Wiik in Review
What would you say if I told you I was posting this from my Wii...?
(I didn't -- I gave up when I realized how long it was gonna get)
[Work]
I just completed my first full week of work in months. It felt great. Unfortunately, I don't know when I'm going to be able to do that again -- this is a short-term gig that needs to be complete by the end of the day Wednesday. Gwar! Still, I should be able to cover rent for another month, maybe a car payment depending on how much is withheld for taxes.
Speaking of taxes, I can't wait to get my W2s so I can file ASAP.
[Music]
A while back, sacredspud mentioned a whole bunch about Jim Steinman. It was during the course of this discussion that I learned there was a Bat out of Hell III.
I promptly forgot about this.
That is, until I borrowed Josie and the Pussycats (which I borrowed from , who had it I beleive because laviorli borrowed it from koriandrkitten and left it at his place). I'd only seen this movie once when I was told it was a masterful parody of product placement and over-commercialized music. During the scene where the band is "discovered", I heard a haunting melody which turned out to be "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" as performed by Meatloaf. One of the first links I found was to the music video. (Note: I'd been thinking to myself that this would be great to perform at a wedding. But then Gemma had to ruin it by mentioning she'd already seen someone do just that. That's okay -- I'll do it anyway.)
I'd never actually heard the entire song before, and the part you can actually hear in Josie is such a miniscule portion of it. But as soon as I heard "let me sleep on it", a smile of familarity crept across my face. Apparently this phenomenon isn't limited to me -- lots of other people when prompted will just jump right to that part.
Bat Out of Hell II was one of the first dozen or so CDs I ever owned, so obviously it holds a special place in my musical palette. Remembering Colin's post, I went out to pick up the new disc, but since it was right there I got Bat out of Hell as well. I had heard very little of the first album, and of course hadn't heard anything of the third. Or so I thought.
There was a song that wasn't released with Bat Out of Hell II and held over until the next album. Instead, "It's All Coming Back to Me" was popularized by Celine Dion, and I have been almost ashamed to admit that I really like her for that song. Her performance was great, but now I understand Steinman was the one behind it.
By contrast, the Meatloaf version just sounds wrong to me, but it has nothing to do with his performance -- which is great. It's Marion Raven. I never thought I'd say something like this about the French-Canadian, but Celine Dion really owns that song, and Raven just doesn't come close. Unfortunately, because of its familiarity, people will always compare the two (not coincidentally, the two music videos are practically identical).
[The Unifying Factor]
I was listening to these three albums pretty much exclusively for the three times I've been to Janesville and back for work. I've had Bad For Good running through my head a lot (it's eerie how Colin mentions this song AND "Paradise" in this thread, and I didn't even notice until now). Just a few minutes ago, I was replaying it through my grey matter again, it morphed into another song that I'm familiar with. One from the '80s. One I couldn't quite put my finger on for a moment. One that I couldn't quite make out in my head who was sining.
One by Air Supply.
"Huh", I thought, "that's pretty weird". So on a hunch, I checked it out, and sure enough... check the songwriter credit at the top of this page
God. Damn. It.
See, I was already neurotic that I wasn't really a Meatloaf fan (somewhat alleviated by the fact that I actually knew a few songs from the original Bat Out of Hell that I didn't even know were Meatloaf), I'm thrilled that I'm not a Celine Dion fan, but as it turns out I'm not actually an Air Supply fan. So does this mean I'm not really a Bonnie Tyler fan either...?
I suppose if nothing else, it's comforting to know I'm a Jim Steinman fan.
~Sean
(I didn't -- I gave up when I realized how long it was gonna get)
[Work]
I just completed my first full week of work in months. It felt great. Unfortunately, I don't know when I'm going to be able to do that again -- this is a short-term gig that needs to be complete by the end of the day Wednesday. Gwar! Still, I should be able to cover rent for another month, maybe a car payment depending on how much is withheld for taxes.
Speaking of taxes, I can't wait to get my W2s so I can file ASAP.
[Music]
A while back, sacredspud mentioned a whole bunch about Jim Steinman. It was during the course of this discussion that I learned there was a Bat out of Hell III.
I promptly forgot about this.
That is, until I borrowed Josie and the Pussycats (which I borrowed from , who had it I beleive because laviorli borrowed it from koriandrkitten and left it at his place). I'd only seen this movie once when I was told it was a masterful parody of product placement and over-commercialized music. During the scene where the band is "discovered", I heard a haunting melody which turned out to be "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" as performed by Meatloaf. One of the first links I found was to the music video. (Note: I'd been thinking to myself that this would be great to perform at a wedding. But then Gemma had to ruin it by mentioning she'd already seen someone do just that. That's okay -- I'll do it anyway.)
I'd never actually heard the entire song before, and the part you can actually hear in Josie is such a miniscule portion of it. But as soon as I heard "let me sleep on it", a smile of familarity crept across my face. Apparently this phenomenon isn't limited to me -- lots of other people when prompted will just jump right to that part.
Bat Out of Hell II was one of the first dozen or so CDs I ever owned, so obviously it holds a special place in my musical palette. Remembering Colin's post, I went out to pick up the new disc, but since it was right there I got Bat out of Hell as well. I had heard very little of the first album, and of course hadn't heard anything of the third. Or so I thought.
There was a song that wasn't released with Bat Out of Hell II and held over until the next album. Instead, "It's All Coming Back to Me" was popularized by Celine Dion, and I have been almost ashamed to admit that I really like her for that song. Her performance was great, but now I understand Steinman was the one behind it.
By contrast, the Meatloaf version just sounds wrong to me, but it has nothing to do with his performance -- which is great. It's Marion Raven. I never thought I'd say something like this about the French-Canadian, but Celine Dion really owns that song, and Raven just doesn't come close. Unfortunately, because of its familiarity, people will always compare the two (not coincidentally, the two music videos are practically identical).
[The Unifying Factor]
I was listening to these three albums pretty much exclusively for the three times I've been to Janesville and back for work. I've had Bad For Good running through my head a lot (it's eerie how Colin mentions this song AND "Paradise" in this thread, and I didn't even notice until now). Just a few minutes ago, I was replaying it through my grey matter again, it morphed into another song that I'm familiar with. One from the '80s. One I couldn't quite put my finger on for a moment. One that I couldn't quite make out in my head who was sining.
One by Air Supply.
"Huh", I thought, "that's pretty weird". So on a hunch, I checked it out, and sure enough... check the songwriter credit at the top of this page
God. Damn. It.
See, I was already neurotic that I wasn't really a Meatloaf fan (somewhat alleviated by the fact that I actually knew a few songs from the original Bat Out of Hell that I didn't even know were Meatloaf), I'm thrilled that I'm not a Celine Dion fan, but as it turns out I'm not actually an Air Supply fan. So does this mean I'm not really a Bonnie Tyler fan either...?
I suppose if nothing else, it's comforting to know I'm a Jim Steinman fan.
~Sean