JIM Steinman’s new musical, Bat Out of Hell, features 20 of Meat Loaf’s greatest hits listed in three albums plus three new Steinman originals written for the show.

Steinman’s eclectic mix of pop, hard rock and opera gets the audience full of fans going immediately.

The plot is simple. It’s a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love in a post-apocalyptic city ruled by the tyrannical Falco (Rob Fowler) who keeps his daughter, Raven, (Christina Bennington) locked away.

Hero Strat (Andrew Polec) and his gang come to the rescue.

The award winning director is Jay Scheib. Known for his use of new technologies in live performance, he doesn’t disappoint and uses back drop videos and other technologies to enhance the experience.

Meat Loaf, born Michael Lee Aday in 1947, made famous songs such as the amusing Paradise by the Dashboard Light performed on a Cadillac by Rob Fowler’s Falco and his long suffering wife Sloane (Sharon Sexton) and, of course, the iconic Bat Out of Hell led by Andrew Polee and Christina Bennington.

Other well known numbers shared equally by the cast are Dead Ringer for Love, For Crying Out Loud and I’d Do Anything for Love but I won’t do That.

Thanks to Jon Bausor. the set equals the cast in magnificence. It features two Harley Davidson bikes which can and do move fast around the stage.

The fast moving dance owes much to choreographer Emma Portner.

Rock fan or not, I say, get to the Opera House like a bat out of hell.

* Bat Out of Hell is at Manchester Opera House until April 8. For tickets, telephone 0844 871 3018 or from ATGTickets.com/Manchester. Star rating: * * * *.