Wagnerian rock  Wagnerian rock is the merger of 20th-century rock and roll and 19th-century opera reminiscent of Richard Wagner or Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. The term was coined by writer and producer Jim Steinman (to describe Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell" trilogy of albums) and is sometimes used ambiguously in rock writing, referring to a bombastic Teutonic style, or fantasy lyrics.