Style: Epic rock and roll
Primary Emotions/Themes: Love, life, rock and roll
Thoughts: "I would do anything for love, but I won't do that!" What is it that Meat Loaf won't do? This is one of the great mysteries in the early 90's music. According to the composer the answer is right there in the song, but I'm still not sure what he's referring to. Whatever the meaning it's an incredible opening track, and one of the best that Meat Loaf ever recorded.
At the risk of sounding cliche, its courageous to start an album with a twelve minute song. Especially for an artist like Meat Loaf. Someone who is ingrained into the mainstream at this time of this album. Most pop/rock songs are 3-5 minutes long, this is three to four times that length. In fact most of the songs on this album are pretty damn long.
Eleven tracks, two of them over 10 minutes long, the whole album is just over 75 minutes. That's a hell of an undertaking. The real question is though, does the album justify the album length? Is it good enough to listen to all the way through?
As much as I want to scream an emphatic YES! that's not the case for the entire album. The album starts off incredible, one of the best rock albums I've ever heard. Just about everything through "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" is damn near flawless. It blows me away every time I listen to it, and this spin is no different.
The lyrics to "Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back" are so relatable to everything that is going on right now that it's scary. The way that it continues to put out riff after riff and verse after verse for seven minutes is incredible.
The aforementioned "Objects in the Rear View Mirror..." has almost a ballad quality to it with the way Meat Loaf delivers the lines. There is a sense of nostalgia and regret in his voice that gives this track. This over the repetitive riff makes the song work its way into my brain for hours... sometimes days at a time.
I could keep going with each of the first six tracks on here, but in the object of time I'll sum it up as some of my favorite music on this planet. That said there are still five tracks remaining on the album. While they are not objectively bad, they are significantly lacking compared to that incredible opening salvo.
They range from strange "Wasted Youth" to not nearly as catchy as they should be "Everything Louder than Everything Else" to almost cringy "Good Girls Go to Heaven." These songs have "b side" written all over them and fortunately they are on the last part of the album. I'm free to turn it off after "Objects in the Rear View Mirror..."
Meat Loaf left us way too soon. I wish I could have seen him live before his untimely passing. If nothing else he leaves us with an incredible legacy, with this album being one of the jewels on that crown.
Written December 21st 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment