Classic Rock Bottom

This week it's the thirty-sixth album in the series I thought up all by myself. It might be a day late, but there's a really good reason why that is.

Meat Loaf's Dead Ringer is the followup to the multi-platinum Bat Out Of Hell, released in 1977. It's so multi-platinum that it's actually diamond certified. As for this week's pick, released in 1981, no such luck. No certification in the US, but it did reach platinum in the U.K. and gold in Canada.

So, what happened? Well, I finally decided to get that free Windows 10 update since time was running out. Did it last weekend and everything was fine.

Don't really know what happened with this album but four years between albums didn't help. Maybe the songs weren't as strong as Bat Out Of Hell, but it's not a horrible album. As a matter of fact, I owned this album BEFORE Bat Out Of Hell, I'm thinking that it was in the cutout bin and I got it for cheap at the end of '81 or sometime in '82. I must not have listened to this much since it was basically new to me when I got the CD. I also believe that I got Jim Steinman's Bad For Good before Bat Out Of Hell. It had a cool album cover.  

So, yesterday when I logged in, I couldn't do anything. Had to do a hard reboot and then I got the dreaded BSOD and the wonderful "Unmountable Boot Volume" error. Then the screen went to black after a repair screen or something popped up, so of course I did another hard reboot.Same repair screen and then the same black screen.

Dead Ringer did reach #45 on the US charts and four singles were released with only "I'm Going To Love Her For The Both Of Us" hitting the US charts at #84.  

I decided to check on this error on my trusty Kindle Fire and read how I needed to download a repair program on a CD or USB device and I didn't want to deal with that. Kept on reading and came across two people who said to just let it sit on the black screen and that it would eventually finish the repair. One person said it took about an hour, another said it took him over 24 hours. 

You know, it's what you expect from Meat Loaf. Overblown epics. That's what's here. Plus, Cher guests on a song and she is an overblown epic (in a good way). Meatloaf would not have another album certified in the US until the multi-platinum Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, released in 1993. 

I decided to follow the "let it sit" rule and I was finally able to access my computer at 10:30 pm. So, it took over 15 hours for the repair to finish. Now you know what to do in case that error pops up. You are very welcome.

Allmusic.com review:

Although it took Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman another 12 years to come up with the marketing gimmick of positioning an album as a deliberate follow-up to the multi-platinum Bat Out of Hell, Dead Ringer was the real "Bat Out of Hell II." Once again, Steinman wrote extended, operatic songs with hyperbolic lyrics ("I'll Kill You If You Don't Come Back" was one title) and organized a backup band anchored by E Street Band members Max Weinberg (drums) and Roy Bittan (keyboards), while Meat Loaf sang with a passion all the more compelling for its hint of the ridiculous. In the U.S., with four years separating Bat and Dead Ringer, nobody cared much. But in the U.K., where Bat was still going strong, Dead Ringer topped the charts, and the title track, featuring a perfectly cast Cher as duet singer, went Top Ten. In retrospect, the missing ingredient in the album is Todd Rundgren's pop sensibility as producer; he was the one who knew how long the compositions could go for maximum dramatic impact without becoming exhausting. It was Rundgren who made Bat Out of Hell a fiery listening experience -- producing himself, Meat Loaf often sounded only warmed over.

Dead Ringer

1. Peel Out
2. I'm Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us
3. More Than You Deserve
4. I'll Kill You If You Don't Come Back
5. Read 'Em and Weep
6. Nocturnal Pleasure
7. Dead Ringer for Love
8. Everything Is Permitted

Availability: Around $5 new.

 

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Replies to This Discussion

I love windows...

Yeah. But no big deal. Nothing was going on with the internet yesterday.

Never heard this, but I truly love Bat.  The first song sounded nothing like Meat Loaf.  His voice is just totally different. But he's back on the second track.  Much, much better.  But, he quickly disappears again on the next track.  His voice is just different.  And the song is horrid.

Despite the Queen feel of the guitars at the beginning of the fourth song, Meat sounds no better. The song does feel a bit more like Bat.  As a matter of fact, I hear several attempts to replicate the success of Bat, like a spoken passage and use of the female co-lead, but the song that features the latter has no chance once the horns kick in.  

I'll have to take a pass on this one.  It fails miserably in comparison to Bat Out of Hell.

Here's what you missed on the day you were "off" the internet...

  • Something happened and were all going to die!
    • False alarm by the way ... this time !
  • If Hillary's not voted in then a bunch of "who cares" Hollywood mouthpieces are moving to Canada
  • If you don't copy and paste that one status then you're an inconsiderate jerk and don't care about anyone but yourself
  • 12.3% of your Facebook friends tried a new restaurant and shared food pics

So ya, you missed everything important!  No idea how you will ever catch up!

Oh yeah... Meat Loaf.  Why do I always get hungry listening to this guy?  You took off 4 years since Bat Out Of Hell and this is all we get?  OK, not terrible, but not interesting either, and ya, what happened to his voice?  He's developed some sort of Muppet quality that's not working at all.

I hear some of the Steinman trademark theatrics, but I also hear it mixed in with some cliche 80's riffs and production, I'm not sure that mix works well, but I think the songwriting is nowhere near as strong.  I Will Kill You If You Don't Come Back is the perfect example of this.  There are the obvious Bat Out Of Hell transitional songs mixed with a bit of Rocky Horror, but again, trying to grab onto the success of those two doesn't seem to be working, so the third time was not a charm in this case.

I'm a Bat of Hell fan and that's about it, but I will say this, Meat Loaf sounded great on Teds Free For All album!  Maybe that gig would have been more sustainable as it seems this ones well has run dry...

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