Meat Loaf: Blind Before I Stop (1986)

So Meat Loaf's most recent album "Bad Attitude" had managed to hit the top 10 albums in the UK charts, while hovering around the 74 mark in the US, according to our friend Wikipedia, and somewhere in the top 50 in Australia, Germany and Sweden. This was not bad, not bad at all, especially in the UK where Meat Loaf's audience was strong as ever, and "Bat out of Hell" was still charting. Meat had more or less managed to secure the comeback he had needed at this point, and the touring for this album continued throughout 1985, before attentions turned to... the next album.

What would *that* be like??? Who would produce this time? The last album had been produced by three people, Meat Loaf himself, Paul Jacobs who had co-written most of the songs, and a guy called Mack who had worked with a little rock group by the name of Queen who managed a couple hits in the 1970s and 80s. They had taken over from a man called Alan Shacklock, who had worked with artists like Mike Oldfield, Bonnie Tyler, Jeff Beck, The Alarm, The Look, Roger Daltrey, JoBoxers and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber on "Starlight Express" (Thanks Wiki again, except for the part about "Starlight".) Jim had come back with two songs he had to offer, both of which had been filmed as videos, but what now?

As it turned out, according to some articles that I collected which were posted in a Meat Loaf group, Meat had gone to see his record company in London when he heard a new version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" recorded by a group named the Far Corporation. I just listened to this version before, and I can see why he was so impressed. It had been produced by a man named Frank Farian who had come to fame writing and producing for the group Boney M, and later working with artists like Eruption, Milli Vanilli and No Mercy ("Where do you go?", cool song I always remember from the 90s.) *This* was the guy Meat wanted to produce his next album.

It seemed everyone felt uneasy about this, according to Meat Loaf in one of these articles that had been posted, thinking they'd last about "two weeks together" because they were both "fiery personalities", but it "seemed that we were perfect for one another", and work on the album began in January 1986. In contrast to the last album which had been made at the Abbey Road Studios, Meat Loaf went to Frankfurt, Germany recording with many of Frank's musicians, as well as members of his own band. The results that emerged was the album "Blind Before I Stop" released in September 1986 on Arista Records and Atlantic in the US.

What was it like? Some key points here to begin with: again, there were no contributions from Steinman. There weren't any songs from Paul or Sarah either, who had contributed most of the singles from "Bad Attitude". And since you're probably wondering, there was no fantasy cover art. It was sort of the "Midnight at the Lost and Found" thing again, only this time the cover that got released was completely changed for America. For the original, it was a picture of Meat from what looked like some kind of crime show or book. In America, it sort or feels like something you would expect to see on a Michael Bolton album back then, like "The Hunger" or "Soul Provider". You can't help but feel that fans and listeners were disappointed, and in fact if we look at what happened chartwise, we can see the numbers have dropped since "Bad Attitude".

All that aside though, what was it like? When I first came across the album in about the mid to late 90s, which is still the only time I've ever seen a copy in a music store anywhere, I enjoyed it. And from that moment, I've enjoyed it ever since, and if anything that enjoyment has only intensified over the years, to the point I now think it's one of Meat Loaf's best "non-Jim Steinman" albums. "Oh what?" I can hear some people saying, but I only have to play this album and songs like "Execution Day" and "One More Kiss" and "Special Girl" captivate me all over again. "Did you just say "Special Girl"?" I did, and oh how I love it. It just does something to me, every time I listen to it. It's something I would want to hear on a dark night, driving around in stormy weather, or walking along somewhere feeling glum and moody, and all of a sudden I start listening to that song. I can't describe what it is... but it is.

Meat Loaf himself, if you've read his autobiography "To Hell and Back", didn't like the way this album turned out in the end. He had wanted to make a rock album, and Frank's work on "Stairway to Heaven" had really appealed to him, but at the same time he knew they would use some of Frank's pop sound as well, but when he played the copy back? There were all these dance beats, and Meat started panicking. "What are you doing? Are you trying to turn me into Gloria Gaynor???"

Lo and behold, a couple years ago, around the time Meat was putting together 2016's "Braver Than We Are", I came across this comment from Meat on one of his social media pages, singing the praises of this album. He had listened to it again, while he was on tour, and just absolutely loved what he'd heard. For sure, that would have been one of the things that helped intensify my interest.

It's not a perfect album, I wouldn't say it's a great album (live versions in the 80s show you what a great version might have been), but it's something else that I love and enjoy listening to. Let's have a look at the songs here:

"Execution Day" --- I have seen a lot of fans over the years who would agree with me on this one. This is the best song on the whole album for me. It was co-written by Dick Wagner who had worked with guys like Alice Cooper, and had written "Fallen Angel" for Meat's "Midnight at the Lost and Found" album.

"Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries" --- a duet with Meat, John Parr and producer Frank Farian. Firstly, I love the way this connects with the end of the previous song, and there are some cool lyrics here: "Young are the victims so easily swayed/By subliminal poison, all continuous placed/Our conscience is a load so heavy to carry/For a rock 'n' roll mercenary". It's a shame that things went badly for Meat and John Parr as it would have been nice to see them work together again at some point (Meat had forgotten to announce John onstage during his song and John never spoke to him again). This also has a pretty cool video too.

"Getting Away with Murder" --- firstly, check out the video. This is also cool. I can see why they released it as a single, but it's one of my least favourites here. It's good, don't get me wrong, but...

"One More Kiss (Night of the Soft Parade)" --- what is it about this song that I enjoy so much??? There's something about the mood and the atmosphere that just sweeps me away. This one was written by Meat himself with guitarist John Golden. Again, the way it connects with the next song: "And ooh you got a cool machine/Baby, let's get it runnin...."

"Blind Before I Stop" --- Oh my, this is such a rocking song!!! And that title!!! It's hysterical. I can't help but wonder what Jim would have made of this. It wouldn't surprise me if he came up with the title. This is another one Meat co-wrote and I can see why this would have been an exciting one to play live.

"Burning Down" --- I can see why others don't care about it, but I really get into it. "Livin' for the right to be/Livin' for the right/Livin' for the right to be free... Burning down! Burning down!" Then suddenly we get all these keyboard theatrics that almost remind me of the score for the TV series "Round the Twist". Well, it was the 80s?

"Standing on the Outside" --- I utterly freaking love this song!!! I can't even explain or describe why. There is just a mood about it, again like "One More Kiss", and it just gets me.

"Masculine" --- I'd love to know the voice of the person at the start, which will probably only ever be revealed on a documentary, but it gets me every time. Was it faked for the album? Or did they actually save it from something? As for the song, it's another one of Meat's characters, and he really gets into it. Super-fan Wario Loaf is a massive lover of this song, and I don't exactly not share his enthusiasm, but this was the only song from this album that he was playing live in the end, which I think is a pity.

"A Man and a Woman" --- I feel like you either like this song or you don't, and I really like it. It's so different to other songs that he's recorded.

"Special Girl" --- well, there isn't much more I can add to this besides what I already said. This was released as a single too.

"Rock 'n' Roll Hero" --- Meat always seems to know how to really close his albums out, and this song is no exception. It would have been interesting to see him play it live!

So there you go, that's all of "Blind Before I Stop", or is it? Well, no, because the "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries" single has a B side called "RPM" (Revolutions Per Minute), but this is where it differs from other B sides like "Take a Number" or "Lost Love". It doesn't actually need to be on the album, but it would make a nice addition as a bonus track. If there ever is an anniversary release, it should not only include this song but the extended mixes of "Getting away with Murder" and "Blind Before I Stop" as well.

After this album, the world would have to wait seven years for Meat to deliver another... but the one he delivered... Well, I'll just have to talk about that next time. That same album, it also seems, was rejected by the record company, and so Meat finished out his contract with his 1987 "Live" album, which unfortunately I will have to review another time, since I don't have a copy at hand right now. 

Thank you for reading,

Ryan.