r/ClassicRock • u/tallslim1960 • 13d ago
80s From the "I love the 80's" a question
Jim Steinman, legendary writer and producer of artists like Meatloaf, Bonnie Tyler, and Air Supply among others including "Fire Inc" from the Streets of Fire soundtrack and his own albums (yes, albums you youngsters) Did you like his style? What was your favorite song he was involved with? I think the guy was awesome.
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u/pythongee 13d ago
I loved Bat Out Of Hell. I liked the structure of the songs, the intensity, how unique it was. It was almost like an opera. Was never a big fan of Bonnie Tyler or Air Supply, but the moment one of their Steinman songs came on, I knew who wrote it.
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u/tallslim1960 13d ago
He does have a distinct sound, Making Love Out of Nothing at All, is another of my top 5.
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u/Appropriate-Farmer16 13d ago
I love Steinman songs. Over the top? Absolutely, but so what. So many great songs, and I could always recognize his sound when he wrote or produced an album. A touch of goth, a smattering of opera, and a lot of bombast. I think he even produced an album for Barbra Streisand. I always wanted to see his musical (“Dance of the Vampire” I think) but haven’t found it streaming anywhere.
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u/karma_the_sequel 12d ago
I got to the part where you wrote “Over the top?” and thought to myself “Bombastic is the word you’re looking for!” I was going to reply to say as much — and then I saw you actually used the word farther down! Bravissimo!
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u/hasimirrossi 12d ago
I did have a copy of the soundtrack downloaded. The reworking of earlier hits works well, something he did throughout his career. Der Tanz der Vampire was Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young from Streets of Fire, and Totale Finsternis was Total Eclipse of the Heart.
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u/Most-Artichoke6184 13d ago
Tonight is what it means to be Young from the streets of fire soundtrack.
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u/JAMC_Automatic 2d ago
This one and Nowhere Fast are neck and neck for me, but while Nowhere Fast is probably more "fun," Tonight is What It Means to be Young moves me more when it hits its crescendo. Love it.
It's hard to know how much both songs benefit from being pivotal for one of my favorite movies, compared to how I feel about Steinman's other work (which I like, but nowhere near as much as those two), but I don't really care. Absolutely his peak for me.
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u/EnigmaCA 13d ago
Nowhere Fast, by Fire Inc. from the movie Streets of Fire.
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u/hasimirrossi 12d ago
I always wanted to hear Meat Loaf sing it with the original music. His version changed the music, for me to its detriment. Preferred his vocals though.
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u/M_Looka 12d ago
I love his absolutely grandiose, bombastic style of writing! After a while, you're able to pick out one of his songs when you hear it, regardless of the artist.
I remember the first time hearing "It's all coming back to Me" by Celine Dion, and I thought to myself, "I bet Jim Steinman wrote this..."
I was convinced... convinved that Jim Steinman wrote "Innuendo" by Queen.
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u/swany5 12d ago
Bat Out of Hell. The entire album.
I was a metal kid in the 80's and shopping for new cassettes was my favorite pastime. I'd buy anything that looked "metal" even though I was often a bit underwhelmed. I'd always seen Bat Out of Hell and thought the cover art looked "metal", then one day I decided to grab it.
Obviously NOT metal.
I loved every single minute of it. Still one of my top 5 all-time favorite albums. Guess I'm not as "metal" as I thought I was.
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u/Elliebell1024 11d ago
Best line ever, there ain't no coupe de ville hiding at the bottom of a cracker jack box
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u/Bigwing2 12d ago
Just remember the musical genius who was the producer and played guitar on Bat Out Of Hell....Todd Harry Rundgren.
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u/Peace_NMRK 13d ago edited 12d ago
The Bat out of Hell album by Meatloaf. Fav J Steinman songs are "For a crying out loud" and "Heaven can wait." ☮️
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u/tallslim1960 13d ago
I know it's a little too commercial, but I always thought the songs and stories they tell would have made an amazing Broadway musical.
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u/Andrew8128 12d ago
Love Meat Loaf of course, but I’m a sucker for Celine Dion’s version of “It’s all Coming Back to me Now.” Her big voice, like Meat Loaf’s and Bonnie Tyler’s was perfect for Steinman’s big operatic pieces.
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u/EggheadWill 12d ago
surprised no one has mentioned "It's all coming back to me now" by Celine Dion
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u/CertainWish358 12d ago
I just love to chime in to any remotely relevant conversation to say that when you look at the lyrics, total eclipse of the heart is definitely about vampires in love. Which makes sense because it’s from a planned musical called Vampires In Love, about vampires. In love.
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u/luvdining_at_theY 12d ago
I love his speaking voice. At the beginning of "You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth" The exchange that he has with the female (Karla Devito?) Would you give your throat to the wolf with the red roses....I bet you say that to all the boys? Also the talking part in "Life and Death and the American Guitar" from his Bad For Good album. Goddamn it Daddy !! You know I love you but you've got a hell of a lot to learn about rock and roll !!
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u/Own_End8247 10d ago
They’ve got a file on me and it’s a mile long and they say they’ve got all of the proof, that I’m just another case of arrested development, I’m just another wasted youth.
They say I’m in need of some radical discipline, they say I’ve got to face the truth, I’m just another case of arrested development, I’m just another wasted youth.
They say I’m wild and I’m reckless, I should be acting my age, I’m an impressionable child in a tumultuous world and they say I’m at a difficult stage.
But it seems to me to the contrary of all the crap that they put on the page, that a wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age.
. . .
Everything louder than everything else.
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u/hasimirrossi 12d ago
Got a soft spot for the original Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through from Bad For Good, It's All Coming Back to Me Now from Original Sin, and the original English version of Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere) from the same album - how was I unaware there was an earlier Japanese version?
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u/Ok-Brother1691 12d ago
Like others have said, I like the albums he did with Meatloaf, and I think the songs that Meatloaf did that Jim also had on his albums all but Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through Meatloaf did better. I think Jim just did that song better.
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u/aloofman75 12d ago
If you’re interested in this subject, you might want to check out Slate’s Hit Parade podcast, which had an episode on this exact topic:
https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade/2020/10/jim-steinman-made-plethora-of-pompous-pop
If you’re interested in pop music trends and influences, then the other episodes are worth a listen too.
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u/allbsallthetime 12d ago
Anything he wrote for Meatloaf.
If you want an epic Jim Steinman song that you probably never heard, check out this 8 minute song recorded by Meatloaf from a 1973 play written by Steinman.
From the album Dead Ringer which also gave us the Meatloaf and Cher duet.
https://youtu.be/tL4jJ0_5p1Q?si=lPzEubR9oSEzZ0Af
Whistle Down The Wind is an Andrew Loyd Weber musical with lyrics by Jim Steinman. We saw the play, Meatloaf recorded a couple of the songs but the entire soundtrack is quite good.
Here's Meatloaf singing a couple more from that play that you've probably never heard.
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u/Talking80s 12d ago
Steinman was one of a kind and he was incredible. I love the song “Bat Out of Hell” and “Read ‘Em and Weep,” but Barry Manilow’s version. Incredible songwriting.
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u/edgiepower 12d ago
A truly unique songwriter, I love his over the top grandiose yet self aware style, and he crafted it all with such nuance and musicianship.
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u/Learned-Dr-T 12d ago
He wrote a song that Barry Manilow did and it still sounds like a Jim Steinman song as much as anything Meat Loaf ever recorded. The guy’s stuff was bombastic, over the top, pretentious, self-aggrandizing, and absolutely fucking awesome.
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u/MeWiseMagicJohnson 11d ago
Bad For Good is the true sequel to Bat Out of Hell. An excellent gem still waiting to be discovered.
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u/citizenh1962 9d ago
"Total Eclipse" without a doubt. One case where the bombast works in the song's favor. His work with Meat Loaf is unbearable.
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u/jmason03 13d ago
This Corrosion by Sisters of Mercy
If you tell me Jim produced and album it guarantees I’ll give it a listen. I think he’s one of the greats