond mix seems to have been put together. The BBC television programme Old Grey Whistle Test aired a clip of the live band performing the nine-minute title track. According to Classic Rock, response was so overwhelming, that they screened it again the following week.

The result is yet another reason to put the album on repeat for it is a rare occasion when I listen to this masterpiece only once. It was number one for one week in the US on the Billboard 200, [35] the UK Albums Chart for eleven non-consecutive weeks, number one in Australia for four weeks, and eight weeks at number one in Canada.