''Blind Before I Stop'' is the fifth studio album by American singer
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...
, released in September 1986. The album was produced in Germany by
Frank Farian and was the first to fully embrace the '80s sound. Critics were concerned about the album missing the characteristic Steinman-influenced sound by incorporating synth chords and samples. According to Meat Loaf's 1998 autobiography, he would have preferred to wait to work with more Steinman material, but his contractual obligations with
Arista required him to complete two more albums by the end of the 1980s, including this album and a
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...
.
Meat Loaf co-wrote three of the songs on the album. Two of them, "Blind Before I Stop" and "
Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries" were performed live on U.K. show ''
Saturday Live'', with Meat Loaf playing guitar. "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries", a duet with rock singer
John Parr, was released as a single in the UK. Meat Loaf sang the song live with Parr on only one occasion and did not do so again after an incident just after the release of the single. During a sold-out show in London, the singer failed to introduce Parr onto the stage and Parr walked off after the song was over. Despite leaving dozens of phone messages begging for forgiveness, Meat Loaf never heard from Parr again. During his late 1980s tour of Europe, Meat Loaf picked up pianist
Frank Doyle. Richard Raskin had made contributions to arrangements on previous musical tracks some years before and his style can still be heard on bass.
Music videos were created for several singles from the album, including "Getting Away with Murder" and "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries". Several songs from the album were featured as bonus tracks on the 1998 CD re-release of ''
Bad Attitude'' in lieu of their inclusion on ''
The Very Best of Meat Loaf'' compilation album released the same year.
''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' said of "Getting Away with Murder that Meat Loaf "rocks out r&b style."
''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' said it could "signal a solid chart comeback for Meat Loaf" and praised the
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...
and
production."
Track listing
Personnel
Band
*Meat Loaf — lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 2, 6, 8), guitar (5), additional guitars (2)
*
John Parr — guest vocals (2)
*Mats Björklynd — guitars (1, 2, 3, 8), bass (3, 6), keys, programming, drums (5, 9)
*Johan Daansen — guitars (2, 7, 10)
*Peter Weihe — guitars
*Dieter Petereit — bass
*John Golden — bass (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10)
*Harry Baierl — piano (4, 7, 8), keyboards, programming (2)
*Pit Löw — keyboards and programming
*
Mel Collins — saxophone (1, 3, 6)
*
Curt Cress — drums
*Amy Goff — female vocals (9), backing vocals
*
Frank Farian — additional vocals (2), backing vocals (6)
*Peter Bischof — vocals
*Bert Gebhard — vocals
*Bimey Oberreit — vocals
*Elaine Goff — vocals
*The Jackson Singers — choir (1, 6, 7)
Singles
*"
Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries" #31 UK
*"
Blind Before I Stop" #89 UK
*"
Special Girl" #81 UK
Charts
Certifications
References
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SqJRrdR9VA4 Frank Farian world-wide music 45 minutes documentary
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Meat Loaf albums
1986 albums
Albums produced by Frank Farian
Arista Records albums