Meat Loaf: Blind Before I Stop (Japanese Pressing) CD Track Listing

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Meat Loaf Blind Before I Stop (Japanese Pressing) (1986)
Blind Before I Stop (Japanese Pressing)\n\nOriginally Released January 1986\nCD Edition Released January 1986\nReissued December 7, 1993\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Rather than aping the grandiose rock & roll style pioneered by Jim Steinman and Todd Rundgren on Meat Loaf's landmark Bat out of Hell album, German producer Frank Farian opts for a standard-issue heavy metal approach on Blind Before I Stop, emphasizing a heart-stoppingly loud rhythm section (sometimes playing at Eurodisco tempo), icy keyboards in the mid-range, and endlessly diddling high-pitched guitar solos on a series of forgettable tunes. Somewhere in the back of the mix, Meat Loaf exercises his adenoids, but all of his usual distinctiveness is lost in the sludge. -- William Ruhlmann\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nI'll go Blind before I stop enjoying this..., April 12, 2004\nReviewer: Braeden P. Jeffery (Melbourne, VIC Aus)\nI know a lot of people hate this album, but I can't seem to bring myself to do the same. I got it relatively recently (compared to much of my Meat Loaf collection) and there's certainly something about it that's infectious and enjoyable.\nThough it was ill recieved in the US (and, surprisingly, the UK) this is still one of Meat's finer moments and includes some real classics. A surprising amount of singles were lifted, beginning with the pre-release "Rock and Roll Mercenaries". This stunning duet with British rocker John Parr is the standout of the album, and in fact settles itself as one of the best tracks of Meat's career.\n\nOther top tracks include "Execution Day", which completely blew me away with it's dark undertones and incredible guitar riffs; "One More Kiss", a Meat Loaf/John Golden collaboration with some surprisingly beautiful lyrics, considering the song content; "Standing On The Outside", which surprised me somewhat by being a perfect mix of soft-rock music and lyrics; and of course, "Blind Before I Stop" itself, which is a fast-paced rocker.\n\nI think that "Blind" is hugely underrated because of a few bad songs. Judging this LP on the basis of songs like "Burning Down", "Special Girl" and (in my opinion) "Rock n' Roll Hero" is being to harsh. Though the latter half of the album suffers, the majority is top class, and no Meat Loaf collection should be without it.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nStop Before I'm Deaf!, October 29, 2003\nReviewer: Kevin Stafford (Warwick, RI)\nI have every Meatloaf CD including this sad effort. There are NO stand out tracks on this CD and I LOVE Meatloaf. It's seems that Marvin tried to sound too much like the era music and that's not what he is loved for. Proof positive on the less thatn sltellar writing of this album is the exclusion of any of these songs on his "Very Best Of.." CD. Buy any other Meatloaf Cd, just not this one! His latest to date "Couldn't Have Said It Better" is a masterpeice and without the help of Jim writing the songs! I am here to review this CD though. His only album on Atlantic Records and I wonder why they never let him do another? Hmm..\n\nMeatloaf is one of the most underrated Rock and Roll gems but this album is a poor example of that. Try "Bad Attitude" or "Dead Ringer" if your looking for the more unknown Meatloaf. Even "Midnight at the Lost And Found" Is better. His best are "Bat Of Ouf Hell", "Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell", "Welcome To The Neighborhood" and his latest I already mentioned.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThe forgotten Meat album that SHOULD'VE been a hit, March 24, 2003\nReviewer: Justin Dillihay "darkpowrjd" (Ohio)\nMeat has had his share of ups and down, from one of the best selling albums EVER, Bat Out Of Hell, to his "worst" album which marks the most underrated Meat effort EVER, Midnight At The Lost And Found (why no one like it, I'll never know). Then, after Meat knew about the UK loving him to death, he decided to cater more to them and released Bad Attitude, which was received VERY well there and exceptionally well here. Meat then needed a follow up to Bad Attitude. Enter Blind Before I Stop.\nBlind continues where Bad Attitude leaves off, and this is probably what Attitude would've had if it was allowed to have 11 more tracks to it, as it continues with the 80's-style euro-pop sound. It didn't do well here, but one has to wonder why it didn't once listening to it, as it was the most forgotten Meat successes. Although this album didn't get received well here, the UK showed us that they have better tastes in music than us.\n\nThe album starts up with the excellent Execution Day, and with the rock ballad that Meat gives here, it's hard to not listen to it. Excellent lyrics and a great guitar riff does it justice.\n\nRock N' Roll Mercenaries is EASILY the best track on this CD, and one of the better Meat duets that he as done. British rocker John Parr helps Meat out on this one, and he sounds as good as ever here. There are lyrics that tell a lot about the music industry as of late, and they tell their case perfectly, and the quote "Money is power, and power is fame," is one of the best I've heard in a long time. If for nothing else, get this CD just for this track. \n\nAs well as for the highlight track, Getting Away With Murder. This is the only single that came off of Blind, and it's a wonder why neither Murder nor Mercenaries made it onto the Very Best Of CD. Murder tells of a guy who's juggling two lovers, trying to love them both. It's also one of Meat's better vocal attempts, and the lyrics tell the story very well.\n\nOne More Kiss is taking a bit from Paradise By The Dashboard Light, being cut into three separate parts. It goes into a soft rock ballad, to a hard rock one, then back again. It's a unique sound, and good display of creativity.\n\nBlind Before I Stop is a very good hard rock song that got overlooked. Meat's basically saying how much he wants to dance (that would be interesting to see. Meat dancing). It's cool, and easy to get down to.\n\nBurning Down is a bad song, but you may not care, since it's one of those bad songs that you sing along with anyway, because it still has a pretty good ring to it, and the riffs are perfect.\n\nStanding On The Outside is an EXCELLENT soft rock song, and one of my favorites. Meat is at his best when he goes soft, and this is a highlight of that respect. I don't know why this one wasn't a hit, because it needed to be. It's one of Meat's better songs of his career.\n\nMasculine is slightly humorous by it's chorus and some of it's other lyrics, and the riffs are decent to accommodate those lyrics, but what was with that answering machine message at the beginning of this one? Made no sense to have it in there, as it didn't have a place with the rest of the song.\n\nA Man And A Woman is a good ballad, but failed to capture what Standing On The Outside did before. Still, even when compared with that excellent track, this one stands firm. \n\nSpecial Girl is the only slightly redundant song on the CD. It doesn't really succeed in making you get into the song much, and it's a disappointment, because it could've been better.\n\nRock And Roll Hero is one of the best closers to a Meat CD I have EVER heard yet. Although just slightly edged by Rock N Roll Mercenaries as the best song on the CD and one of the best ones in his career, Hero is easily a track that should be responsible in you getting this CD. Meat rocks hard here, and really let's you know the reason for this CD.\n\nIt's hard to really see a bad Meat CD, since his worst is EASILY better than some best efforts of some artists these days. Meat's worst albums are still great, and this one is VERY overlooked (not as much as Midnight was, but it comes close). If you need more convincing in getting this CD, two of the songs from this one (the two I said should've been on Meat's Very Best Of CD) appeared on the import greatest hits album Prime Cuts.\n\nI recommend this CD for anyone who likes to hear just Meat being Meat. This is proof that the UK knows a lot more about good music than the US could ever know.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGreat Title - Lousy Album, January 12, 2000\nReviewer: A music fan\nThe wonderful ode to what we shall euphemistically call 'self abuse' of the title notwithstanding, this album reeks. To be honest you don't need this CD to partake in the 'solitary vice.' The later is a more effective form of entertainment. Considerably cheaper too!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nNot as much of a 'Bad Attitude', July 5, 1999\nReviewer: A music fan\nMeat Loaf seems to have trouble following up his great albums. Such is the case with Blind Before I Stop, the album after the 'comeback' Bad Attitude which was suprisingly good, considering Steinman's absence from the studio. Blind Before I Stop departs from the pseudo-Steinman bombast Bad Attitude ventured into, and heads down the road of 80's metal. Not to knock 80's metal but this is not Meat Loaf's style. The album really shines in some points, though, Execution Day, the opener, is easily Meat's best non-Steinman penned song. The title track delivers great basic 80's rock at a tempo most bands didn't attempt, Rock and Roll Mercenaries was a moderate hit in the UK, and One More Kiss is an attempt to recreate Steinman's varying, unpredictable style, going from ballad to rocker to ballad again. The trouble is, those tracks are 4 of the first 5 on the album. After the title track (5) the only song worth hearing is the slightly humorus Masculine. The rest is a poor attempt by Meat and Frank Farian, later of Milli Vanilli fame, to be contemporary, with songs like 'Special Girl' making me want to wretch. This album isn't essential unless you like paying full price for an album that's half good, half crap. Thankfully, Meat would finally realize his mistake and reunite with Jim Steinman after this effort.\n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nThe mid-1980s spelled doom for most champions of '70s pomp rock, as MTV and radio fans seemed to be mesmerized by concise, synth-based pop ditties. Perhaps sensing that his sound had become passe, Meat Loaf attempted to keep pace with the current pop scene for his fifth solo album, 1986's BLIND BEFORE I STOP. He enlisted the services of Euro-dance king Frank Farian (whose name would be tossed around in the tabloids years later due to his involvement in the Milli Vanilli scandal). Farian lets Meat Loaf rock out on a few tracks, but also helps him experiment with dance sounds, something that most longtime Meat Loaf fans weren't exactly expecting.\nThe self-explanatory "Rock N' Roll Mercenaries" is a pure-blooded rocker, but selections such as the title track are a good example of Farian's newly proposed dance direction. BLIND BEFORE I STOP failed to reach the top of the charts in Europe (where Meat Loaf remained a hot commodity), proving that his new direction wasn't the answer to his problems. Meat Loaf wouldn't release another new studio album for seven years (until his 1993 worldwide comeback smash BAT OUT OF HELL II), concentrating instead on road work.\n\nIndustry Reviews\nPerformance 8 / Sound 9
This blues cd contains 11 tracks and runs 50min 49sec.
Freedb: a50bd90b

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