In the various promotional music videos for the songs on the album Bat Out of Hell Karla DeVito's lips are synced to Ellen Foley's album vocals. The section from this episode about the marketing of Bat Out of Hell II, and the filming of this music video, has been reshown as part of BBC Learning Zone's media studies strand. Todd Rundgren, however, whom Meat initially found cocky but grew to like and whom Steinman labeled "the only genuine genius I've ever worked with" in a 1989 interview with Classic Rock magazine, found the album hilarious.

For example, citing the narrative of "Paradise", Rundgren jokes that he can't imagine Steinman being at a lakeside with the most beautiful girl in school, but he can imagine Steinman imagining it. In 2006 it was voted number nine in a poll conducted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to discover Australia's most popular album. In 1994, the three films were released as the VHS tape Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell 2 – Picture Show, which also included alternate versions of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", "Life Is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back" and "I'd Do Anything for Love", all featuring lead vocalist Patti Russo.

A BBC article added "that Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan from Springsteen's E Street Band played on the album only helped reinforce the comparison.

The second rendition of Bat Out of Hell is appaulling, they sshould have just left us with the first version. 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". The problem that exists when recordings lack a little spit and polish from the production stage is that by the time it has been mastered, or additionally remastered, and then delivered to the music-loving consumer, the magic of the album tends to be severely reduced. Five tracks were released as singles, including " I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", which reached number 1 in 28 countries. Of course, the stereo mix isn’t the only option available on Apple Music for the album is also presented in Dolby Audio.

Alongside the original version a two disc special edition was released, containing a foldout poster and a bonus disc containing three live tracks, which can also be found as B-sides to the "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" singles. In the same interview, Meat Loaf revealed that when he played at a CBS Records convention in 1978, record executives and superstar Billy Joel (who was in the audience) gave Meat Loaf a standing ovation after a haunting performance of the closing track " For Crying Out Loud," which he felt was the turning point in the album's success in the US. The snare drum appears to be equally enhanced, though this enhancement emphasizes its clipping (even on other versions you can hear that the microphone was too close, or the drummer was too violent, so the recording of this snare drum is saturated on the original tapes). The low end of the audio spectrum is still lacking on the Apple Music stream, unfortunately, but if we consider that to be part of the album’s style, I can live with that.

Even so, the highlight of the album is "Paradise by the Dashboard light", but it always was regardless of the version, so this obvious statment of fact is a mere reminder. Overall, though, Q was positive, concluding with the sentiment that "Ultimately, Back Into Hell may not trash its predecessor, but as a mad, crunching, stadium rock album, it's probably the best thing of its kind you'll hear this year. I was barely seventeen" opens this track also, but instead of being "barely dressed" the protagonist "once killed a boy with a Fender guitar. 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. 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.According to Meat Loaf, Rundgren put all the arrangements together because although "Jim could hear all the instruments" in his head, Steinman hummed rather than orchestrated. Also like the first album, it features a 'Songs by Jim Steinman' credit, although smaller and located at the bottom of the cover. However, the mixes were not suitable, to the extent that Meat Loaf did not want "Paradise" on the album. Steinman fought with Kovac over the edit of "I'd Do Anything for Love", with the manager advising that radio stations were unlikely to play anything over five minutes long. The stereo tracks are considerably better (better than the Redbook CD my wife owns) but still on my system at least don't have a particulary wide or deep soundstage.