I can't believe it's been seven years of Retro Spins here at The Toy Box. I've talked about a ton of 80's albums during the past six years, and while I will continue to do so for quite some time longer, I think it's also time to advance the calendar a bit. This year, let's also dive into the 90's. You'll still find a post on an 80's album every Tuesday, but I'm going to also try to do one based on a 90's album every Friday. Because I have a somewhat low tolerance for that particular era, let's see how far we get before I just can't take it anymore.
If you couldn't tell from my prior sentence, admittedly, I'm not a big fan, but I have a fair share of albums from artists who were still on my radar during those first few years of the new decade. As such, you probably won't see much here beyond 1996 / 1997. That was about when I finally threw my hands up with music and said, "I'm done." You also won't find a lot of obscure stuff within these posts because I really didn't "experiment" much with 90's music. In fact, you probably won't find much beyond what was frequently on the radio, or from bands who transitioned, successfully or otherwise, to the 90's.
So let's dive in, and see where this goes.
Meat Loaf hadn't released an album since his 1986 Blind Before I Stop. If I'm being honest, he'd even longer since been irrelevant to mainstream music. To date, his highlight had been his 1977 debut Bat Out Of Hell, and from there, sales of his albums continued to drop rapidly.
The lead single, I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) not only represented everything grunge wasn't, but it pushed all of those musicians out of the way as the track shot straight to the number one spot on the charts in twenty-eight countries, and stayed there in the USA for five consecutive weeks.
It would be a disrespect to not mention Jim Steinman, the writer and producer of all the tracks on the album. Steinman has long since been a collaborator with Meat Loaf, providing the material for his first album, Bat Out Of Hell. However, as they continued to work together in the 80's, Steinman and Meat Loaf distanced more and more, eventually suing each other over musical squabbles. While Steinman stayed very active in the world of music, Bat Out Of Hell II, still feels like as much of a comeback for him as Meat Loaf.
The album launches off the pad with tracks, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That), Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back and Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through. Unfortunately, it then slams on the brakes for a bit. Tracks become slower paced, very ballad like and honestly fell into background noise for me.
Things do eventually pick back up, but not before a very odd spoken track entitled, Wasted Youth. When I heard this, I truly felt like the entire album had been derailed. Then the rockin' track, Everything Louder Than Everything Else kicked in, and I was back into it.
The average running time of tracks is seven to ten minutes, which gives you a lot of bang for your buck. I suppose that value is only there if you're enjoying the album though. Overall, I did. It definitely got me interested in hearing a bit more of Meat Loaf's later stuff, which isn't something I would normally say. Typically, I would go backwards into the 70's and 80's.
Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell is a well earned comeback for Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. It stands out from the typical sound of the 90's, and it's got a lot of good tracks to offer. I definitely recommend this one to everyone.
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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.
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