If You Have a 'Dead Ringer,' Then How Could You Hear the Phone?

Overall Album Score: 8.1 out of 10

Hmmm... Being Meat Loaf's first album after his breakthrough with Bat Out of Hell, it was completely unexpected that he would give it the title Dead Ringer, because ... because ... it is so appropriate! There is really nothing to tell this album apart from Bat Out of Hell ... except it has a different title ... and a different cover ... and ... uh ... different songs ... it also has Cher ... but other than those minor details, Dead Ringer might have just as well been called Clone Out of Hell ... but I won't call it that, because Dead Ringer was a pretty good pun to begin with.

On the plus side, however, those who really enjoyed Bat Out of Hell, will find a lot to enjoy out of this one, too! I mean ... yeah, the songs (still written by Jim Steinman) aren't quite as good, but to undying fanatics of Meat Loaf, they are more gold. And ... um ... those who hated Bat Out of Hell will probably hate this one, too, because ... um ... it is the same.

Sooooooooooo...

It also took them four entire years to come out with this. If they came out with it a year later, then perhaps Meat Loaf would have been a household name. (Oh ... my sources have just informed me that Meat Loaf actually is a household name, but normally not in the same context.) Because of this gap, the Americans forgot about Meat Loaf and the album only charted at 45. However, in Great Britain, the album was a big success (which I find particularly intriguing, because Meat Loaf is American ... from the very crotch of the US of A, actually) and it did very well.

I'd also probably mention that this isn't a rock opera. (If I'm missing some fundamental property and it is a rock opera, then ... um ... yeah.) There also aren't any songs that quite reach the sappy heights of "Heaven Can Wait." But, then again, there aren't any songs that kick butt like "Paradise By the Dashboard Light." ... And, for me anyway, there's nothing on here that is particularly humorous as well. As long as my old-and-fading memory isn't gone, I remember that as being the most attractive quality of Bat Out of Hell. Here, there's nothing that'll warrant a smile-in-spite-of-yourself. Oh well. I don't like smiling in spite of myself, anyway.

The only reason you'd like this album is if you like its style. And I find that there's a lot to enjoy out of overly-dramatic, pseudo-operatic balladries as much as the next person.

Overall Album Score: 8.1 out of 10 (I'm a REAL DEAD RINGER FOR ... uh ... working telephones?)

Average Song Score: 8.4 (Oh man! Just one point less than Bat Out of Hell! You can't deny that there are very good songs on here. They're not only similar in quality. They're similar in everything! Except one of these songs has Cher in it. I guess that's different, then.)

Album Tilt: 8.0 (I'm not too thrilled about this album ... especially when you compare it with Bat. It's just not that delightful, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.)

Artist Rating: 8.0 (No. For Meat Loaf, this is a good step down. They take four years and can't even come up with anything different! But it is still fairly good, artistically.)

Track Reviews

Peel Out 9/10

Hey! Who said I didn't like this album? I didn't! I think this is a fun song. It starts with the faint roar of a motorcycle (...they weren't even trying!) and it turns into a fairly explosive overture that would do good to open any album with. For Meat Loaf, it had just might as well be standard. (But the standard is high!) The song is catchy, well performed by everyone, and it is even complex! They didn't spend four years doing nothing, apparently. Nice! If I wasn't high from licking tropical frogs, I would say that it actually rivals most songs from Bat Out of Hell, but it's not unlike them.

I'm Going to Love Her For Both of Us 8/10

Me too!

This track has some tango properties, but it doesn't forget to be utterly dramatic as well. (Hooowah!) Do we lahke dah posh Meat Loaf? Yah? I don't find this melody to be great, with the exception of those parts when Meat Loaf sounds like he's screaming at his deaf grandfather. But the rest of the parts can be kind of annoying. (It might also be too long, as well, but that can only be dismissed as typical of the guy.) I don't have to strain to like this song, anyway. So carry on!

More Than You Deserve 7.5/10

Oh ........ here comes the sap! Ohhhhhhh! I don't find it nearly as borderline-disgusting (and therefore wonderful) as its close relative "Heaven Can Wait," but it's certainly up there! I find that this track is a little bit more on the boring side. It's still enjoyable in its own special way, I suppose.

I'll Kill You if You Don't Come Back 8/10

Me too!

More of ... the same! (Crap! I hate it when I review tracks and find that I have nothing to say about it because it's like every single other song on the album.) The tune is okay. There aren't many insanely catchy hooks, but at least it doesn't annoy me and I still find it enjoyable to listen to. It explosively goes on its explosively dramatic operatic course like any explosive Meat Loaf song does ... for six and a half minutes. But I don't hold anything against this song because of length. In fact, I like the length. I think it's a good length. I think the title is good on this track, too. Yes. I do like the title.

Read 'Em and Weep 8.5/10

You know what? With the exception of the more eloquent production, this song starts out exactly like the fifth track of Pat Benatar's 1979 debut album! Now isn't that interesting! (It might just be an evil coincidence, but I did recognize it from a Pat Benatar album ... who is an artist I don't give much of a rat's petute about! So if the connection wasn't strong enough, I would not have recognized that.) At any rate, the overall song doesn't sound related. It's still exactly like everything else on the album, but this time it has a very good melody.

Nocturnal Pleasure 4/5

Ummmmmmm... 30-second speech. It's funny, but it doesn't compare to "On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?" Oh man! That was a hoot!

Dead Ringer For Love 9.5/10

Yeah ... Cher didn't show up during any of the other songs on here. I mean! Dude! It's as if she wasn't doing any of the hard work for the whole album and then just shows up when it's time to sing the best song on this whole friggin' album! It's like she skipped a full week's worth of work and just showed up on Friday to get her paycheck! Bum! Not only does the song have a catchy melody, it chuggs along smoothly at a quick pace right after its engine was just juiced up with motor oil! (Oh yeah! They call me "the metaphor mainiac!") This and the fact that it's a sort of a fun throwback to 50's rock makes this track truly stand out above everything else. Niiiiice!

Everything is Permitted 8.5/10

Really? Then let's streak! It's good to streak.

Man, though! The last song on this album, and it sounds almost exactly like the end of Bat Out of Hell. Conditioned to close the album, it does make the effort to sound sentimental and has that concluding vibe we get from the music theater. Oooooh yeah! It's pretty good!

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