| Great fan review of Braver | |
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Jacqueline 12:29 am UTC 06/24/16 |
| This was sent to Jim via Facebook and he wanted it shared here. Many thanks Stuart! Stuart Lund 3:07pm Jun 23 There are two kinds of Meat Loaf fans in the world. There are those who love everything he records, then there are those who like everything her records but love everything he records that was written by the man who started it all, Jim Steinman. I count myself in the latter group. Since Bat Out OF Hell in 1977, Meat has teamed up with Steinman, both directly and indirectly, many times, but there have been three particular milestones on that long and twisted road that have stood out against the rest – Bat Out of Hell, Dead Ringer and the epic Bat Out of Hell II. Despite some questions over the production of the middle link in the chain, all three of these albums had one thing in common – all of the songs were written by Steinman. In 2006, lightning should have struck again with the release of Bat Out Of Hell III, but the powers that be had other ideas. Steinman was in ill health, a record company wanted the album complete and Meat went along with bringing in Bon Jovi producer Desmond Child to fill the void. It could have worked, but you have to be a certain type of person to “get” Steinman. Todd Rundgren “got” him when he produced Bat, Child didn’t. The album ended up consisting of a handful of Steinman songs, altered and mostly condensed to make the way for additional tracks by Child which turned the album into a mishmash of could have beens, should have beens and should never have beens. Jump forward to 2014, when rumours began to circulate that Meat was planning a new album, and Jim could be providing one or two new tracks. A year later, the album was now going to feature more new Steinman material, and in June 2016, the album was in the can and the cover art bore the words that fans had waited over 20 years to see. All Songs by Jim Steinman. At the top of the cover, under the album title, Braver Than We Are. Combined with the stunning cover art by Julie Bell – a cleverly crafted montage piece featuring Meat himself and a youthful image of Steinman (being the boy who never grew up) facing off against the four horsemen of the apocalypse, who just happen to be riding some of the iconic bikes featured on the covers of previous Meat/Steinman collaborations, and all against a sky that looks suspiciously like that featured on the Bat Out Of Hell Cover. Suddenly, this album was very real and very exciting. Prior to release, Meat has cited the album as “different”, “love it or hate it”, “something that will make you want to throw it against the wall”, much of which could have been said about Bat on its release. So just how different and rage-inducing is the album? On first listen, there are some things instantly noticeable – the album is not full of perfectly pitched vocals like most people seem to want these days. It is not full of radio friendly pop songs, although it contains some of the most memorable and catchy songs of Meat and Steinman’s career. It is an album that all but drips with raw, passionate drama that would make Wagner (the composer not the X Factor contestant) weep with anguish. THIS is the album Bat Out Of Hell III should have been, and THIS is quite possibly the biggest middle finger to the current music scene that has ever been released. People are going to hate this record. People are going to love this record. But more than that, people are going to feel with this record. The lyrics tell a story, the music seduces you and pulls you into the world in which the story is being told. These are not half-baked pop lyrics about getting boys out of your hair or saying sorry. They are full on, relevant and powerful. As an album overview, the production – by Paul Crook – is outstanding. Bold and experimental, grand and subtle when it needs to be, again something that seems to be missing from much of today’s music. Another highlight is the stunning backing vocals arranged by Justin Avery, phrased and produced in an amazing collage of sounds, emotions and in a couple of cases completely off the wall theatrics. Musically the album is sound. Each song in its own world, with its own rules. And then we have the main vocals, a point which will cause the love/hate factor for many. Meat is not thirty years old any more, he is heading towards an age where many have given up and are soaking up the easy life. But that has never been his style. Meat has never sounded his age as much as he does on this album; gruff at times, frail at others, sometimes resorting to a low baritone growl. This is not the vocal performance of two decades ago, this is Meat now, musically presenting a drama for the ears. His vocal is rough, and in many cases in a lower range to much of this previous work, but it works in the context of the album for those who, and we return to that point again, “get it”. These are not your regular songs. There is no auto-tune here. It is raw, unashamed, blood and guts, anguished rock opera that will likely never be seen again. In a basic, ground level comparison, I fully expect Meat’s vocals to come up against the same critical mauling that the likes of Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and Tom Waits have constantly defied their whole careers. It is not for everyone, but I guarantee, let the album play a few times and not only will you start to see the bigger picture, but there will be words and melodies that you just cannot get away from and will linger with you long after. Compared to Meat’s previous two albums, which while both having their merits have lacked that special ingredient to make them memorable, this shows why no one quite does Steinman like Meat Loaf, but equally no-one brings to Meat Loaf what Steinman brings to Meat Loaf. Here is my track by track analysis of the album. Who Needs The Young as an opener is just inspired. It's like a creepy, mishmash circus has just rolled into town and the ringmaster is stepping up to the crowd. There is a dark comedy about it – the Steinman touch. It has been said that the track was originally destined to be part of the original Bat album, and considering it is one of Steinman’s oldest pieces that is plausible enough, but it was considered too vile for the times. Once again, something that cannot be argued against. Meat’s precise delivery of every syllable, something that rings through the album, heightens the bizarre air around the song. Backing vocals under the arrangement of Justin Avery are spectacular and not unlike some of Steinman’s own arrangements of the past, and again they add to this strange circus of horrors feel and engulf you in a multi-layered, visual masterpiece for the ears. Sorry for the repetition but you just don’t get that in any other music out there today. If there was a song to be released as a single (and some would question whether in today’s convoluted singles market where everything from celebrity deaths to political agendas can dictate chart positions), then this massive beast was always going to be the radio defying track to break out. Known to followers of Steinman’s other work, the track is better known as Braver Than We Are, as seen in a track performed by Karine Hannah (featuring a dance music backing track) and in the smash musical Tanz Der Vampire. Partially rewritten, rearranged and boasting an almost 12 minute run time, Going All The Way Is Just The Start (A Song In Six Movements) could well be the final sparkling jewel in the Steinman crown. As Steinman wrote in Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through, “There’s always something magic, there’s always something new”, and as with his previous epics that has never been truer than here. From a quiet, subtle opening, the song progresses through its aforementioned movements, falling and rising similar to 1993’s I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), and building to a six minute culmination that is quite possibly the most stunning piece of musicality I have heard in my life. Meat is ably supported throughout by Ellen Foley (better known as the female vocalist from Paradise by the Dashboard Light) and Karla DeVito (who performed Paradise during Meat’s early tours and appears in its video), who help elevate the song even further. It is an indescribable piece that is both hopefully optimistic and devastatingly honest with a melody that just soars into the heavens and beyond. The song title, which is a line that also appeared at the beginning of the music video for Anything For Love, is not only quintessential Steinman but probably his defining one. He has gone all the way on many occasions and it just never seems to be enough. Going All The Way is a song to live your life by. It's a call to everyone to take all they can from life, live every moment and push everything to limit and then push further while you can. A true masterpiece. Speaking in Tongues is the album’s Two Out Of Three, gentle, subtle and containing some of the excellent wordplay that comes with most Steinman tracks. Meat’s mellow vocal is complimented by additional vocals to create something ethereal and emotional. (More to be added) Loving You's a Dirty Job (But Somebody’s Got To Do It) is best known as a duet between Bonnie Tyler and Todd Rundgren when it was produced by Steinman for her album. Here it is given a musically modern twist, again a sense of building throughout the song to its conclusion. It will gain obvious comparisons to the previous version, and one thing of note here is that Meat’s careful and deliberate pronunciation is one thing that stands out, when every one of those lyrics is heard and understood, compared to Rundgren’s original vocal which was sometimes harder to discern. A completely different arrangement and performance style, again making this a track that people will either love or hate. Souvenirs is another early Steinman track now getting the Meat Loaf treatment, albeit with something a little reminiscent of a late 70s/early 80s Bob Dylan thanks to some wonderful organ and horns. As with so many songs, there are links to previously released works – specifically the melodic similarity to Left in The Dark which Meat recorded for 1995’s Welcome To The Neighborhood, which featured on Steinman’s own Bad For Good album and, for completeness, was also released by Barbara Streisand. Souvenirs predates these and was probably the first time the melody was used. This is one of the things that the album has going for it in abundance, much of what you hear sounds instantly familiar yet new thanks to small sections of melody, repeated lyrics and chord progressions that are all part of the Steinman trademark. Another lyrical tour de force, containing the same heart-wrenching grit of classic tracks such as For Crying Out Loud, and coming in at over 8 minutes long is another standout piece on the album. Only When I Feel as the shortest piece is packed with more passion than probably even Meat has ever recorded and if it's piano thunder you're looking for then this is where you will find it. The track was originally destined for Bat 3 as part of the song that became (If It Ain’t Broke) Break It – something that seems to have been fated in that it was discarded from the album where it would not have been given the Grand Guignol treatment it receives here. There is something about the track that could almost make it a prelude to Anything For Love – in that way that all Steinman songs seem to fit together in a complex puzzle. Meat went on record as saying he abandoned a perfect vocal on this as he had to sing it as though he were in pain, and for me at least that works. Another of those tracks that some people are going hate and pull apart, but in the context of the concept of the song, a harsh imperfect vocal is what is needed. The small sadness is that we will never know what the full song, including Break It, would have sounded like done under this production. More was originally recorded by the Sisters of Mercy and has been used in MTV’s Wuthering Heights remake. A modern, driving rocker which comes in two parts, one of which will be familiar again to Steinman fans who have heard his Batman demos. Meat’s vocal again changes throughout the track, pulling back on some parts and growling through on others. (More to add) Godz is another “long lost” Steinman piece that will sound familiar to fans of Tanz Der Vampire. The thundering piano and drum base of the song are based on Bolero, while the track itself is a choral, theatrical piece that could have come straight from something like Carmen. It is the type of track you will struggle to find on any other popular rock or pop album, mainly because it takes balls to do anything this different and expect to get anywhere. It is safe to say that if an unknown artist attempted, they would have the same struggle Meat and Jim did back in the late 70s. It also adds to the nostalgia that this album carries with it, and something of a full circle “end of show” feel that everything seems to glide towards. The Bolero theme was used as an introduction in the original Bat Tour, more nostalgia for those old time fans. Skull of Your Country is another track that originated in the 70s under a different title. Considering in technical terms this is around 40 years old, Steinman has made a song that is as relevant now with powerful imagery as anything released in the last decade. The song also features a section based on the “Turn Around” lyric from another Bonnie Tyler hit, Total Eclipse of The Heart. Non fans may well believe this to be reworking from that song, where in truth this, or a version of it, predated Total Eclipse by some time. Its inclusion here once again makes something unfamiliar instantly recognisable. Train of Love is a fun closer to the album. Again based on a song written back in the 70s, this had that bouncy, energetic quality of Dead Ringer For Love. A funky pop rocker that is littered with classic lines from various other songs to bring the album to a well rounded, rocking all night close. To summarise, this is an album that has been a long time coming, and if you are on board with the direction and the style that I has been done, as I was from the first moment, then this is likely to be right up there in your estimation with anything the pair have put out in the past. For me, I would love for nothing more than Meat to hang up his touring boots and sit down with Steinman every few months to record a couple of new tracks, unlikely but we all have our rock and roll dreams. For now, though Braver Than We Are, with an abundance of bonus materials including demos and bonus tracks across its various releases, is something the world has been deprived of for a long time, and, if only history told a different story, could have been heard long ago when the promise of more to come could be realised. | |
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