Meat Loaf 'Not A Dry Eye In The House'

Chart Peak: 7

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'Not A Dry Eye In The House' was another UK Top 10 smash for Meat... It was written by top songwriter Diane Warren and peaked at No. 7 in January 1996.

Unlike most singles that peaked at such levels in 1996, 'Dry Eye' didn't enter at that level - it started its chart career outside the Top 20 and swooping up 16 places after he performed it on the National Lottery draw (note for overseas readers: the UK lottery was only launched in 1994 so the novelty had yet to wear off then) and for a while that show became the top promotional appearance every pop star wanted, rather like X-Factor is now. Although the chart performance was unusual (at the time), the record is less so, a retread of the not-exactly-original formula of his previous single 'I'd Lie For You' (also written by Warren). It seems somehow caught between Loaf's typical desire to present something immensely dramatic and Warren's one-dimensional composition.

Also appearing on: Now 26, 27, 32, 65
Available on: Welcome To The Neighbourhood

Meat Loaf 'I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)'

Chart Peak: 1 (7 weeks)

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The original Bat Out Of Hell album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide... More than a decade and a half later, Meat Loaf and producer Jim Steinman unleashed the follow-up,  which has already spawned this astonishing UK chart-topper.

Astonishing indeed - for all its massive success, the one thing the original Bat Out Of Hell album hadn't even come close to was a Number One single: indeed, it didn't even spawn a Top 10 hit until the title track was re-issued a couple of weeks after Now! 26 hit the shelves. The single is also remarkable for its length: the single edit runs to 7:38, the longest of any UK chart-topper at the time (not counting double A-sides and EPs, obviously) and even that was edited down from the 12-minute album version. The radio edit featured here is a more manageable 5:29 or so, though I'm not sure whether that's the version they intended to use: there's a bit of spare space at the end of Side 2 of the tape, and it does have fewer tracks than the other three sides.

It even got mentioned in a lesson at school. I can't entirely remember how or why, but I know there was some discussion about the mystique surrounding exactly what "that" was that he wouldn't do, and whether that was fuelling the success of the single. In fact, if you listen closely enough he does actually list several things he won't do, but only fans seem to have noticed. Perhaps the sheer scale of the song made it hard to concentrate on the details: it certainly has that effect on me. To be fair to him, though, Mr Loaf does put in a very good vocal performance, maybe his best ever: it takes some skill to sell such a ridiculous song, both camp and macho,  but he manages it here.

I can't help mentioning the spooky similarity between parts of the melody in this song and that of 'I Will Sing' by obscure and possibly non-existent underground musician Y. Bhekhirst. It's fair to say he doesn't have quite the same production values as Jim Steinman though.

Also appearing on: Now 27, 32, 33, 65
Available on: The Very Best Of Sad Songs

Meat Loaf 'Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through'

Chart Peak: 11

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'Rock And Roll Dreams' was the follow-up smash to 1993's biggest-selling single 'I'd Do Anything For Love'... Meat, born Marvin Lee Aday, has not only sold tens of millions of records but has also made his mark in the last 25 years as an actor.

Although it's true that this was the official follow-up to his Number One, his former record company had re-released 'Bat Out Of Hell' in the interim, thus making Mr Loaf the first act to have simultaneous Top 10 singles since, er, Dina Carroll the week before. One of the B-sides on that single was the original 1991 version of this song by Jim Steinman (who fortunately used a session singer rather than doing it himself). Curiously, it's that original that I remember hearing more of than this technically bigger hit.

The original always sounded a bit like a Meat Loaf record without Meat Loaf, and apparently that's pretty much what it was, with Steinman forced to record the follow-up to Bat Out Of Hell without his lead singer. A dozen years later most of this was recycled into Bat Out Of Hell II, which is logical (and very lucrative) but it feels a little bit pointless: although Steinman is famous for his massive productions he has a fairly limited palette of ways to be massive and so there aren't a lot of new things to be brought to this version, except maybe a slightly bigger budget. Well, that and Loaf's voice which I've never been keen on anyway. And I'm not a huge fan of songs about how good music is anyway, because they always seem to be preaching to the converted too much. In fairness, though, it's exactly what people who buy a Meat Loaf record produced by Jim Steinman would be looking for.

Also appearing on: Now 26, 32, 33, 65
Available on: Massive Hits! - Rock

Meat Loaf 'I'd Lie For You (And That's The Truth)'

Chart Peak: 2

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'I'd Lie For You..', a duet with Patti Russo, is a classic embodiment of Meat Loaf's approach... Due for release on 16th October 1995 and surely destined to join the wonders in the Meat Hall Of Fame. From CD/Tape "Welcome To The Neighbourhood"

It can only be a coincidence, knowing how far in advance they'd have had to go to press, but this was Number 2 the week before the Queen single; and the track that kept them both off the top shows up on Disc 2.

This was Mr Loaf's first single since his career was rebooted by Bat Out Of Hell 2, his most successful album since you-know-what, and although he was evidently unable to do a third Bat album at this stage, he wasn't in any mood to mess with the formula. This single was neither written nor produced by Jim Steinman (Diane Warren and Ron Nevison respectively) but it wishes it was. Right down to the convoluted and jokey song title, and the inordinate running time (though the edit featured here manages to trim a full two minutes from the original album version) this models itself on his biggest hit single. They even made a ludicrously over the top video, which took up seven minutes of TotP before the single had even been released. 

Whilst all the above is entirely understandable, it doesn't leave a lot for those of us who firmly believe that Meat Loaf only needed to make one record. It wasn't this one. And if this really delivered on its promised epicness, it'd be odd to throw it away so early in the sequence; maybe it's just as well it proved to be a bit of a damp squib. As for the "Meat hall of fame", well, I can't remember the last time I heard this outside the context of this album.

Also appearing on: Now 26, 27, 33, 65
Available on: Hits Out of Hell (Expanded)