Meat Loaf - Dead Ringer (35th anniversary)

Today (September 4th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Dead Ringer, the second studio album by singer Meat Loaf. This 1981 record spent eleven weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 45.

For more from this album, click here.

For more from Meat Loaf, click here.

Jim Steinman - Bad For Good (35th anniversary)

This month marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Bad For Good, the 1981 album by singer-songwriter Jim Steinman. The record spent seventeen weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 63.

For my full review, click here.

For more from Jim Steinman, click here.

Billy Squier - Signs of Life

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Signs of Life, the fourth studio album from Billy Squier. It was co-produced by Squier and Jim Steinman. The album spent twenty-nine weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 11.

Streets of Fire (soundtrack) (30th anniversary)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

In June of 1984, a film hit the theatres that had dreams of being a big blockbuster but failed to gross enough to cover its original budget. The soundtrack of Streets of Fire, however, sported a big line up - from the Blasters to the Fixx, Jim Steinman to Dan Hartman, and so many. It spent twenty-one weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 32.

Click here for the full album review.

Bonnie Tyler - Faster Than the Speed of Night

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the UK release of Faster Than the Speed of Night, the fifth studio album from Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler (the US release would follow in September of 1983). This Platinum seller was produced by Jim Steinman and was nominated for two American Music Awards (Favorite Rock/Pop Female Artist and Favorite Rock/Pop Single) and two Grammy Awards (Best Pop Vocal Performance Female and Best Rock Vocal Performance Female).

Jim Steinman - Bad For Good

Happy birthday today, November 1st, to composer Jim Steinman.

After the successful collaboration on Meat Loaf’s debut album Bat Out of Hell (click here for that review), Steinman was ready to work on a follow up album. Unfortunately, Meat Loaf suffered some problems with his voice that made recording not an option.

Meat Loaf - Dead Ringer

After much success with the 1977 debut Bat Out of Hell (for that review click here), Jim Steinman was ready to start work on the next album for Meat Loaf. However, things didn’t quite pan out the way Steinman had hoped; the combination of touring, drugs and exhaustion caused Meat Loaf to lose his voice. It would be a few more years before the time was right for them to come back together on 1981’s Dead Ringer.

As a sophomore effort, there was a lot of expectation for the album. Compared to Meat Loaf’s debut, though, some might consider this one a bit of a disappointment. It did, however, get certified Platinum in the UK (where it went to number 1 on the charts) and Gold in Canada. In the US, the album reached number 45 on the Billboard Album chart.

Streets of Fire (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

In June of 1984, a film hit the theatres that had dreams of being a big blockbuster but failed to gross enough to cover its original budget. Not even stars Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Willem Dafoe, Rick Moranis, Deborah Van Valkenburgh and a very young Bill Paxton could save Streets of Fire for cinema disaster.

However, thanks to an interesting musical score and a pretty decent soundtrack album, the film did find itself a cult following among fans. Today we look at that soundtrack album.

Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

Welcome back for another edition of " Seventies Saturday".

Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina. Famous singer/songwriter combos of the 1970's.

Add to that list Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. This combination was a marriage made in musical heaven (or would that be Hell?). The former delivers theatric rock performances with an amazing voice and the ability to master complex lyrics precisely. The later is a musical savant with an equal flare for dramatic and a vision of grand compositions. Together, they created the amazing debut album Bat Out of Hell. Released in the Fall of 1977, the album is ranked number 343 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All-Time and also is on the list of "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".