Meat Loaf: Couldn't Have Said It Better (2003)

Preface: I can remember the first time I typed the names "Meat Loaf" and "Jim Steinman" into a search on the internet, around early 1999. This is how I discovered the web site "Dream Pollution" the Rockman Philharmonic Society of the Arts devoted to songwriter and producer Jim Steinman. The opening page of the site gave you two options: "Do you dare to dream his dream? Yes or no," and if you chose yes...a library of reviews and information awaited you, all arranged under the category of each different project Jim had worked on since his musical "The Dream Engine" in 1969, but if you said "no..." well, you didn't seem to have an option really, because there was just one page with a picture of Jim and lyrics from 1981's "Stark Raving Love".

This and other sites like "Neverland Hotel", "The Jim Steinman Temple" and "Dreamtime Pacifica" and more, were how I learned about all of the Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf albums and projects I've never heard of before, such as Pandora's Box "Original Sin", "Tanz der Vampire" and "Whistle down the Wind", and more, including the announcement of a "Batman" musical with songs by Jim.

In 2001, one of these websites---I don't remember which---revealed that Meat Loaf was working on a new studio album, his first since 1995's "Welcome to the Neighborhood", which he was currently calling "Funhouse". There were even about seven song titles listed as well, among them "Do It" and "Unsaid", both of which would eventually be released as B sides, and "Shadowland" which doesn't seem to have been recorded at all. As it turns out, "Shadowland" was a song written by Steve Earle which he'd submitted for the album in 2001. You can see an article about that here: https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=110310&page=1

Anyway, you can imagine how excited I would have been, not to mention heaps of other fans. All these years we'd been wondering whether Meat Loaf would go back and make another album. There was also the question of whether or not Jim Steinman would be involved. The "Dream Pollution" site addressed this in their news and notes section around this time, under a heading called "No Way Jose". Sadly, Jim wouldn't be involved with the new album. It would be another scenario like "Midnight at the Lost and Found" and "Blind Before I Stop".

The next thing I remember hearing was that the album would probably be called "Testify", and the Meat Loaf US Fan Club had even posted a version of the album cover with that name and the "Funhouse" painting which would eventually be used for the final art. Even though there was no Steinman involvement, I was still really excited. It was not every day Meat was announcing a new album.

Eventually "Testify" morphed into "Couldn't Have Said It Better" released on 31 March 2003 on Polydor Records (thank you Second Hand Songs), with the lead off single being a song by James Michael called "Did I Say That?" Australia and the US from memory did not even get this album until September the same year. When it finally landed on shelves over here, I stood there with fascination, firstly to actually see it in person as something real and tangible, and then the cover art itself. There it was, emphasis on the colour red, with the image of Gil Elvgren's "Funhouse" painting and big block letters of different colours screaming out the title of the album. It was an extaordinary moment, and I hadn't even got it home yet to listen to.

I felt a bit like an excited kid at a rock concert, as I put the album inside the CD player and pressed play. Boom! This is the moment we have been waiting for. Meat starts to sing: "And you say nothing at all. Well, I couldn't have said it better myself!" From beginning to end I was more or less captivated and swept away. Let's have a look at the songs.

"Couldn't have said it better"---people have called this the new "I'd do anything for love" of this album, essentially trying to do what "I'd lie for you" was doing on the last album. It also seems to be the one audiences are most familiar with. How do I feel about it? Judging by the song itself, I freaking love it from beginning to end.

"Did I Say That?"---this isn't just an awesome song, but the whole first chapter of this album is rock solid, leaving me with little to say except praise for all of this. Again, I love it.

"Why isn't that enough?"---a bit of a throwback to "I want you, I need you, but there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you," and I for one thought that was pretty cool. Again...

"Love you out loud"---the effects on some of Meat's vocals here was like nothing I'd heard on a Meat Loaf album before, just one of many cool things here. This whole album was a Meat Loaf record and all which that entails but with a more modern perspective. I loved it then and I love it now. I think it's held up too.

"Man of Steel"---the last part of this is so passionate and intense. Again...

"Intermezzo"---an instrumental piece by producer Peter Mokran which gives the listener a breather between the different chapters. It feels like something from a movie, something from "Titanic", which is very fitting for Meat Loaf.

"Testify"---OMG! I freaking love this!!! It should have been a single. It would have been great in a film too. Why couldn't this have happened?

"Tear me Down"---Meat performs a version of a song from the off-Broadway musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" which I'd never seen or heard, so this was a new song to me. This is another solid moment. I love the spoken monologue in the middle. This album has more spoken word than "Bat III".

"You're Right, I Was Wrong"---Diane Warren returns with this one, a nice enough song about a relationship breaking down. I like it, basically, but this was where the album began to lose me.

"Because of You"---this was losing me too, but as a song this is another one that might have been released as a single.

"Do It!"---I remember a lot of people not liking this song, and Meat Loaf himself was trying to explain it to them, but me? It had me from the first moment! OMFG! This is hysterical.

"Forever Young"---Meat has had so many brilliant album finales over the years, and this one is no exception. The instrumental makes it all the more moving. It feels like the last song he ever would have recorded.

"Mercury Blues"---the bonus song, a nice little bluesy rock song to see us out.

A year after this album came out, I was distinctly left with the feeling that Meat had been let down to some extent, and I wasn't the only one. The singles should have fared better than they did. There also could have been more of them, including "Testify". Had the audience moved on? Or did the record company feel that the audience had moved on instead? I don't really understand what happened here, but all I know is that I felt disappointed. Furthermore, why did the US and Australia have to wait so much time after Europe and the UK? If they were trying to protect it in some way, wouldn't it make it hard with everyone wanting to hear it at the same time? It was a strange experience, different than "Bat II" and "Welcome to the Neighborhood" where so much fuss was being made over these releases, and things were never really the same again.

So that's "Couldn't Have Said it Better". Was there anything else? Yes!!! Listen to the non-album B-sides "Decadent Wish" and "Unsaid" if you haven't heard them already. They were released on the singles for "Did I Say That" and "Couldn't Have Said it Better". It was my feeling then, and sometimes today too, that these songs would have made the album even better had they been included, replacing "You're Right, I Was Wrong" and "Because of You".

One more thing, and I want to acknowledge my fellow fan Gage here. We're one of many who've been searching for the rare German LP release from 2003. It was always out of my price range, but hopefully one day, circumstances may just present themselves where we could finally own a copy of this on LP, and you couldn't have said it better yourself...well, maybe hahahaha.

Thank you for reading,

Ryan.

Updated: October 12, 2021. Note: clarified original release date.