52 Weeks of Music - Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf

There are some albums that transcend time and space. Bat Out of Hell is one of those albums.

The album came out in 1977, the year after I was born. It is a heavy rock opera filled with love, sex, and heartache. The lyrics and the anthemic crescendos of the instruments bring the listener into the songwriter's world. You will experience spoken word poetry, and powerful guitar riffs, and Meat Loaf singing at all levels of his amazing range.

My favorite song is by far "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." It's all about teens and sex. In the cloistered world of my churchy upbringing, this was essentially audio erotica. Imagine hearing this at 12 or 13 and not being turned on. Of course, by the time I was hearing it, the album was some 10 or 12 years old, and the world had changed. Sex had become taboo, and this song celebrated it, to the point of flaunting.

This was one of the first CDs that I bought, and then at 16, the long awaited sequel came out, featuring "I Would Do Anything for Love (but I Won't Do That.)" Suddenly, everyone was into Meat Loaf all over again, but in the finicky world of 1990s radio, the long song was chopped up to fit into time slots and made into some horrible anemic version of its former self.

I think that's why I started going back to CDs only for my music. The radio was manipulative and sanitized, but the albums on CD in the dozens of plastic jewel cases strewn all over my back seat were uncut and vivid.

Of course, Bat Out of Hell is not without its detractors. Jim Steinman actually wrote the songs, and is barely ever given credit. Of course, he still gets the last laugh as he earns a good many royalties off Meat Loaf, and the anthems he wrote for other artists: "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" by Air Supply, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," by Bonnie Tyler, and "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," by Celine Dion, just to name a few.

If you've never heard Bat Out of Hell, I urge you to go out and get it.

Bat Out of Hell on Wikipedia

Album Link on iTunes

52 Weeks of Music - The Id by Macy Gray

And now for something completely different...

Macy Gray is someone I see as a very misunderstood and under-appreciated talent. I picked up a used copy of The Id on a lark at the record store a few years ago, a couple years after it was already out. I heard "Sexual Revolution" in a movie and this CD had it on it, so I bought it.

As fortune would have it, The Id turned out to be one of my all time favorite CDs. It's chock full of emotion, flirtation, betrayal, frivolity, and fantastic rhythm and blues.

You... tell me that you love me
If it's true, why am I running from ya
and Who are these bitches on my answering machine?
--from the song "Boo"

Absolutely fantastic.

I would characterize this album as a kind of R&B / Pop Fusion kind of sound. It's absolutely one of the most entertaining collections of songs that are out there. You should definitely pick it up.

The Id on Wikipedia

Album link on iTunes

52 Weeks of Music - Swamp Ophelia by the Indigo Girls

This has been a very long couple of weeks, so suffice it to say I am behind on the music project.

Since I have been in a foul mood, I decided to go back to the basics of my music. That is, the Indigo Girls. Swamp Ophelia was the first encounter I had with the Indigo Girls. A friend in college had this on cassette and I freaked out. It was so much more than the crappy pop music of autumn 1995, and much more compelling to me than anything I had ever heard before. It was right when I was coming out, so this album got me through lots.

My favorite track on this album is "Language or the Kiss." It was definitely my life, or rather, the quandary I was faced with at the time.

There was a table set for six and five were there.
I stood outside and kept my eyes upon that empty chair.

I was in a family of six and I feared most that my coming out would alienate me from my family, like in the song.

Over the years, the Indigo Girls poetry spoke to me in many other ways. I moved out on my own, then moved back home with my parents. Then finally at 24, I bought my own home and finally branched out for good, no longer the stunted sapling trapped in an suburban soil, but a thriving young tree. Forgive the purple prose, but it always makes me misty talking about the Indigo Girls.

The rest of the Swamp Ophelia is full of amazing songs about love, triumph, loss, mourning, and the strength of love and friendships. I am at a loss for words to describe it better. But I hope I've piqued your curiosity enough to check it out for yourself.

To give you some more inspiration, check out the "Power of Two" video from the Indigo Girls VEVO channel on YouTube. It's a great song.

Swamp Ophelia on Wikipedia


Album link on iTunes