| CD
Review
| Meat
Loaf
| Couldn't
Have Said It Better
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MEAT LOAF
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Couldn’t
Have Said It Better
Sanctuary
Records
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Everything
Meat Loaf does has to be spectacular, bigger than life and as close to a
theatrical production as he can get. None of that has changed with his
new opus Couldn’t Have Said It Better. Divided into two
chapters with a cinematic Lord of the Rings-type intermission, the disc
boasts the bloated songwriting talents of Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx,
arrangement of Todd Rundgren and over-the-top production of Peter Mokran
(Christina Aguilera, NSYNC , R. Kelly). Clocking in at nearly an hour
the disc picks right up where Meat’s last full length, Welcome To
The Neighborhood (1995) left off some eight years ago.
The enormous sweeping sound of the record’s title track is a flashback
of “I’d Do Anything For Love” – full-on orchestra, BIG chorus
and a dialog/duet with Patti Russo, which has all the earmarks of a
signature radio hit. The CD includes the video as well as one for “Did
I Say That”. The big hits are jammed up front then after the
“intermission” the band moves into a Queen-like swagger. Long time
friend and John Mellencamp drummer, Kenny Aronoff is back as is Utopia
bassist Kasim Sulton. Both make their presence know on the chugging
“Do It” and the rocking “Tear Me Down”. Session guitarists Tim
Pierce (Rick Springfield, Joe Cocker) and Mike Thompson (Celine Dion,
Mariah Carey, Michael Bolton) get plenty of action from the blues stomp
of “Testify” to the overblown “Why Isn’t That Enough”.
The remarkable Pearl Aday returns to lend her voice to the emotional
tango of “Man Of Steel” while “Love You Out Loud” takes us right
back to the campy days of Bat Out Hell. The ballads retain their
charismatic texture as well in the Diane Warren-penned “You’re
Right, I Was Wrong”, “Did I Say That” and the wistful “Forever
Young”. With masterful planning, the weave of guitar-wrenching squeal,
anguished vocals and concert-hall acoustics we might see Mr. Loaf riding
high on the charts for the third time in a career spanning 30 years.
Website: Sanctuary
Records
Review
by Todd Smith http://www.thecutting-edge.net/
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