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| re: Unpopular Opinion: Bat Out of Hell Is Better Than Born to Run | |
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rockfenris2005 06:47 am UTC 04/12/16 |
| In reply to: | Unpopular Opinion: Bat Out of Hell Is Better Than Born to Run - Jacqueline 09:33 pm UTC 04/11/16 |
I've never understood Todd's point of view here. While it is funny and all of that, I don't see how I can't take it seriously. "For crying out loud" is like "If I loved you" and "You'll never walk alone" to me, from "Carousel". I can't NOT take those songs seriously. > > http://www.laweekly.com/music/unpopular-opinion-bat-out-of-hell-is-better-than-born-to-run-6805883 > > Unpopular Opinion: Bat Out of Hell Is Better Than Born to > Run > > http://www.laweekly.com/music/unpopular-opinion-bat-out-of-hell-is-better-than-born-to-run-6805883 > > > Monday, April 11, 2016 at 4:45 a.m. > By NicholasPell > > > When producer Todd Rundgren first heard Bat Out of Hell, > he thought it was a parody of Bruce Springsteen. In fact, > many years later, he remarked, “I can’t believe the world > took it seriously.” > > Indeed, the world did take Bat Out of Hell seriously, in > all its faux-Wagnerian glory. It was, not to put too fine > a point on it, the “teenage symphony to God” that Brian > Wilson had searched for all those years. > > When producer Todd Rundgren first heard Bat Out of Hell, > he thought it was a parody of Bruce Springsteen. In fact, > many years later, he remarked, “I can’t believe the world > took it seriously.” > > Indeed, the world did take Bat Out of Hell seriously, in > all its faux-Wagnerian glory. It was, not to put too fine > a point on it, the “teenage symphony to God” that Brian > Wilson had searched for all those years. > > Best of all, it holds up. The opening title track succeeds > at its mission — to create the biggest, baddest, most > tear-jerking teen tragedy crash song of all time. I can’t > respect anyone’s opinion on music if they don’t get chills > when Meat Loaf wails to his girl that he can’t stop > thinking of her so he misses his turn and ends up a soup > on the side of the highway. This is what great rock & roll > often aspires to but frequently fails to achieve. > > “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer > Night)” might not best Phil Spector at his own game, but > it comes damn close, and it’s the best slice of > Spectoresque girl pop to come out of a man’s mouth ever. > The opening exchange never quite seems to wear out its > welcome, as the male protagonist insists on romantic > fealty, only to reject it when he gets it with “I bet you > say that to all the boys.” > > “Heaven Can Wait” is a bit of a drag, but “All Revved Up > With No Place to Go” picks up where the album left off, > demonstrating Robert Paulson’s ability to turn a clever > phrase that’s at once groan-worthy and insightful in its > simplicity. If you don’t know what it’s like to be all > revved up with no place to go, I daresay you weren’t a > very exciting or imaginative teenager. > > “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” along with “Heaven Can > Wait,” demonstrate where Steinman's talents fall short: He > can’t really write a power ballad to save his life. All > the steps are there, all the notes are right, but he gets > too lost in the swamps of schmaltz to write a killer track > that will have you hand-drumming on your steering wheel as > you remember early makeout sessions and school dances > where you left room for the Holy Ghost. > > Which brings us to the elephant in the room, “Paradise by > the Dashboard Light.” I don’t know if this is a New > England thing or what, but when I was in high school (the > mid-'90s), if you wanted to make a room full of teenagers > erupt into shrieks, you spun this banger. Girls lined up > on one side, boys on the other. The two sing the important > points to each other. I have no idea if this ritual still > exists, but that it existed two decades after the song > first came out impresses and confuses me. > > It also speaks to the near-universal quality of the tale > told. Boy meets girl. Boy wants to bang girl. Girl wants > to bang boy but doesn’t want to feel like a Fleshlight. > Boy proclaims his love and neither is terribly happy with > the results. And in the middle some Phil Rizzuto. There’s > a little something for everybody. > > The album goes out on a ballad, which somehow fits better > than the rest, giving the listener an easy landing. But > it’s the ragers on Bat Out of Hell that make it so > memorable. It’s a damn shame that Meat Loaf and Jim > Steinman never got it together to make anything this great > again. I like to imagine that in an alternate universe > they scored the entire Streets of Fire trilogy, which was > the biggest thing since Planet of the Apes. > A guy can dream, I guess. | |
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