Now I've had a chance to sit and listen to it again a few times. The first time at the Playback I was blown away by the sheer force of it, the brilliance of the musical arrangements, and Meat's voice which is so powerful, shows such range, and sounds as wonderfully compelling as the first time I heard him. I was left with my head filled with whirling emotions and the stand-out factor for me was the new and different to all my expectations sound, which I loved .. and the simple, clean clarity of Meat's vocals, uncluttered by backing vocals, which had such a real feel. I said on returning from the Playback I had sat feeling when I shut my eyes that I could be at a live concert, and that has not diminished. The music is so powerful, massive guitars and John's brilliance on drums is heard just as if at a show, and then there's Meat's voice shining out above it. It's as impressive as the first time I heard it.
Now I am starting to experience the layers within each track, moving beyond simply relating to the character, and starting to feel the different dramatisations within each scenario speaking to me, this album is pulling at me even more. It's still a journey of exciting rock and roll, but there's so much more to it than that. And like others, I am so impressed by the range of Meat's voice on this album. It's a journey also to me of a man's love, his joy in it, his hurt in it, his disillusionment in it, and finally his realisation, redemption and embracing it with its shortcomings and imperfections because all we can do is welcome it, accept it as it is, hold on to it and live each day for what it brings. Love and living are full of possibiities and if we seize and accept them we remain young at heart. The lyrcs aren't complex but the tracks are hugely moving .. and the emotion comes from the music and over it all Meat's passion conveyed so movingly with every clean note.
Peace on Earth with it's crashing start, brings all the anger of war around the soldier and felt in his heart, and the despair and wanting to be home, safe, away from it all is converyed so powerfully; the violence, the waste, the wanting to be out of it. The strength of Meat's vocal matches the violence of the music. An electrifying start and sets the tone for what is to follow.
Living On The Outside brought tears to my eyes at the Playback and I couldn't put my finger on why. It made an emotional connection that I am now starting to understand. The character's escape from the battleground where we start and his run to the future with all its possibiities to me mirrored Meat's joyful breaking free from what he's done before and hitting a new highway into a new and exciting world.
Los Angeloser I loved from the start, and at the Playback it felt like it had a perfect fit even though it was a huge change of pace, but after the darkness, anger and frustration, followed by the breaking free in the first two tracks, it brings some sunshine and light, because in the album context I don't see all the images of the video, but rather the light and happy side of being free, to love and be loved, cruising along easily through being in step with oneself rather than conforming .. although there's always the nagging feeling that this is fragile in its dependency on being loved.
If I Can't Have You .. Here love is a star the character would hitch all his hopes to but he which sees may be slipping away already, and without it there's nothing ... Great duet with Kara Dioguardi, their voices complementing each other so well.
Love Is Not Real with Meat's voice laden with hurt and bitter regret, backed up by the heavy guitars, conveys so well that angry sense of loss, confusion and futility when love that was so important has gone, the feeling that love is impossible to hold and keep .. the changes in tempo and direction just seem to serve to emphasise the confusion and desperation, the conflict between the polar opposites of love and hate .. ending with some prettty spectacular guitar work from Steve Vai!
Love Is Like A Rose .. terrific and almost defensively defiant duet with Jack Black as together they emphasise the bitter sweet nature of love, and the harsh and helpless reality of being subject to it and out of control, with an almost dismissive contempt .. very powerful
Song of Madness .. huge heavy rock track, and this time quite complex lyrics as the character seems to spiral into hurt and bitter sweet contemplation of all that he's lost. There's such despair in the heavy and insistent music and Meat's voice. It's a hugely forceful track, and one which those who experience difficulty with something not in the Bat mould can welcome and relate to.
Did You Ever Love Somebody is such a clean and poignant love song .. the simplicity of the arrangement and Meat's voice, deep, gentle and impassioned then gradually moving to crescendo and finally dying away convey such a profound sense of loss. It is simply beautiful, its understatement just serving to emphasise its depth. It might not be the most obviously fashionable love song, but rings more true than any other I've heard, and wraps its hand completely round my heart. so simple .. so gentle, so minimal but so beautiful .. and his voice .. he's right there singing softly right into your ear .. It's the one that at the Playback I wasn't sure about .. but hearing it again it just resonates every cell of my being. Arguably to me the finest love song he's ever recorded.
California Isn't Big Enough .. Just incredible vocals, and the lyrics are spot on in conveying a belief that if love is impossible to enjoy without so much hurt, then lust will be the answer. It's raunchy and rightly so imo, without any words or sense of love, or the potential for pain it holds. It needs to be heard in the context of the album to appreciate just how powerful its message and how much more than a song which includes hard lyrics.
Running Away From Me .. moving from the hard and violent feelings of the previous scenario comes realisation and redemption .. as the character begins to understand what love and life are about, and avoiding it is to negate oneself, as is depending on the love of someone else to be the answer. Something here about accepting oneself before love can work and accept you. It's perhaps the hardest song to understand, but there seems to me to be a message about needing self-understanding and acceptance before you can truly love and value being loved.
Let's Be In Love is a simply beautiful duet with Patti. Heavy with redemption and yearning, to me it's one of the strongest love songs Meat's ever recorded, and full of a hope that with all its fragility is real and therefore strong. It reminds me of the tiny creature left in Pandora's Box .. and at the same time it is incredibly sensual. Stand out single, right down to the last lingering note..
If It Rains .. to me brings that hope rekindled and realised as the character acknowledges finally that living and loving bring pain .. but he has achieved enough maturity and wisdom to look life it in the face, risk the hurt that will often come as accompaniment to with the joy of loving, and hang on in there and be constant.
Elvis In Vegas It's a song that if I heard on its own would probably feel full of nostalgia for lost youth, reminiscing about something wonderful remembered, but coming as it does at the end of this amazing journey with Patrick fills me with a positive feeling and seems to celebrate that living life is always worthwhile, live every day without looking back or being fearful of what the future might bring and all the joy and invincibility of youth can stay with you forever.
To me it's a journey; a journey of love, hurt, disillusionment, anger, defiance, sorrow, redempton and realisation. A huge and compelling love story and life story, the links back to and towards each track emphasised by fragments of music, and phrasing, but to me most of all by the emotions of the character as he sees it playing out in the future.
To fully appreciate what this album holds and offers you need imo to be prepared to put what he has done before to one side, not to forget them, but so as not to cloud your ability to open your mind and really listen. As I've said, many of the lyrics seem at first glance simple, but there is a wealth of meaning in them if you allow Meat to connect you with them. This is everything Meat can bring as an actor who sings, not simply performing a series of complex and cleverly worded lyrics, full of metaphor and simile that hits you in the eyes .. but it's there if you listen and let the emotions connect. At times I wept, at times I smiled, at times I felt sad and at the end I felt a kind of joy.
First time in London I was swept away by the huge sound .. a bit like being captivated by that gorgeous man you see across the room :) Your senses are whirling .. and you feel bereft of words. I was impressed, but knew I would need to gain a better understanding of the parts to be able to fully appreciate the whole.The album's arrival was like him arriving for a date .. with me nervously wondering if he'd live up to that promise .. He did, more than :) First listen it's hugely impressive .. but second and third as you start to understand the layers, the pieces of the story .. it was .. a work of art seems too simple a phrase; it's imo a masterpiece. Meat's vocal range is huge, and so strong .. pure and full of emotion, sometimes anger, sometimes yearning, sometimes joy, sometimes so unbearably sad and hurt, and it's this which together with the incredible music which bring every track to life and deliver the meaning of every piece of the jigsaw.
It's not an album with a series of tracks .. it's an epic show, a musical, with each song building the story. To lose one track, one note would be to weaken and lose the story and meaning.
To me it is simply the best thing Meat has done.
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Meat Loaf for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Let's help him get there!
