The Way Rock Should Be! (Bad For Good - Jim Steinman)

Member Name: jatkinson100

Product:	Bad For Good - Jim Steinman
Date:	14/11/00 (265 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great balance of ballad and rock, with a great singer and top class music, all brought together by the best lyricist ever.

Disadvantages: No bugger has heard of him, but think Meatloaf, think Bonnie Tyler, and you've got Steinman

Listen to me, I'm gonna make you Bad For Good! If you don't like Meatloaf or Bonnie Tyler, get back to your Back Door Boys or whatever you Philistines listen to. If not,

LET'S ROCK!!!!!!!

Not only does he write some of the best rock musicals around, Jim Steinman wrote for both Bonnie Tyler and Meatloaf (including Bat out of Hell) for several years, and Bad for Good was to be the follow up to Bat out of Hell that Meatloaf never did. Steinman, however, fills the large void left by Meaty (no pun, honest!) excellently. It has been said that, had Meatloaf and Steinman not gone their separate ways, Meatloaf would have been an even bigger star (again, no pun) today.

Billed as the song-writing equivalent of Stephen King, Steinman is a master of words, and the music and voices needed to perform these songs have to be every bit as powerful or they would sound like poems set to music. A pleasure in these days of "Ziga-zig-ah").

Fans of Meatloaf will have heard a couple of these songs before on Welcome to the Neighbourhood and Bat Out of Hell II, and be well used to the mixture of ballad and rock. What is the greatest shame about this album, and Meatloaf's not singing it, is that his distinctive voice would have brought more presence to the songs, and his versions are forced to be too different to these as Meaty tried to stamp his own authority on them so as not be accused of simply ripping them off.

One such song is the excellent Left in the Dark. A slow ballad, the singer confronts his (silent) lover who has returned from an illicit affair. He accuses her, speaks of his hurt, but says that he doesn't want the answers now, and that she should simply turn off the light so that he can be "Left in the Dark Again". As with all of these songs, it is a perfect mix of voice, lyrics and music, all of them top class.

Another is the teenage rock monologue of Love and Death and an American G
uitar. Shouting of teenage angst and the rock and roll life style, it is an amusing interlude. If you don't know what I mean, it's the "I REMEMBER EVERYTHING" speech from Welcome to the Neighbourhood.

The title track, Bad for Good, is the Bat Out Of Hell of the album. A wonderful piece in its own right, one can't help but think that this was written for Meatloaf, and he would have brought that little bit extra to it. It remains, however, a truly great song. The music is stirring, the lyrics are polished perfection, and the song is a true wonder.

Surf's Up is my favourite. Another slow and quiet one, it is one of the most moving songs I have ever had the pleasure to hear. A guy sings his heart out to his girl, professing his undying love. They are alone on a beach, alone in the world, and the only things pure and right in the universe. The music is subtle enough to let the words take you away, and yet powerful enough in the right places to have you beating the air with tightly clenched fists as if it were the supplest of drum skins.

Stark Raving Love is the song Bonnie Tyler should've sung. Steinman's voice doesn't quite do it justice, but don't let that put you off, it is a truly great song. The lyrics are pure Steinman, and the music and style comes straight from Ms. Tyler: passionate, powerful, and must be played LOUD!

Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through and Out of the Frying Pan are the Meat in this perfect sandwich. These, together with Bad for Good, are the songs you'll love from the moment you hear them. These songs should come with a government health warning: don't drive, as you're bound to speed, and don't play them when the neighbours are in (at least make sure that they are unarmed) as the volume knob will be turned up and up and up. My air-guitar improved ten fold after listening to this album only a few times. If you like to jump around the living room, thrashing
an imaginary stratocaster and screaming songs, with your silliest face, into a wooden-spoon/ microphone (and let's face it, who doesn't), then this album is worth the cash for these three songs alone.

Overall, this is a truly great album. The only thing that lets it down is the thought of what it would've been like had Meatloaf sung it, but those thoughts are quickly forgotten as the music takes over your body and soul.

If you?re with Geordies, buy this and you'll get Glasgow rocking you'll play it that loud, and if on the South Coast, wear headphones, the French have done nothing to deserve this much pleasure!

To everyone: Buy it, listen to it, love it!
LET'S ROCK LIKE ITS 1981!!!!!!

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