Back in the late 1980s, before his glorious 1993 comeback, Meat Loaf was touring all kinds of small clubs and venues all over the world. Like De Bonte Wever in Slagharen, a village in the east of The Netherlands. On May 13, 1989 he played a typical set for that era, which you can download below.

(For the nerdy people who want to know more about this new, fancy download-button thingy I cooked up—that is supposed to force downloads and enforce an expiry date, which happens to be August 1st in this particular case—I'll give you the details in a later post.)

Artists

1. Meat Loaf (162)
2. Dio (79)
3. Melissa Etheridge (73)
4. Dusty Springfield (67)
5. Prince (66)
6. a balladeer (64)
7. Bruce Springsteen (60)
8. Bløf (58)
9. Tanz der Vampire (57)
10. Mika (52)

Again, no songs list: the entire top ten is made of songs from Meat Loaf's Hang Cool Teddy bear. The first song from another artist is The Artist at that Time Known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince's "Gold."

Hat tip to Lucien for the reminder, and to Last.FM for keeping track of the stats.

If you ignore the versions that have identical content, there are five different configurations:

1. The 13 track regular edition;
2. The 12 track US/Walmart edition (i.e., the regular edition minus some naughty words and the I-can't-barely-fit-my-dick-in-my-pants-song);
3. The special edition, which includes a 10 track live bonus disc and the short story the album is based on;
4. The iTunes edition with 2 bonus tracks and the "Los Angeloser" video;
5. The super deluxe box set (including the special edition 2CD, bonus DVD, t-shirt, album art print, "Los Angeloser" sheet music and a fancy key chain).

Especially the way the failed to nail down the precise content of the super deluxe edition was frustrating. At first, the special edition would contain the album and a bonus DVD featuring an interview with Meat Loaf and producer Rob Cavallo, while the super deluxe edition would also include an exclusive live disc *. Then, they swapped the live disc and the DVD around, making the (rather pricey) box less interesting. Then, it was rumored that the DVD would contain live footage, but that was probably nothing more than a mix up. From the moment they announced the box set 'til the day it was released, the exact contents remained a mystery. Not so good.

Frankly, I was rather disappointed with the whole it's-supposed-to-be-super-deluxe edition. From a fan's perspective, making a box set is easy: you take the regular special edition of the album, and then you start adding stuff to that, like that DVD, a separate disc with bonus tracks like Prize Fight Lover (the non-album track released a free download), "Boneyard" (the b-side of the digital "Los Angeloser" single and one of the iTunes bonus tracks), the iTunes exclusive (a live version of "Out of the Frying Pan"), and perhaps some demos or other outtakes, and fill it out some fancy swag. What you don't do, is leave stuff out. The box does not contain the short story. and the "Los Angeloser" video isn't even on the DVD. Personally, I could have done without the 20 minute interview and the goodies. I'd rather have more musical content.

These shenanigans are, imo, exactly why the music business isn't doing so well at the moment. There's only so much crap loyal fans take before they throw the towel.

/rant.

* The Casa de Carne Live Album contains ten live soundboard recordings from the 2008 "Casa de Carne World Tour." While I could have done without another version of "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad", "Bat Out of Hell" and especially that less then stellar "I'd Do Anything for Love," it's quite enjoyable.

If it had been a complete disaster, an utter train wreck of ill-conceived ideas and cliched songs, it would have been easy. If this album had been a spectacular return to form, a masterpiece that made me forget that thing called Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose ever happened, well, it would have been easier still. But unfortunately it's neither this nor that; it's a little bit of everything and the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure.

Hang Cool Teddy Bear tries very hard not to sound like a typical Meat Loaf album. And that's good. If there's one thing that Bat III proved beyond a doubt, it's that the world can very well do without mr. Loaf trying to sound like Meat Loaf. He either has to get Jim Steinman involved and go all the way, or do something completely different. And he seems to get that:

I don't want that wall of sound; I don't want those wall of backgrounds. I want it organic; I want it clean. I want it big, I want the arrangements big; I want the arrangements to be different. I don't want it piano-based – I want it guitar-based.

Has he succeeded? Well, the thundering piano's are gone, there are loads of guitars—in fact, there are seven (that's right, 7!) different guitarists on "Love Is Not Real," including Steve Vai and Brian May—the album as a whole sounds fantastic (but it's ridiculously loud), and mr. Loaf himself sounds better, much better than I thought possible. Ok, so after those concerts I saw in 2007/'08 my expectations were very low, but I was very much surprised. I don't know how producer Rob Cavallo coerced these vocals out of him (or how much auto tune was used), but chapeau!

But if you really don't want to sound like your old self, you need to have some awesome songs too. And while some songs are indeed awesome ("Living on the Outside", "Song of Madness" and large chunks of "Love Is Not Real/Next Time You Stab Me in the Back"), others are not as strong ("Like a Rose", "If It Rains" and the Jessica Simpson cover "Did You Ever Love Somebody") or, in a word, inoffensive. Take the first single, Los Angeloser: it's inoffensive in every possible way. It's a valiant attempt at trying not sounding like "Anything for Love" or "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" at all, but it leaves me completely cold and does nothing for me.

Another thing that is quite different, is the quality of the lyrics. While they aren't as vapid as "If God Could Talk," neither Singin' na, na, na na, na, na / I won't change / 'Cause if it rains, it rains nor La, la, la la, la, la / Runnin' away from me will win you any awards. If you didn't know it's a concept album about a dying soldier is having flash-forwards, seeing what his life could have been like, you wouldn't miss a thing.

"California Isn't Big Enough (Hey There Girl)" deserves a special mention for it's chorus:

I can barely fit my dick in my pants
California isn't big enough for me
Come on and lend me your hand with my forthcoming release
Because California isn't big enough for me

That must be about as subtle as giving someone a friendly pat on the back with a sledge hammer.

Anyway. It's not as if Hang Cool Teddy Bear is a particularly bad album. Far from it. But it isn't a particular good album either. I just don't know.

(There's one more thing I need to discuss about the various edition that have been released, but I'll save that for another post. update: rant added.)

And then there was this other thing I found.

Whatever permutation of the keywords "Meat Loaf Nightline Beatles 1995" I fed to Google, numerous sites popped up showing roughly the same excerpts about Brian Wilson saying the same thing too on a 1995 Nightline Beatles tribute.

Apparently, someone likes the Beatles so much that he or she copies (roughly) the same reply over and over and over again on various websites where people confess that they don't unquestioningly adore the Beatles. (Disclaimer: I don't get the Beatles. I recognize that they were a very important band, but their music does next to nothing for me. I mean, Na na nana na, hey Jude, na na na nana? Yougottabefuckinkiddingme!)

I find this fascinating. And this, and nothing less… THIS is why I love the internet.

Ronnie James Dio by fürschtua | CC-NC-SA

They say that life's a carousel
Spinning fast, you gotta ride it well
The world is full of Kings and Queens
Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams

It's Heaven and Hell

Ronnie James Dio died today. It's a sad, sad day.

update: image added.

1. Daniël Lohues (136)
2. Bløf (110)
3. mr. a balladeer (106)
4. Melissa Etheridge (97)
5. Acda en De Munnik (93)
6. Van Dik Hout (89)
7. Savatage (83)
8. Bruce Dickinson (73)
9. Meat Loaf (70)
10. Wende (65)
11. Bruce Springsteen (64)
12. Porcupine Tree (62)
13. Simon & Garfunkel (61)
14. a balladeer (60)
15. Bon Jovi (59)
    Metallica (59)
17. Arid (54)
18. Trans-Siberian Orchestra (49)
19. Clint Mansell (48)
    Dio (48)

Somehow, I'm not at all surprised. For some time know I noticed my preferences shifting towards the more mellow, wussy music. With an occasional barrage of heavy shit, of course.

Making a list of my most played songs of the last three months is a bit pointless: 9 songs in the top ten come from mr. a balladeer's excellent Sorry, Kid.—which is, so far, my album of the year. (The other song is Anneke van Giersbergen & Agua de Annique's quite enjoyable cover of Papillion.)

Then it became clear that this song, "Los Angeloser", was to be the first single. Slowly the demo page started to generate some traffic. Three weeks ago the song made it's debut on BBC Radio 2. The following day I noticed that for the first time ever my website had over 100 visitors, so I put up a stub for the new album. Since then the initial peak died down, but the number of visitors is up. Before I was terribly pleased with 40 to 45 visitors, now it seems quite steady to be up and around 65 visitors a day.

Yesterday, the official video was spotted on a German site (it has been removed since, probably because of an exclusive deal with Vidzone—don't ask me about that link, it's what mr. Loaf tweeted) and tonight the number of visits spiked again. It made me look at the monthly stats:

Graph showing the monthy number of visitors to mljs.evilnickname.org

I quite like what I see. There's been a steady increase in visitors ever since I last revamped the site, and unless something weird happens, it looks as if last's months record will be shattered. Mr. Loaf should release a new album more often.

Once upon a time, Daniël Lohues, the artist in question, wrote a chorus that goes a little something like this:

Als je ontevreden bent
Als je ontevreden bent
Als je ontevreden bent
Doe er dan iets aan of ga weg of zo

If you're not satisfied with something, either do something about it, or go away or something. Since complaining on my website didn't really help the last time, I shot his management an email, stating my objections to bonus tracks and asking if they were planning to release these tracks through any other service that people who can't or won't use iTunes can use, like 7Digital or so.

I send that mail friday evening, and I got a response on sunday evening. I didn't quite expect that. I was told that, from a fan's perspective, my complaints were valid. But also that from the producers' point of view there are valid reasons to provide bonus content, but they wouldn't bore me with the details. And I can see that. It's not that I object to bonus tracks per se, it's just that I'm one of those types who think that if a track is released, I should be able to obtain it some way, geographical and technical restrictions be damned. And as a service, they would mail me the bonus tracks. Which they did. Now that's customer service I can get behind.

Daniël Lohues' new album Allennig IV is out now, and he is on tour until May 26. For tour dates, see Lohues.nl

Traveling to Southampton turned out to be quite easy: each day there are several direct flights from Amsterdam to Southampton, and a bus takes you straight to the city. The hotel I was staying was nothing special. It was perfectly alright for sleeping and leaving my luggage, although the bed was a bit shortish.

What I found out on my first day in Southampton (I flew in on friday and would be leaving on sunday) is that, unless you absolutely need to see every shopping street in the entire multiverse, there is no reason whatsoever to go there. I mean, the old bit of the town is nice enough, and you can you can take a look at the harbour, but for the rest it's nothing special. While walking around a bit, I came past the theatre and decided on a whim to see if they had any tickets left for that night's show. Which they did. On saturday I took the train to Portsmouth, met up with the people I would meet up with, had a look at the waterfront and some old boats there, and headed back to Southampton to see the show. Sunday I loitered around a bit in the sun—although the weather was absolutely gorgeous, I was still kinda surprised to see people walking around in t-shirts—picked up a couple of books, and went home.

Now then: Whistle Down the Wind. I'd seen it once, during it's original West End run, back in 1999. This version was quite different for what I (vaguely) recall from that show and from the original cast recording, but it was still excellent. I'm not sure if I'm on board with all the changes that were made (like moving The Man's big soliloquy from the first to the second act, replacing two songs that actually helped the story along with one that doesn't, and the numerous reprises) and the choreography was a bit weird at times (let's just say that I'm not that into interpretative dance, but still: why the zark were there dancing zombie-vampires on stage during a revival meeting?!) but overall: two thumbs up. The sets looked impressive, the cast was great, but Carly Bawden, who played the female lead, was awesome. A very fine production all around.

Do I have any regrets about going to Southampton to see Steinman's other musical? No. Apart from Southampton being as dull as a very dull thing, it was awesome.