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Without Jim Steinman, this album still manages
to soar--although most Meat Loaf fans probably don't agree (but then, most
"Meat Loaf fans" think that his body of work is BOOH and BOOH2). Oddly,
the album is titled after a song of the same name; personally, if it had
been me, I would have titled it after the leadoff track, "Execution
Day"--and I would have put just about anything on the cover besides
Meat's grim face and light blue blazer.
Yeah, the cover
Now, I'm not saying Meat is repulsive
(although the light blue blazer sure is). I just have a problem with
musicians who put their faces on the cover, like that's a terribly
exciting thing that makes people grab it when they see it in a store.
Perhaps that's what happened to this album; although it's excellent and
perhaps the most "rock and rolling" through and through of all his works,
it hasn't stuck in most folks' memories. The alternate cover (above),
which I don't have, is slightly more bearable. The frightening album cover
is somewhat redeemed by the back cover, which features two guitars, one
resembling the American flag and the other the British flag, crossed. (The
album was recorded in England.) Very cool indeed.
I have a personal affinity for fantasy art,
which is why BOOH, DR, BA, BOOH2, and TVBOML are my favorites. Perhaps
Meat was trying to escape the "fantasy art covers to sell copies" bit, but
he should have stuck to it.
My personal vision: This album should have
been named Execution Day and had cool fantasy cover art. What sort?
Good question. I envision either a headless rider on a motorcycle (keeping
with the long-running Meat Loaf bike theme) or a crowd of thousands before
a gallows with the biker meeting a hooded executioner. (If there are any interested artists out
there, I'd love to see concepts for such an Execution Day redesign,
just for grins. I am not much of an artist, so won't attempt such a thing
myself.)
At any rate, this would be a great way to
re-release the album for its twentieth anniversary in 2006!
Cross-fade
When this album was released, LPs and cassettes were still what most
people bought; CDs were brand new and, in fact, I don't know if this album
was even released on CD initially.
As such, there is a slightly annoying
cross-fade between "Execution Day" and "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries." As the
first track is fading out with an awesome echo of Meat screaming
"Execution Day!" the second track is fading in with the opening
"Talking... talking..." bit. Now, on LP and cassette, this sounds pretty
cool. However, on CD, the audio tracks must be
separated in order for the CD player to find the tracks. Therefore, on CD,
there is an annoying blank spot right in the middle of the cross-fade.
It's brief, but it is there and is interruptive. I'm wondering: were these
songs ever released as singles, without the cross-fade?
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