Meatloaf: Braver Than We Are
Meatloaf
Braver Than We Are
(Savoy)
Man, does this one pain meâŠ
The first Meatloaf album, the infamous Bat Out of Hell, is one of my top five most favorite albums of all time. (Yes, I know I am old.) Since then (and since seeing Meat on his first tour in 1978) I have been a big fan of the big man and his songwriter/foil Jim Steinman, so much so that when the two have reformed over the years (as they did in 1993 on Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell and on the big hit âIâd Do Anything For Love (But I Wonât Do Thatâ), I was thrilled to herald their return. I wish I could say I am thrilled about their latest collaboration, Braver Than We Are. You have to be pretty freakinâ brave to even listen once to all these tunes. Itâs not that Steinman isnât in good form, he is mostly, itâs just that Meatloafâs voice is shot. He barely shakes/sings through his real low timbre here and is mostly bolstered by the women duets across the tunes. Historic Meatloaf female vocalists Karla De Vito and Ellen Foley are on the overlong âGoing All the Way is Just the Start (A Song in 6 Movements)â and Stacy Michelle helps out on ballads like âSpeaking in Tonguesâ or one of the better tunes here, âLoving Youâs a Dirty Job (But Somebodyâs Gotta Do It).â âSouvenirsâ with its horns (sax solo especially) is one of the few highlights; Meatâs pipes are ok on this bluesy number. While the last tune âTrain of Loveâ is pretty much a lackluster closer.
Wow, when the big and mighty fall, they fall far.