Could there be stranger bedfellows? Meat Loaf and Barry Manilow? Couldn't exactly see ol' Baz singing “Bat out of Hell” now, could you? Well, of course that never happened, but the sultan of smooth did cover a Meat Loaf track, although in fairness it was --- like most of Meat's best work --- written by his old pal, Jim Steinman.
The song in question appeared on the album “Dead ringer”, the last to feature Meat Loaf and Steinman working together before their highly-publicised split and lawsuits, though they did sort it out and get back together thirteen years later for the release of one of Meat's most popular albums, the sequel to “Bat out of Hell”.
The song concerned here is a ballad, one of Steinman's many excellent ones, but ironically it wasn't a hit for Meat and didn't grace the charts until Barry Manilow covered it in 1983, two years after it had been released from the “Dead ringer” album. He makes a decent job of it (when does he not pour his heart and soul into anything he does?) but I still prefer Meat Loaf's original; I find there's just more emotion and passion in it.
As usual, here are the two versions for you to decide and make up your own mind as to which you prefer.