Are we at a place, culturally, where we can unanimously agree that Meat Loaf’s 1977 debut, Bat Out Of Hell, is unequivocally awesome?
Sure, it’s theatrical. It’s bombastic. And, perhaps most damningly, it’s awfully cheesy; Meat oversings every ballad, Jim Steinman writes pretentious multi-song suites about his inability to get girls as a teenager, and at first listen, Meat and Steinman seem to be taking everything really, really seriously. But it’s cheese of the most glorious variety; its sincerity (tempered, incidentally, by a winking vein of humor that only becomes apparent after several listens) is contagious, even uplifting at times; allowing yourself to get lost in the folds of its sheer forcefulness is fun in the way that few records are anymore.
The problem with Meat Loaf, unfortunately, is that his fractured personal relationship with songwriter Jim Steinman has led both parties to waste their time doing lesser things. Steinman understands the grand drama that Meat, as both a wild-eyed, intensely theatrical stage performer and as a vivid, powerful vocalist, needs to really click; it’s the reason why one could postulate that the pair’s three Bat Out Of Hell records are the best of either artist’s career. Perhaps it’s unfair to pigeonhole the two as a duo, but such is life.
Much like every other non-Bat album of Meat Loaf’s career, his latest, Hell in a Handbasket, largely suffers from songs that lack the panache of the best Meat Loaf material. This is nothing new for the singer; it’s a microcosm of every between-Bats album of his career. But what’s disappointing about Hell is the way that Meat Loaf settles, comfortably into middle age.
This isn’t inherently a bad thing: after a while, it’s nice to see an aging artist move beyond songs about burning loins and puppy love and getting laid. (Looking at you, Jagger – looking right at you.) But as recently as last year, Meat Loaf was releasing records like Hang Cool Teddy Bear, which wasn’t a good record, but at least it was reasonably lively and ambitious. Hell in a Handbasket is a run-of-the-mill cycle of four-minute rock numbers, and even as Meat gives his all vocally, it feels curiously neutered, like Meat has finally given himself over to the MOR set.
Which isn’t to say that it’s particularly dire: it’s just boring. Bland ballads like “Our Love & Our Souls” and “Another Day” come and go without a second thought. “Stand In the Storm” and “Mad Mad World” long so desperately to be hard-edged stompers like mid-career triumph “Life Is A Lemon and I Want My Money Back” – they traffic in the same “I remain resilient in the face of adversity” and “I simply don’t understand the world today” tropes, respectively – but even as Meat blusters all over the tracks, they remain faceless, songs that easily could have been sung by Tim McGraw or, worse, Nickelback, with little tweaking. Both tracks feature rapper cameos, too – Chuck D embarrasses himself on “Mad Mad World”, and Lil’ Jon would be embarrassed if he had an ounce of shame on “Storm” – and it speaks to the ho-hum nature of the record that these rap cameos go by largely unnoticed. For the most part, Hell is a nondescript trip through the bland landscape of elevator-rock.
Sure, there are standouts. Once again, in-demand songwriter Bleu (who spoke to us about this track a while back) knocks one out of the part – his “Fall From Grace” functions as a wonderful power ballad, full of awe and majesty, bolstered by a lovely Meat Loaf lead vocal and a gorgeous melody. (Not coincidentally, it sounds like the sort of resplendent power-pop that made Bleu’s own Redhead album sound so vibrant.) Even as the instrumental for “40 Days” sounds disturbingly similar to “Before He Cheats”, Meat’s powerful tenor in the soaring, apocalyptic chorus ties the whole thing together nicely. Optimistic, acoustic-based closer “Blue Sky” dovetails with some stunning harmonic work from Meat’s studio vocalists, and a dramatic, murder-ballad take on The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin'” is simply – much like a lot of Meat’s best work, really – too silly not to work.
Which is all fine. I mean, most of Hell in a Handbasket is fine. But when Meat isn’t being served with excellent songs, Hell in a Handbasket offers nothing to latch onto; it’s never as gripping or as go-for-broke bombastic as you wish it was. When it is, as on “Fall From Grace”, it’s nice to see that Meat still has the vocal chops to pilot a great hook directly into the stratosphere; unfortunately, these moments also throw the album’s myriad weaknesses into stark contrast.
Grade: C-
6 comments
Torbjörn says:
Nov 2, 2011
“The problem with Meat Loaf, unfortunately, is that his fractured personal relationship with songwriter Jim Steinman has led both parties to waste their time doing lesser things”
How on earth can you be saying this considering the things they’ve both done over the last few years? I don’t mean to sound like an over zealous fan here. But Hang Cool Teddy Bear and Hell In A Handbasket are two of the best albums Meat has ever done. Some of the songs on these albums shadow the ones on BooH (imo, of course). Yes. There are a few more or less forgettable tracks on both albums. Mad Mad World fails because the rap track feels really tacked on and unnecessary. But that’s really my only complaint about this album. Stand in the storm isn’t exelent but it isn’t bad either. I actually think Lil Johns performance really makes it stand out. And I don’t even usually like rap. But from All of Me, to the hard hitters “Party of One” and “Live or Die” this really is an excelent album. And California Dreaming is one of the best covers I’ve listened to. They’ve taken the original given it a much moodier tone which blends in perfectly with the rest of the songs on the album.
I’d say Paul Crook definately deserves to keep producing Meat Load albums.
And finally, saying Jim Steinman is doing “lesser things” when his musical Dance of the Vampires is a musical masterpiece, as would his Batman musical have been as well, judging from the demos that have been released, if it wasn’t cancelled prematurely, is just crazy talk.
Sorry about the rant. But really…
Drew says:
Nov 2, 2011
Torbjorn, first and foremost, you are of course welcome to your opinion, and thank you for sharing it on my review!
In terms of the Meat/Steinman relationship, I think what we’re getting into – at least on the Steinman end of things – is a question of visibility. Perhaps if Steinman were plying his talents for swooping, dramatic pop songs, we wouldn’t be having this debate – but as it stands, he’s been MIA on that front for a few years now. And when he was, quite frankly, I missed the x-factor that Meat Loaf brought to his compositions – don’t get me wrong, Steinman has been responsible for a lot of appealing non-Meaf Loaf songs, but in terms of both men firing on all cylinders with glorious, melodramatic bombast, you have to admit that the two have very complimentary styles. That’s not to say that Meat is the only performer Jim should ever work with, of course – the man’s most recognizable song might be “Total Eclipse”, and I think Bonnie’s vocal on that is just stellar, by way of excruciatingly obvious example – but naturally I think that the two yield their best results when their efforts are in service of each other.
No, Jim’s issue is one of visibility, while Meat’s is the exact opposite – he releases albums at a startlingly regular rate, and to these ears, the material is simply inferior. That’s kind of what I’m getting at here; sure, they can both function as individuals, but I’m of the opinion that when they’re working as a duo, they’re not merely functioning, but thriving. Perhaps it’s merely a matter of personal taste, but as someone who fell in love with the Bat records at an early age, I find it hard to view Meat Loaf as an artist working on this small of a scale. I think the difference between the Steinman compositions and most of the songs on Handbasket is this: the songs on Handbasket could have been shopped around to any old singer, and they probably wouldn’t have sounded much different, barring Meat’s excellent vocals, of course. It’s what separates it from stuff like Dead Ringer and Couldn’t Have Said It Better and hell, even Teddy Bear; regardless of whether you agree that the material on those albums is inferior to the Steinman stuff, at least it still sounded like Meat Loaf. To me, Handbasket simply doesn’t.
And I’ve given credit where I feel that it’s due – there are a (in my opinion, very small) handful of worthwhile tracks here, which I’ve pointed out in the review. But honestly, I just find Handbasket generic. I don’t see a distinct artistic stamp here. In the past, even when I’ve felt that Meat Loaf failed, at least he did it with flair, and it was entertaining. I don’t get that sense here. This sounds like creaky old adult contemporary fare with precious few distinctive marks to me. You’re clearly a big fan, and I totally appreciate that – and trust me, I know what it’s like to defend an artist you love when nobody else is – but to these ears, it sounds like Meat needs someone like Steinman to cater to his strengths.
Torbjörn says:
Nov 8, 2011
Well. I can agree about the latter part. The album doesn’t sound like it needs Meat Loaf that much. But to me that feels secondary when it really is quite a solid album. And also due to the fact that this is the most personal record Meat Loaf has done to date. A lot of the songs are actually about him this time around. What I really like about though is that every song on the album (with a few exceptions) fit so very well together and it feels like it’s telling a story from start to finish.
And this isn’t saying I wouldn’t love to see Meat and Steinman work together again either. But to be honest lately I’ve really appreciated the work they’ve done apart from each other more than the stuff they did together, though maybe it’s mostly because I spent so much time listening to the Bat Out of Hells that I grew a bit tired of them…
Still. Thanks for the extensive reply.
Drew says:
Nov 8, 2011
Glad to see you responded! I fear we may have to agree to disagree on this one, alas – I just don’t think the material is in any way strong or remarkable. I have no doubt that it may be his most personal album, in terms of the songs relating to his life, but I just find the material to be generic and it seems to me that he connected more with the songs that weren’t about him than with these numbers. I guess in that respect, perhaps I appreciate Meat more as a performer, a musical actor of sorts – he seems to give life and vibrancy to songs that require him to inhabit a character, and drop the ball on songs that are closer to home. For me, anyhow.
Still, happy that you came back and weighed in again. You’re a lively debater!
elmarie says:
Mar 14, 2012
I don’t think Meat Loaf could make a bad album if he tried,that voice would probably make itsy bitsy spider sound good,but I must regretfully agree that ML albums seem to lose some of the magic when Steinman is not involved.It grieves me to say so believe me but its true.however,I think some of your criticism a bit harsh.surely “generic “is never applicable to ML
Diggin' in the Crates: "Stoney and Meatloaf" | Popblerd!! says:
Apr 26, 2012
[…] been curated under the strict involvement of mercurial madman Steinman, and his worst have been tepid affairs featuring a (garden) variety of songwriters all attempting to write their interpretation of what a […]