Kasim Sulton – Bass

We all loved this record back in the day but the trouble with a lot of it was that the bass was mixed very much so it would be felt rather than heard. Kasim Sulton was the bass player but we couldn’t do anything about it then so just had to lump it. Which brings us back to 2025 and Moises (there are other software packages that do the same thing) and there is all is, clear as a bell. It is not hard to play per se as it is almost all root notes and rhythmically close to the phrasing of the piano and vocals parts but it is a monster track.

What I never noticed before (and many of you may have so this may not be the revelation to you that it is to me) and have only found out after listening to the dam thing for 48 years, is the bass part where Meat sings ‘And the last thing I hear is my heart still beating….’ – the bass is playing a heartbeat! How cool is that? Steinman was all theatre and this just shows his commitment to the storytelling he is engaged in. Genius.

Kasim Sulton’s complete 10 minute performance of Meatloaf’s ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ from the 1977 album of the same name.

This transcription is dedicated to my older brother. He is not a musician but, if you know, you know.