As requested, here’s in exclusive the Hear No Evil / Cherry Red Records remastered reissue of MEAT LOAF fourth album 1984’s ‘Bad Attitude’.
Titled “Bad Attitude: 30th Anniversary Edition” as released just in time for its 3-decade anniversary, the digipak reissue comes completely remastered. And that’s great news as ‘Bad Attitude’ production was dispar muddy at places.
After the phenomenal success of debut LP “Bat Out Of Hell” in 1977 (34 million copies and counting), Meat Loaf followed it with 1981’s “Dead Ringer”, another sizeable hit, with both albums showcasing the mercurial songwriting talents of Jim Steinman.
Having then parted company with Steinman, 1983’s “Midnight At The Lost And Found” found the singer in somewhat of a commercial dip, until 1984’s “Bad Attitude”. It features two Steinman penned tunes, ‘Surf’s Up’, and ‘Nowhere Fast’, which had originally been written for the soundtrack to the movie “Streets Of Fire”. Also skilled Bob Kulick is at charge of guitars, looking to give Loaf’s music a more ‘American hard rock feel’.
There are also two notable duets on this record; The Who’s Roger Daltrey appears on the title track, whilst Clare Torry, who is probably best known for her vocals on Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon”, duets on ‘Modern Girl’.
I don’t think there are too many people out there who would disagree that Meat Loaf is at his best when he’s collaborating with Jim Steinman. Well, this album shows that not all the rest of his catalog is weak, though. This one really has a lot of that same kind of theatrical rock sound that made the Bat out of Hell albums so great.
The overall sound of ‘Bad Attitude’is very mid-Eighties, with synths, Simmons drums, sharp guitars, etc. It tends to be a bit of a one-trick pony, lacking some of the depth and variety of the Steinman albums. Still, this is quite a strong release, anyway.
The album opens with title track Bad Attitude, a hard rocker that feels like vintage Meat Loaf. It’s also on that includes a secondary vocal from none other than Roger Daltrey. ‘Modern Girl’ is quite a diverse cut. It starts in a ballad-like sound. It eventually works out to more of a rocker. It’s hook laden and pretty darn cool.
‘Nowhere Fast’ is pure Steinman wrapped by a more slick hard rocking production according 1984. The vocal arrangement is multi-layered and complex.
Surf’s Up feels like classic Meat Loaf. It features the multiple layers of vocals. It has that theatrical tour-de-force feeling that was such a big thing in Meat Loaf’s best songs. It starts balladic and builds out into a real rocker.
Piece Of The Action is non-Steinman penned song but sounds like one. The first parts of this are very much keyboard dominated, with big vocals and that killer bombastic Meat Loaf classic style. A highlight – great voice, decent production and a very well done written song.
There is a more straight-ahead hard rocking sound to Jumpin’ the Gun. That said, we get plenty of that theatrical, rather proggy edge to it. It’s a very ’80s sounding rocker. Cheatin’ in Your Dreams has been written by John Parr, quite poppish and with drama on the vocal part.
‘Don’t Leave Your Mark on Me’ has a long, mysterious sounding intro section with synths, before getting uptempo. It’s another Parr co-write, so expect anthemic melodies, with Loaf in great voice singing high, energetic, and Kulick serving a cool guitar work.
The album closes with the midtempo hard rocker ‘Sailor To a Siren’, a real Meat Loaf theatrical rock tour-de-force and clearly fits in his classic timeless sound. Again, a solid Kulick 6-string work & solo. It’s a great way to end the set.
Meat Loaf’s “Bad Attitude: 30th Anniversary Edition” is pure ’80s stuff, from songwriting to performances to production – which, by the way, wasn’t the best.
In fact, production is fine as each instrument sounds clear, I think what really failed with this album was the Mix. This remaster makes everything sounds better, more dynamic.
Highly Recommended
01. Bad Attitude (Duet With Roger Daltrey)
02. Modern Girl (Duet With Clare Torry)
03. Nowhere Fast
04. Surf’s Up
05. Piece Of The Action
06. Jumpin’ The Gun (Duet With Zee Carling)
07. Cheatin’ In Your Dreams
08. Don’t Leave Your Mark On Me
09. Sailor To A Siren