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Meat Loaf & Jim Steinman - Overview

Category: Music

Was at CBS during the genesis of Meat Loaf. They were having a hard time getting Bat of Hell into production. I will forever remember the show they put on for the CBS brass in New Orleans. That performance sealed the deal forever for Meat Loaf and JS. In fact Bat out of Hell keeps selling some 25 years after it was first released. Love him or hate him,he really doesn't care. Michael is now an icon and legendary performer be it music or movies. One thing for sure there is no mistaking his signature and has survived all the fads,and continues as a major force in the record business. The music industry needs to stop this cookie cutter boy band crap and I for one have had enough of the Brittany Spears genre. In todays market if Meat Loaf,Santana and Boston,etc., were just starting,they would never see the light of day. There is no mistaking the impact that ML and JS has had on Rock n Roll. Let's hope we will have new Rock icons coming our way. Ok - Audiogon members your turn - lets have your thoughts. Record companies will listen, after all it decides their bottom line.
ferrari

Showing 2 responses by ben_campbell

ben_campbell
1,169 posts
 
Ferrari,
I hear what you are saying but......you need to put everything in context.
Bat Out Of Hell was imho a classic album,over the top sure but it contained a great set of songs and don't forget the classic production of Todd Rundgren.
It was/is a pretty derivative piece of work however,classicly done maybe but it did recieve a lot of derision because of it.
Steinman did go on to write the odd other great song (Bad For Good was THE lost Meat Loaf album)but Meat Loaf imho has been living off the back of one classic album therefore not an artist I would hold up as a shining light against the ills of the current music business.
99Golf on the other hand has just made a very crass generalisation.
Whatever the state of the current music business there are some great young talent artists out there,you just need to search for them or be informed.
The Strokes,The White Stripes,Coldplay just for starters.
Cher? Good grief is that truly so far away from Britney Spears?
ben_campbell
1,169 posts
 
Ferrari-I'm sure there is a lot of truth in what you say however I'm sure nostalgia plays a big part and so does the lack of desire for a lot of older music fans to search out new music.
These two play as big a part as anything else in the big selling tours however clearly some newer bands such as Pearl Jam and Radiohead would probably outsell a lot of the nostalgia acts-who incidently a lot of whom are great-I saw BOC this year-:-)
I disagree though I believe talent will see out-yeah sure the current trend is for a different type of artist and probably the current music business is more distant but those artists you mention (with the exception of CS)took a long time to establish any kind of record sales.
There are bands/artists getting signed up who have major talent but it is just the situation at present that things are more fragmented and in their seperate compartments.
Contemporary Rock n'Roll perhaps no longer exists just as that,the Nu Metal bands are huge perhaps replacing the Aerosmiths of the day and the trend is towards a more indie/experimental type sound in newer "rock" bands and the contemporary songwriter is still alive as David Gray and David Matthews massive success proves.
I agree it is a lot harder but the world has changed-I believe there is room for both-you can go see somebody you loved from way back and go to some club and see a smaller band.
There is still an awful lot of music out there and I believe talent will still make it.
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