The Greatest Single Never to be Released?
 

With all the fantastic tracks that Meat has done over the years I just woundered about peoples veiw on tracks from the albums that people would have liked to have seem as a single but never were.

my picks are:
Out of The Frying pan
Amnesty Is Granted

"For Crying Out Loud" was the only song on BOOH not to be released, and in my opinion it was the best track.

"Life is a Lemon" was another song that should have been released. A real rocker that would have got loads of play on the airwaves.

"Where the rubber meet the road" is one of the most underrated tracks in his catalogue that would have done really well in the charts.

I always wondered if there were plans to release it as a single in the U.S. There's a MCA promo CD of it. :??:

Testify is the main one that springs to mind. It could have done wonders for CHSIB.

Lemon was in fact released as single old chum. B-Side was the live version of GGGTH that's on LATW ;)

As for me:

"Masculine", like it or not, would've been a good seller for BBIS. It was considered without a doubt.

"Frying Pan" sand "Amnesty" as White said

"Testify" as E1 stated.

"In the Land of the Pigs", 'Break It", and "Blind as a Bat". There is no excuse for the singles that were picked.

"California" is a perfect single. Period.

Where do you get these random facts? It was not the live version of GGGTH.

Really? could have sworn I saw on ebay a 45' that had it as a B-Side.

if im wrong, its just the studio version.

It is just the studio version.

Lemon was never released man...it would have been number 1 if it was. ;) I much prefer the remix on the Very Best. Jeff Bova added his magic to the tune, and took it to a new level.

No.1 in the biggest pile of bollocks charts maybe.

I'm going with Testify and also Prize Fight Lover

I know of a U.S. promo single that includes three different versions of Lemon and I believe the single you mentioned is a European promo. It was never available in stores, as far as I know, so it actually was not "released".

Good choice. :-)

By magic you mean pretend instruments? I could happily live without ever hearing Jeff Bova's magic ever again.

Hes on organ on what you see and all revved up on LATW...

I think he's just responsible for the electro drum beat on the intro to All Revved Up, which is unnecessary and possibly added after the fact.

Testify is goodish but it lacks the gothic magic of lemon which is what makes it special. I know a lot of people who don't like Meat Loaf but think Lemon is an awesome song. It depends on your taste I suppose. Isn't it one of Meat's favourite songs too? Top 3?

Testify is completely different to the regular Meat sound, but it could have been a great, feel good, summer song. No matter how bad Meat's voice has been, he can still scream his way through Lemon and make it sound good. That doesn't mean I'm not bored of it and it doesn't mean that the arrangement on Bat 2 is also boring. The three singles released from that album were all the correct choices.

I would go for What About Love, imo an awesome duet with Patti, my fave song from BAT 3. Maybe it could have done well, we will never know.

Gothic magic? It's probably one of the most un-gothic songs Jim has done.

Agree.

You're right about Testify it would have done well in the charts because of it's feel good factor, it's a good song to sing along to aswell. I wonder if they had kept it as the album title would they have released it as the first single?

I agree with two of the choices they released as the Bat 2 singles. AFL and Objects are awesome songs, but RNR dreams wouldn't have been my choice. I would have picked "Lemon" and "Good Girls go to heaven" over it for the simple reason I liked them more. ;-) But I wouldn't have got things my own way eh? :lol:

Probably not given past examples. :roll:

:nope:

Steve6 is the newest regular cast member now.

Blind As A Bat, Left In The Dark, For Crying Out Loud, In The Land Of The Pig, and Because Of You

How would you have made FCOL work as a single without ruining the song?

I'm not sure really but maybe there's a way

was a single...

Got it

Yup

Again a big yup

I'd really like to know how that would've done, love to think it would've set the charts alite

The same way they did AFL!!! :yep:

Was it? :wtf:

wa? AFL is a totally different song. Some people prefer its single edits (I know I do).

FCOL cant be edited like AFL. AFL has obvious points where you could trim for radio. I have made my own edit that I have on my ipod. I cant listen to the 12 minute monster.

FCOL is different. its meant to be epic.

I can only see them cutting FCOL's second verse and that still too long for radio. Even if they leave the second verse and cut out the end its still too long.

No way it could be edited without loosing its vice.

:yep:

If they cut out from "For taking in the rain....." to the end, you would save a lot of time, and still get the songs power and emotion across. Length isn't a problem if the song is outstanding which it is.


Show me when and where it was released, and how well it did? I know they released CHSIB, Did I say that, and Man of Steel, but not that one. Where do you get your information from?

I get my info from various places.

This in particular:

http://mljs.evilnickname.org/meatloa...auseofyou.html

It was a one track deal. i saw a CD of it on ebay a while back.

I never knew that.:shrug: Why didn't they make a video for it?

i have n oidea.

probably the same reason they never made a video for these other singles:

• All revved up
• peel out
• Midnight at the lost & found
• special girl
• lemon
• red light
• kiss is a terrible thing to waste

IICHY may or may not get a video at this point either.

It's a terrible shame that they never made video's for these songs. Imagine how epic a Life Is A Lemon video would be!!

Wario, please stop calling promo CDs "singles". :roll:

Because Of You was a single... At least in Germany.

That's new to me. I've never heard or seen it anywhere. Sources?

Ketchup and mayo ;)

I'd prefer brown.

You don't do any kind of research Wario. We even discussed the fact that "Lemon" was not released as a single. :roll: Not to mention the other ones in your list. Sometimes you post interesting things, but this kind of stuff this isn't one them. :yep:

Oooooo, a lovers disagreement between Steve6 and Wario :shock: this could be interesting :lurk:

Home By Now/No Matter What

No Matter What was released. It is still played occasionally on Radio 2.

Yeah it was released by Boyzone in 1998 and went to number 1, but that's a separate issue. "A kiss is a terrible...." was never released. Is Nothing Scared was the only new song on the very best to be released.

Yeah but there is a big difference in it being played on the radio, and it being released as an official single. :yep:

What's this then?

http://media.mlxxfc.net/700704.jpg

Matter. No! What?.:roll:

Two CD's with "A kiss...." and "No Matter What" written on them, but that doesn't confirm to me they were released as singles. Why would they release "No Matter what" in 1998 when Boyzone did? :roll:

Because it was a ~~~~ up. Jim promised it to Meat and ALW promised it to Boyzone. They both recorded it and both released it.

But to be fair Boyzone were hot property back then especially in the UK. :yep: They would have been my choice too, if I was going to benefit from it.

For me it's 'Testify' 'Blind as a bat' 'Amnesty'

To be fair, admit that you were wrong.

I'm not wrong. It went to "Number 1" with Boyzone. :yep: I personally think Meat's version is a billion times better though. But the decision was made to give it to the hot property at the time which happened to be Boyzone. What could be done about it? Nothing!!

You're so dumb it beggars belief, you can't even keep up with your own shit :wacko: You claimed Meats version of No Matter What wasn't released as a single, when it was, you were wrong.

I have this 2-disc set. They are promo CDs, too. Not for sale.

A Kiss... was released as a regular single with No Matter What as a B-Side.

Because Meat had to fly home for a family emergency

Caryl

What's that got to do with anything? :confused: Are you saying that because of the family emergency the song was rushed out or it was released when it wasn't supposed to be?

the greatest meat loaf single never to have been released would in my opinion have to be... SURFS UP.

"Surf's Up" has been released as in the single in the US.

Are you sure? I've seen a few 7" and 12" promo records issued by RCA, but never a regular single, in spite of the fact that they made a music video.

Nothing on my 7" copy indicates that it's a promo. (And it doesn't quite look like one either: it has a black label instead of a white one.)

I know what the white label versions look like. Do you have a pic of your record?

I do now.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/...f6b86d5a_o.jpg
Surf's Up by evil nickname, on Flickr

Interesting, thanks. That's the first time I see one, they must have hidden it very well. :-) Do you have the original cover? What does it look like?

whys its hole so big?? :lol:

ta for posting... one learns something new every so often

It came in a RCA-company sleeve. (Number 29 or 30 on this page.)


Jukeboxes. Larger holes make the changing easier than those tiny ones.

nice one, ta...

so it was definitely available for jukeboxes, there were promo discs and dj discs not for sale, there was a vid made. but how did it do in the charts??

(its the uk version i'd want released... love the piano and guitars :D)

Strange... RCA usually used picture covers for Meat Loaf singles.

My 7" RCA Surf's Up is also in the RCA paper label, with the jukebox hole. This has Jumping The Gun as a B Side.

I've also got a 12" in a picture sleeve which has the same "skull" cover picture as the UK Piece Of The Action release. This one has Bad Attitude as a B Side and is a white label promo.

This coming from the one who knows the details of Meat's finances and Patti's paycheques?? What's that phrase about people in glass houses...

Getting back on topic...my greatest single never to be released (and I'm not sure if this would count as it didn't actually make the album) would be Decadent Wish. I think it's an amazing track that really was wasted by not making the final album cut, so that's my greatest singe :up:

Yeah I remember those single juke box holes. You used to have to use one of those plastic thingies in the centre on the record player to get them to play properly. I guess you would call them a vinyl single adapter. Quite often these were included with the turntable ( a little section in the corner of the turntable to keep it in when not using it).
Together with messing with tapes those were fun times and you had to put a bit of effort in to listen to music rather than just click some buttons. :D

Although all sorts of limited release singles have been available, I personally don't consider a single to be a single without marketing and probably a video. In that case Surf's Up was a single as there was a video.

Blind as a Bat should have been the first single from Bat 3, second single should have been Alive and third Bad for Good. Those are the biggest single failures I can see. Anything would have been better than IACBTMN as Meat had to do the whole why he recorded it explaining things and the production was rather disappointing in comparison to Celine Dion's so I don't see the point in that one and then we got what most of us here consider the worst song on Bat 3 as the proper second single. Very disappointing. Could have been so much better.

If it had at least been the second single... I wonder why they withdrew it and replaced it by Cry Over Me? :mad:

It was also the most depressing video I've ever seen with Meat in it. I refuse to watch it again.

to make diane warren even more cash???
contractural reasons??

who knows

Meat has said he wanted BAAB as the single, but Marion's representatives and the company wanted to promote her.
im sure he said it here I just need to find the post.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...arioSmiley.gif

Yes, but then they picked it as the second single, there were Blind As A Bat CDs already, Meat sang it at The Royal Variety Performance and all of a sudden they threw it away and released Cry Over Me instead. :??: What's the explanation for that?

Cry Over Me sucks donkey's balls. If they were going to release all 14 songs as singles, then it should have been released as single number #14

You forgot the "In my opinion" part. I like Cry Over Me. So in your opinion it sucks donkey's balls. In my opinion, it's a good song.

I don't know but it was a mistake. BAAB is head and shoulders above it, and probaly the best track on the album. Record companies make mistakes once it comes to single choices. "Alive" is another one that could been released so could "Land of the pigs". "It's all coming...." and "Cry over me" aren't the best tracks on the album, and wouldn't have been my choice as single releases.

Give Warren's previous track record with meat on the successful Lie for You and Dry Eye singles, the record company probably saw money in Diane Warren's song.

Lesson in point: money before quality never works.

regardless if COM is a good song or not its a bad single choice and doesn't represent Bat 3 as a whole like BAAB did...

I didn't forget anything. I never spoke for anyone else, so it's obviously my opinion. What are we at school...WTF? :wtf:

Yes and "class" is in session.

I don't know... The songs she contributed to WTTN were much better than Cry Over Me, in my opinion. I suspect that Not A Dry Eye and especially I'd Lie For You were quite popular not only because of the music but also because of the videos and the fact that it was in the wake of the Bat II success. Cry Over Me is a comparatively weak song and the video wasn't very spectacular, too (to put it politely). I don't understand how anybody could expect it to be as equally successful as the WTTN singles.

I've pretty much not heard a "great" Diane Warren song since the 90s. :shrug:
Love the WTTN songs, "Don't want to miss a thing", "Reach" (with Gloria Estefan), "un-break my heart", "nothing's gonna stop us now" and "how do I live".

I would put her in the same league as Desmond Child when it comes to song writing. Awesome when great but mostly average.

I would have liked to see released as singles Blind as a bat and land of the pigs from bat 3, and left in the dark and original sin from WTTN.

id just like to see a single release?

I agree with Sarge's comment about the Cry Over Me video being weak, it didn't help get the single off it's feet. In comparison to the videos he had during the 90s it looks very poor even the videos on CHSIB, but then again he didn't have Michael Bay as the director. The songs are larger than life, and blend in well with a blockbuster of a music video.

I doubt a different director would have made much difference here. Michael Bay didn't direct I'd Lie for You and that was still a fantastic video. IACBTMN wasn't a bad video either in my opinion, they did well with the song. But A more exciting song, thus more exciting video (BAAB or Alive) would have no doubt made more of an impact.

COM isn't a bad song imo, it's really quite powerful emotionally. But it did have a bad video and wasn't exciting enough.

COM was always going to be a hard one to win people over. Look at what tops the charts these days. Cry over me just wasn't going to fit in and didn't, poor music video or not. Some people in the record business don't keep up with the times at all, and make daft decisions. To be fair to the "TMIL" that wouldn't have looked at all out of place in the charts IMO. Maybe they think Meat can only do well with power ballads, and that's why they nearly always pick the power ballads as singles.

I agree.

without a doubt probably one of the biggest reasons for meats hatred of bat 3 is the fact he didnt pick the singles.

Im sure BAAB and Break It wouldve been released if he had

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...arioSmiley.gif

I don't think Meat has ever been aloud make the decision on what singles get released, and it's the same with nearly every artist out there. Unless you own a record company you have no final way. Yes I'm sure he would have given his opinion on what he wanted. But he's not the one in charge.

BAAB maybe, Break It :nope:

well he seems to really love break it, just thought thats what hed pick

IMO also, it's a good song, I really like it. And I really like the video.

He might love it but that doesn't mean it'd be a good representation of the album. Pig, STN, and especially Future are better Steinman songs that should've been released as singles. Monster, BAAB and WAL are the best non-Steinman tracks that should've been released as single in my opinion.

Rock 'n' Roll Hero

Future and STN are similar enough to COM they just won't do well in the charts. You have to blend in with the stuff that's selling and topping the charts in order to have a successful single. These songs wouldn't blend in well IMO. Pigs would because it's a modern sounding track like BAAB, and monster.