CHSIB Review Quotes

Michael Marxen · 30 Mar 2003, 15:47

from independent (not industry or shop-based) German magazines:

"His voice seems to become younger and younger, and he picks songs with golden hands." "The title track, that blows you away... has all trademarks of Meat Loaf, without sounding like a cheap self-imitation." "Producer Peter Mokran managed to update the sound of the seventies without selling its soul." (from Rockhard, rating 9/10)

"Bombastic, theatrical, overblown...the last survivor of his genre presents rock full of curlicue and ornaments with the power of a Wagnerian opera.""...found perfect songwriters even without Jim Steinman. And for some tearjerking melodies and his voice it is no shame to love him" "Bottom line: Bombastrock can be that much fun!." (Prinz, 3/5)

"...his fans will kiss him." (Audio, 3/5)

"Larger-than-life emotions, dramaticly performed again ." "...the result is the first acceptable record in 26 years...the theatre choirs are well done for the first time since 1977, the erupting grand piano and the mercilessly lavish changes of pace rise the emotions...Meat Loaf himself...delivers his energy and his acting talent closer to the point , and finally the songs are capable to breath life into all the common standards." (Rolling Stone, 2,5/5)

"11 tracks without highlights." "...definately nothing special" (Metal Heart, 6,5/10)

Reading this reviews you get the impression that most of the critics really love the album but feel it would be uncool to give a Meaty record a higher rating

**The Flying Mouse** · 30 Mar 2003, 16:11

What the hell is the guy from Rolling Stone on about?

So according to him,CHSIB is the best Meat Loaf album since Bat Out Of Hell.OK,i'm not going to argue with that,I haven't heard it yet so I can't comment.But if that's the case why give it a lowly 2.5/5?
Has this guy never heard of Dead Ringer,Bat II,Bad Attitude?They are all amazing albums,and if the best since Bat is only worth 2.5/5 what the hell are they worth 1/5?

I think the real reviewer was sick or on holiday and they must have got the cleaner to write instead.
Either way he's got a hell of a lot to learn about rock & roll.

Cloggy · 30 Mar 2003, 17:47

Point with meatloaf (and especially the BooH album) is you either love it or you hate it. He obviously is one of the latter :)

Bart · 30 Mar 2003, 21:03

you love it or you hate it, that's the way it goes with almost everything.

I never read some journalist's reviews, cause they don't no sh** about any artist.

Bart · 30 Mar 2003, 21:05

i was not finished yet. More important are the reviews from other Meat Loaf fans who have already heard the album. That's more value to me, cause they know sh** about Meat Loaf.

dottie · 30 Mar 2003, 21:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart

i was not finished yet. More important are the reviews from other Meat Loaf fans who have already heard the album. That's more value to me, cause they know sh** about Meat Loaf.

Right On Bart!

Bart · 30 Mar 2003, 21:52

She is back from Tenerife! I didn't get a card though....

dottie · 30 Mar 2003, 22:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart

She is back from Tenerife! I didn't get a card though....

Oh my love - I forgot - You probably wouldn't haven't received it until next year anyway

the postal system out there sucks

Michael Marxen · 30 Mar 2003, 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart

i was not finished yet. More important are the reviews from other Meat Loaf fans who have already heard the album. That's more value to me, cause they know sh** about Meat Loaf.

Agreed.
That is why I added a long track by track "review" at the "It happened - Ready To Rock With Meat Loaf" subject. As it is done by the regular release it should include some bits of new info from the booklet.

Vickip · 31 Mar 2003, 03:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by dottiebat186

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart

i was not finished yet. More important are the reviews from other Meat Loaf fans who have already heard the album. That's more value to me, cause they know sh** about Meat Loaf.

Right On Bart!

My thoughts exactly

Vicki

Dick · 01 Apr 2003, 00:12

Some stupid bitch in the Times News paper (friday28th) gave Meat's new album 1*/5*. How shite is that.

ChrisBelfast · 01 Apr 2003, 00:30

this is the review Dick is referring to:

If, however, it’s a collection of long-winded set-pieces, with a picture of a cutie showing off her knickers on the front, then that would be the new Meat Loaf album you’re after. Couldn’t Have Said It Better (Mercury) rolls back the years to the days when the Texan titan tried to turn rock’n’roll into a Wagnerian soap opera and very nearly succeeded.

With its pompous delivery and nonsensical lyric — “And you said nothing at all/ Well I couldn’t have said it better myself” — the title track is Bat out of Hell, Part 112, while elsewhere even Bob Dylan’s timeless elegy Forever Young is turned into an overwrought, string-laden odyssey. After a full hour of this bluster, a bumbling version of David Lindley’s Mercury Blues is tacked on as a “hidden” afterthought and for anyone still aboard after that lot, the bonus track is a live recording of Bat out of Hell.

As ever with Meat Loaf, size remains the issue at stake. On the autobiographical Tear Me Down, a voiceover modestly reminds us that: “He grew into a big man with a big voice. And he sings big songs and has big hits.”

Still correct in all but the last of those details, I’m afraid.

ChrisBelfast · 01 Apr 2003, 00:37

what an absolute rubbish review..the reviewer knows nothing! nothing at all! these people are meant to be professional when all they do is appear stupid. They know nothing about meat or the record! I suppose you expect this but with all of meats albums - either u love em or hate em. Unfortunately this reviewer is a POP MUSIC FAN. He gives all the pop Cd's full marks.....very very biased...shouldn't be in a job!

Dick · 01 Apr 2003, 00:54

Although i try to agree with everyones opinions, i dont agree with this critics because it is so clear that they are biased. Just look at the wording and the way they try to make a joke by saying Bat 112.

In my opinion this review is a huge pile of ~~~~in shite!!!!!

ChrisBelfast · 01 Apr 2003, 01:00

yeah well said dick

Ben · 01 Apr 2003, 01:39

NAH!! I cant be done with that! i still aint heard the full album yet but the review from the times is utter shit! where has this person been for the last 25 years?? meat has made timeless albums with timeless songs!! and im sure that the best is still to come! Bat out of Hell 112? wot a stupid PRAT!! that aint even the slightest bit funny!!

**The Flying Mouse** · 01 Apr 2003, 06:12

She's probibilly still traumertised by the break up on the Spice Girls

.
From her review,she is totally unsuited to her job.She is completly without knowlege,taste,wisdom and wit.She really needs to be fired.Having the president of the West Life fan club as your musical reviewer is a bad idea.
There will always be reviwers that think it's cool to put Meat down.They think it's trendy

,But Meat has always proved them wrong,and he'll do it again now.
In years to come,people will still be rocking to the best entertainer in the world,while she will probibilly be back working at McDonalds by then

Take no prisoners Meat

.

dottie · 01 Apr 2003, 10:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by meatloafisgod

yeah well said dick

She is a big D..K I don't believe the pomposity of these so called reviewers - there just jealous - because Meat has more talent in his little finger than they will have during the whole of their life time no matterwhatthey accomplish

ChoccyBat · 01 Apr 2003, 13:25

The bit that is most stupid is where she says "(Meat) very nearly succeeded" with Bat. Exactly how long has it stayed in the charts for now??!!!! Personally I'd have thought that still selling out major venues and having huge world tours 25 years after starting indicates a lot of success!! I certainly can't see Westlife selling out world tours in 2028!!!

Bart · 01 Apr 2003, 13:37

Well, i have said that already. Those journalists don't know sh..., so don't care. If it is gonna be a hit, then it is a hit, no matter what they write.

dottie · 02 Apr 2003, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart

Well, i have said that already. Those journalists don't know sh..., so don't care. If it is gonna be a hit, then it is a hit, no matter what they write.

RIGHT ON BROTHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cloggy · 02 Apr 2003, 19:57

A couple of more reviews.......

Quote:

Meat Loaf - Couldn't Have Said It Better (Myself)
As even his harshest critics will admit, Meat Loaf is a genuine rock'n'roll superstar. And as even his greatest admirers must concede, he isn't exactly good at coming up with new ideas. For the last couple of decades he's done little more than churn out variations of his greatest hit Bat Out Of Hell - and the fact that it gets yet another airing here as a bonus track is a good warning of what's to come. Just about every one of these twelve (very lengthy) songs follows the same formula - Meat Loaf's been dumped, he's not terribly happy and he's going to let the rest of the world know all about it. The result is a collection of one-paced, old-fashioned rock ballads that even the old ham's fans will find it difficult to get too worked up about. True, his great bellow of a voice is in pretty good shape and at least he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. But it's still hard to escape the feeling that this is Meat Loaf on autopilot - and as such, not an album that anyone really needs in their collection.
Reviewed by Andrew Lynch. Published on the 09/04/2003

Quote:

Album: Meat Loaf
Couldn't Have Said It Better, Mercury
By Andy Gill
28 March 2003

The title is a moot point: not only could Meat Loaf have said it better before; he has said it better before, and a few too many times, if truth be told. Not so much a one-trick pony, more a brewer's drayhorse whose round has become over-familiar through endless repetition, Meat Loaf seems stuck in the 1970s, condemned for ever to churn out minor variations on his Big Hit. It doesn't matter how much he tries to modernise things by adding a trip-hop beat half-way through the title track (a fairly sad-dad notion of "modern", to begin with) when the song has already played the Springsteen card with Aaron Zigman's piano detailing, which irresistibly recalls The E Street Band's Roy Bittan. It's still all just footnotes to "Thunder Road", but with the passion curdled into sub-operatic bombast. And while Springsteen, contrary to Paddy McAloon's assertion, has actually matured beyond the world of merely "cars and girls", there's something a little creepy about the way Meat Loaf's material still relies on an essentially adolescent representation of sexual relations. As always, Loaf is the spurned victim, his wounded heart given voice in that characteristic style, akin to the lachrymose bellowing of an emasculated ox. "I used to be a man of steel," he laments, "Now every bit of faith is gone." What's not gone, though, is "Bat out of Hell", an 11-minute live version of which is thrown in as a bonus track. It's as if his career has short-circuited back to its beginning.

ChoccyBat · 02 Apr 2003, 20:04

The word 'pathetic' springs to mind. How can they say "his fans will find it hard to get worked up over CHSIB"???? Have they not read these forums!!!!!!!! Ah well, the omens are good - critics are panning the new ML album - just as they did with Bat and Bat II - and look what happened there!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bart · 02 Apr 2003, 21:02

Thanx for the reviews. Funny to read and indeed i was right. They don't know sh..t. Well, Meat didn't change his music but they still write the same stuff they already have written for 25 years. it is just funny.

Ben · 02 Apr 2003, 23:21

well it seems that history is repeating itself self in the way of the critics reviews. so it looks like were gona have a number 1 single and album this summer!! what do u think??

30 Mar 2003, 15:47	#1
Michael Marxen Super Loafer Join Date: 04.02.2003 Location: Cologne, Germany Posts: 356	CHSIB Review Quotes from independent (not industry or shop-based) German magazines: "His voice seems to become younger and younger, and he picks songs with golden hands." "The title track, that blows you away... has all trademarks of Meat Loaf, without sounding like a cheap self-imitation." "Producer Peter Mokran managed to update the sound of the seventies without selling its soul." (from Rockhard, rating 9/10) "Bombastic, theatrical, overblown...the last survivor of his genre presents rock full of curlicue and ornaments with the power of a Wagnerian opera.""...found perfect songwriters even without Jim Steinman. And for some tearjerking melodies and his voice it is no shame to love him" "Bottom line: Bombastrock can be that much fun!." (Prinz, 3/5) "...his fans will kiss him." (Audio, 3/5) "Larger-than-life emotions, dramaticly performed again ." "...the result is the first acceptable record in 26 years...the theatre choirs are well done for the first time since 1977, the erupting grand piano and the mercilessly lavish changes of pace rise the emotions...Meat Loaf himself...delivers his energy and his acting talent closer to the point , and finally the songs are capable to breath life into all the common standards." (Rolling Stone, 2,5/5) "11 tracks without highlights." "...definately nothing special" (Metal Heart, 6,5/10) Reading this reviews you get the impression that most of the critics really love the album but feel it would be uncool to give a Meaty record a higher rating

30 Mar 2003, 16:11	#2
The Flying Mouse Armed ba$tard and Jo's other half. Join Date: 06.08.2002 Location: In the middle of nowhere near the end of the line. Posts: 16,104	What the hell is the guy from Rolling Stone on about? So according to him,CHSIB is the best Meat Loaf album since Bat Out Of Hell.OK,i'm not going to argue with that,I haven't heard it yet so I can't comment.But if that's the case why give it a lowly 2.5/5? Has this guy never heard of Dead Ringer,Bat II,Bad Attitude?They are all amazing albums,and if the best since Bat is only worth 2.5/5 what the hell are they worth 1/5? I think the real reviewer was sick or on holiday and they must have got the cleaner to write instead. Either way he's got a hell of a lot to learn about rock & roll.

30 Mar 2003, 17:47	#3
Cloggy Super Loafer Join Date: 04.02.2003 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 298	Point with meatloaf (and especially the BooH album) is you either love it or you hate it. He obviously is one of the latter :)

30 Mar 2003, 21:03	#4
Bart Bald Mega Loafer Join Date: 06.03.2003 Location: Holland, but I prefer Greece Posts: 2,243	you love it or you hate it, that's the way it goes with almost everything. I never read some journalist's reviews, cause they don't no sh** about any artist.

30 Mar 2003, 21:05	#5
Bart Bald Mega Loafer Join Date: 06.03.2003 Location: Holland, but I prefer Greece Posts: 2,243	i was not finished yet. More important are the reviews from other Meat Loaf fans who have already heard the album. That's more value to me, cause they know sh** about Meat Loaf.

30 Mar 2003, 21:52	#7
Bart Bald Mega Loafer Join Date: 06.03.2003 Location: Holland, but I prefer Greece Posts: 2,243	She is back from Tenerife! I didn't get a card though....

01 Apr 2003, 00:12	#11
Dick Super Loafer Join Date: 14.04.2002 Location: Donaghadee, Northern Ireland Posts: 385	Some stupid bitch in the Times News paper (friday28th) gave Meat's new album 1/5. How shite is that.

01 Apr 2003, 00:30	#12
ChrisBelfast Mega Loafer Join Date: 18.02.2003 Location: Posts: 1,061	this is the review Dick is referring to: If, however, it’s a collection of long-winded set-pieces, with a picture of a cutie showing off her knickers on the front, then that would be the new Meat Loaf album you’re after. Couldn’t Have Said It Better (Mercury) rolls back the years to the days when the Texan titan tried to turn rock’n’roll into a Wagnerian soap opera and very nearly succeeded. With its pompous delivery and nonsensical lyric — “And you said nothing at all/ Well I couldn’t have said it better myself” — the title track is Bat out of Hell, Part 112, while elsewhere even Bob Dylan’s timeless elegy Forever Young is turned into an overwrought, string-laden odyssey. After a full hour of this bluster, a bumbling version of David Lindley’s Mercury Blues is tacked on as a “hidden” afterthought and for anyone still aboard after that lot, the bonus track is a live recording of Bat out of Hell. As ever with Meat Loaf, size remains the issue at stake. On the autobiographical Tear Me Down, a voiceover modestly reminds us that: “He grew into a big man with a big voice. And he sings big songs and has big hits.” Still correct in all but the last of those details, I’m afraid.

01 Apr 2003, 00:37	#13
ChrisBelfast Mega Loafer Join Date: 18.02.2003 Location: Posts: 1,061	what an absolute rubbish review..the reviewer knows nothing! nothing at all! these people are meant to be professional when all they do is appear stupid. They know nothing about meat or the record! I suppose you expect this but with all of meats albums - either u love em or hate em. Unfortunately this reviewer is a POP MUSIC FAN. He gives all the pop Cd's full marks.....very very biased...shouldn't be in a job!

01 Apr 2003, 00:54	#14
Dick Super Loafer Join Date: 14.04.2002 Location: Donaghadee, Northern Ireland Posts: 385	Although i try to agree with everyones opinions, i dont agree with this critics because it is so clear that they are biased. Just look at the wording and the way they try to make a joke by saying Bat 112. In my opinion this review is a huge pile of ~~~~in shite!!!!!

01 Apr 2003, 01:00	#15
ChrisBelfast Mega Loafer Join Date: 18.02.2003 Location: Posts: 1,061	yeah well said dick

01 Apr 2003, 01:39	#16
Ben Mega Loafer Join Date: 19.03.2003 Location: Kent, England Posts: 4,163	NAH!! I cant be done with that! i still aint heard the full album yet but the review from the times is utter shit! where has this person been for the last 25 years?? meat has made timeless albums with timeless songs!! and im sure that the best is still to come! Bat out of Hell 112? wot a stupid PRAT!! that aint even the slightest bit funny!!

01 Apr 2003, 06:12	#17
The Flying Mouse Armed ba$tard and Jo's other half. Join Date: 06.08.2002 Location: In the middle of nowhere near the end of the line. Posts: 16,104	She's probibilly still traumertised by the break up on the Spice Girls . From her review,she is totally unsuited to her job.She is completly without knowlege,taste,wisdom and wit.She really needs to be fired.Having the president of the West Life fan club as your musical reviewer is a bad idea. There will always be reviwers that think it's cool to put Meat down.They think it's trendy ,But Meat has always proved them wrong,and he'll do it again now. In years to come,people will still be rocking to the best entertainer in the world,while she will probibilly be back working at McDonalds by then Take no prisoners Meat .

01 Apr 2003, 13:25	#19
ChoccyBat Yorkie Join Date: 27.07.2002 Location: York Posts: 415	The bit that is most stupid is where she says "(Meat) very nearly succeeded" with Bat. Exactly how long has it stayed in the charts for now??!!!! Personally I'd have thought that still selling out major venues and having huge world tours 25 years after starting indicates a lot of success!! I certainly can't see Westlife selling out world tours in 2028!!!

01 Apr 2003, 13:37	#20
Bart Bald Mega Loafer Join Date: 06.03.2003 Location: Holland, but I prefer Greece Posts: 2,243	Well, i have said that already. Those journalists don't know sh..., so don't care. If it is gonna be a hit, then it is a hit, no matter what they write.

02 Apr 2003, 20:04	#23
ChoccyBat Yorkie Join Date: 27.07.2002 Location: York Posts: 415	The word 'pathetic' springs to mind. How can they say "his fans will find it hard to get worked up over CHSIB"???? Have they not read these forums!!!!!!!! Ah well, the omens are good - critics are panning the new ML album - just as they did with Bat and Bat II - and look what happened there!!!!!!!!!!!!

02 Apr 2003, 21:02	#24
Bart Bald Mega Loafer Join Date: 06.03.2003 Location: Holland, but I prefer Greece Posts: 2,243	Thanx for the reviews. Funny to read and indeed i was right. They don't know sh..t. Well, Meat didn't change his music but they still write the same stuff they already have written for 25 years. it is just funny.

02 Apr 2003, 23:21	#25
Ben Mega Loafer Join Date: 19.03.2003 Location: Kent, England Posts: 4,163	well it seems that history is repeating itself self in the way of the critics reviews. so it looks like were gona have a number 1 single and album this summer!! what do u think??