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RIP Jim Steinman
Get out your vinyl copies of Bat out of Hell, or your flow charts of Total Eclipse of the Heart tonight; songwriter Jim Steinman passed away.
Who'd have thought Meat Loaf would outlive him? R.I.P. legendary songwriter Jim Steinman (avclub.com) |
Jim Steinman, hit songwriter of rock epics, dead at 73
Jim Steinman, the hit songwriter and producer of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell albums, died today in Connecticut. No cause of death has been given but the medical examiner says it was sudden. He was 73. The Jim Steinman Rockman Philharmonic confirmed the news, writing on Facebook, "It's with a heavy heart that I can confirm Jim's passing. There will be much more to say in the coming hours and days as we prepare to honor this giant of a human being and his glorious legacy. For now, do something that makes you feel young, happy and free. He'd want that for you!" Born in 1947 in New York City, Steinman was known for some of the most bombastic hits of the '70s, '80s and '90s -- he called himself "The Lord of Excess" on his website -- and in addition to writing and producing Meat Loaf's three Bat Out of Hell records (which include such songs as "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" and "I Would Do Anything for Love [But I Won't Do That"]), he was also behind such classics as Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart," Air Supply's "Making Love Out of Nothing at All," Barry Manilow's "Read 'Em and Weep," and Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." He also produced Sisters of Mercy's maximalist singles "This Corrosion" and "More," and worked with Def Leppard, Barbra Streisand, Billy Squier and more. Steinman had a definitely style, even beyond just "big," and you could hear it immediately. As he told The New York Times in 2019, ""If you don't go over the top, how are you ever going to see what's on the other side?" There was nobody else quite like him. Rest in peace, Jim. |
Re: Jim Steinman, hit songwriter of rock epics, dead at 73
Oh man, one of my favorite songwriters. The only person who could even make me love a Celine Dion, Barry Manilow or Air Supply song. :rip: songmeister.
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Re: Jim Steinman, hit songwriter of rock epics, dead at 73
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Re: Jim Steinman, hit songwriter of rock epics, dead at 73
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Re: Jim Steinman, hit songwriter of rock epics, dead at 73
Originally Posted by [email protected]
(Post 13923301)
I know its nit-picking, but Todd Rundgren actually produced the first 'Bat Out of Hell' album, not Steinman.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
I always liked his only studio album Bad For Good from the early 80s. Was meant for Meat Loaf as his follow up but he couldn't do it for some reason so Jim performed instead. Worth seeking out.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
Bat Out of Hell is number three on the Wikipedia list of best selling records of all time. I liked it then. I still like it. If Steinman had only done that one thing in his career, it was amazingly good.
But the Steinman solo album has the same overbearing production values without Meatloaf's giant voice to balance them, and it doesn't work. |
Re: RIP Jim Steinman
Since you're reading this, Geofferson, can you merge the two Jim Steinman threads? Looks like two of us posted the news at the same time.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
Originally Posted by Paff
(Post 13923917)
Since you're reading this, Geofferson, can you merge the two Jim Steinman threads? Looks like two of us posted the news at the same time.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
Decker, if I gotta spend another minute with you I don't think I can really survive. Jeez.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
Originally Posted by Paff
(Post 13923928)
Decker, if I gotta spend another minute with you I don't think I can really survive. Jeez.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
I got ragged on a ton in middle school for having the CD of Bat out of Hell II, but man I did love those power ballads. I didn't know anything about the original Bat out of Hell, and I actually thought Jim Steinman was Meat Loaf's real name because of that "Songs by Jim Steinman" wording on the cover of the album. Both albums are now in my regular rotation, and my friends are much more accepting than they were then.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
Just read about Steinman's passing. I know he veered to the over dramatic, but I loved his songwriting. Bat out of Hell has always been a favorite since I first heard "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" as a pre-teen (to this day, I'll still tell someone they are looking for "a ruby in a mountain of rocks" when I think they are wasting their time on something). And his songs for Air Supply, Bonnie Tyler, Barry Manilow, and Air Supply are my favorites by each artist, plus he wrote the only Celene Dion song I can stand. And though they don't get mentioned as much, my absolute favorite songs of his are the two songs that bookend Streets of Fire ("Nowhere Fast" and "Tonight is What It Means to Be Young".)
While I definitely give Rundgren his props on the production of Bat Out of Hell (which would have made an awesome 5.1 mix if the masters hadn't burned), the sound is still more Steinman's and you can hear it in every song he wrote. The ebb and flow, recede and crescendo. How he plays with metaphor probably more than any other pop songwriter outside of Dylan and Mitchell. And how he pushed vocalists to emotional highs as well as vocal ones. Thankfully will always have the music there is to turn to and admire, but I always kept hoping for his next big pop drama. Guess this is not to be. RIP Jim. Guess Heaven couldn't wait. |
Re: RIP Jim Steinman
In the Meat Loaf documentary, he talked about how he and Steinman would go to record companies and sing Bat out of Hell live for the A&R people right in their office and got turned down every time, with Meat Loaf drenched in sweat from the performance. Man, what I wouldn't give for a videotaped recording of that.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
The original Bat Out Of Hell might be the greatest achievement ever made my humanity since we oozed out from the oceans all of those eons ago.
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Re: RIP Jim Steinman
Originally Posted by Paff
(Post 13925074)
In the Meat Loaf documentary, he talked about how he and Steinman would go to record companies and sing Bat out of Hell live for the A&R people right in their office and got turned down every time, with Meat Loaf drenched in sweat from the performance. Man, what I wouldn't give for a videotaped recording of that.
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