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| My Braver review | |
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TNT 11:30 am UTC 07/01/16 |
| The first full Jim Steinman album since "Tanz Der Vampire" brings out the anticipation in me, but at the same time it's a let down that it doesn't really contain anything that's really new from the composer. Fortunately "Braver Than We Are" contains full production versions of some of the lost Steinman songs from the last 47 years, so this is still very interesting. The opener "Who Needs The Young" is a good song, and this version keeps the weirdness, which makes it interesting. The instrumental track is great, but the problem is Meat Loaf's voice. That's really not a surprise, but I had expectations about the studio production being able to fix some of his problems. That's not the case, and the problem continues through out the album. Maybe Meat's weak voice is the reason for all the other involved singers here? Why "Braver Than We Are" have become "Going All The Way Is Just The Start" is a mystery, but the song is still the same. To me this is one of Jim's best songs ever, and both the "Dance Of The Vampires" demo and Karine Hannah's demo are fantastic versions. When the song is finally released on an album it seems like a wasted opportunity that it's done by Meat with a shot voice. The girls are very good, and I can't stop thinking that the reason for so much of the vocals being done by others than Meat is to make as much of the track as possible good. Also I would have preferred a more "bombastic" production on this song, so in that department Jim is really missed, even though Paul Crook is doing a fine job at creating his sound. "Speaking In Tongues" is a fine song, based around the piano, which makes it sound like a real Steinman ballad. It also seems like it's easier for Meat to sing the quiet stuff, so it doesn't sound that bad. He is also saved by Stacy Michelle as she's doing the more powerful parts. To do a new version of "Loving You's A Dirty Job But Somebody's Gotta Do It" is kind of pointless as the original is excellent. This is still different enough to make it interesting, but again Meat's voice is the problem. It doesn't have the magic from the original either. To me Todd Rundgren's parts in Bonnie's version is fantastic, and especially his "You're never gonna see it" lines are pure magic, as you really can feel the desperation. Michelle isn't even close to recreating this. Also it is so typical for the album that Meat's voice is mixed below the other voices, which obviously is done to cover up as much of his vocals as possible. "Souvenirs" really show how bad Meat's voice is, and it's really a shame he didn't get to do these songs 15 or 20 years ago. The music through out the album is after all great, and the songs deserve so much more than these weak vocal performances. Another thing that might be a problem is things like the "Left In The Dark" melody parts and the "I’m cryin’ icicles instead of tears…" which might give the listener without knowledge about the history of the songs the impression that Jim is repeating himself, unless the album is marketed as being old songs, leftovers, and early versions. We're back to the pure piano ballad when it's time for "Only When I Feel", and it's really a shame this has been split from "If It Ain't Broke (Break It)", as the complete piece would have been a cool song. It doesn't really matter though as Meat's vocals on "Only When I Feel" is just terrible. It is impossible to match The Sisters Of Mercy's version of "More" as that is one of the real masterpieces, but again it's done so different that it in some ways work. The heavy guitars are great, and the short vocal lines kind of works for Meat. Again the chorus is saved by the female voice. "Godz" is done to the maximum as "Ewigkeit", but it kind of works as this version as well. This is not Meat at his worst on the album either, so this is ok. Some of the background vocals also sounds a bit more like classic Steinman than on the rest of the album. "Train Of Love" is the least interesting song on the album, as this is just a pure rock'n roll song. This kind of stuff have never been Jim's strongest songs, but this is still ok. Meat's voice is ok on this. The main problem with the album is without a doubt Meat's voice, and that's really a shame as I believe this could haven been a great album with Meat in his prime. There's still a possibility that I might get more used to the singing on the album with repeated listens, but objectively there is no way I can say that Meat delivers a good performance on "Braver Than We Are", but I guess it's still maximum of what he's capable of these days. Over all the sound of the album is fine, and Paul Crooks production is good, but it lacks the over the top production of Steinman himself. | |
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