[CarylB]

Originally Posted by White of High

Answer to CarylB... I think give 10 to all songs is folly.

No more folly in my view than to never rate anything a 10.

I did not say I give all songs 10, I said that for me, if I thoroughly enjoy listening to a song and would not have it changed, it works perfectly and meets all my requirements .. When that is the case I rate 10.

Is Burning Down 10 to you? Or Wolf At Your Door, or Do It! is really 10 and good as For Crying Out Loud with big orchestra?

I have not rated Burning Down, nor Wolf At Your Door. I did like Meat's version of Do It! very much indeed, and yes, would probably rate it a 10. For me it did exactly what it was meant to do. It does not, for me, have to be compared to FCOL with a big orchestra .. indeed, that would be folly to me, because it would immediately mean that many songs, however good or well delivered, might be rated lower in comparison rather than on their merits.

I do not compare songs. You don't see me posting what is my favourite track, or best track. Each has its place, its style, tempo and appeal. I consider them on how they appeal to me, not one against the other. I do not have "a favourite" Meat Loaf song .. except perhaps the one I'm listening to at any given time, because I enjoy hearing Meat sing, and value the effort that has gone into bringing it to me. This is even more the case for HCTB and HIAH, which to me are each a whole piece of work, with each song leading from and to the next, and that whole is greater than the sum of the parts. As was the case with CHSIB for me.

Ask me how I rate a song I will tell you, whether it is in accord with your view or not. Ask me to rate it in comparison to others and I will say that is generally impossible for me.

I think lot of fan give10 because a fan has to give 10 to all songs of her/his idol. Fans control idols and if you don't criticize your idol you dig his tomb...

I have no idea what other fans' motivations are. I don't think you rating a song 2 or 3 digs his tomb, nor would it were I to dismiss any song like that. It is not why I rate songs I am absolutely happy with and would not seek change or "improvement" 10. I don't often listen to BA, BBIS, MATLF or Stoney & Meat Loaf. This is not because they are full of "bad songs", merely that these do not grab me as strongly as others, but that's about personal taste not an unbiased rating on the quality of the work, and I can enjoy listening to all of them. But times change, the world moves on, musically as well as in all other ways, and I have moved with it, my taste has evolved with it. Meat's current style is to me exciting, and of today. It touches me, grabs my attention and excites me as I am today, just as BOOH did back in the 70s and 80s.

That he continues to creatively explore new styles, push against barriers and cross into new territory is to me far more exciting than if he stayed with the same style. To me that's what makes him special, enduring and the performer he is. I was stunned when I first heard HCTB; swept away just as I was when I first heard BOOH. HIAH strikes a chord with me in 2012 that BOOH probably couldn't, although it certainly did in 1978, and I still love to hear him sing those songs. CHSIB did the same when it came out; gone was the youthful angst, these were the songs of late summer, from the perspective of a man who has been around the block of love and back, with a maturity I loved. But that's how it should be imo, and for me it is. Over the years some of his explorations have not been as exciting as when BOOH was unleashed, but CHSIB was, and now HCTB and HIAH are for me .. in spades! He promised a new adventure, and for me he is delivering it 100% .. or 10 out of 10

Caryl