Meat Loaf Dead Ringer (2-CD)

Personnel: Meat Loaf, Cher (vocals); Joe DeAngelis (acoustic guitar); Davey Johnstone, Mick Ronson (guitar); Alan Rubin, Lou Marani, Lou Delgatto, Tom Malone (horns); Roy Bittan (piano, keyboards); Nicky Hopkins (piano); Larry Fast (synthesizer); Steve Buslowe (bass); Max Weinberg, Liberty DeVitto (drums); Neleam Ymmij (African logs); Jimmy Maelen (percussion); Rory Dodd, Ted Neeley, Allan Nicholls, Eric Troyer, Rhonda Coullet, Leslie Loaf (background vocals).

Producers: Meat Loaf, Stephan Galfas, Jimmy Iovine, Jim Steinman.

Recorded at Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, California; The Record Plant and The Power Station, New York; House Of Music, West Orange, New Jersey.

When Meat Loaf burst on the rock scene in 1978 with BAT OUT OF HELL, he seemed rather sui generis. Few bands of the era had let theatrics seep into their music as thoroughly as Meat Loaf did (though credit also goes to chief songwriter Jim Steinman and producer Todd Rundgren), and the singer hit commercial paydirt with BAT's mixture of theatricality, rock and ballads. But the multi-platinum success of his debut put an incredible strain on Meat Loaf to produce a worthy follow-up, as he and Steinman battled over what direction the sophomore effort should take, resulting in numerous release postponements. Three long years later, DEAD RINGER finally emerged in 1981. Though it had a few strikes against it - Rundgren was no longer aboard, and the emergence of punk/new wave had taken the public's love for bombastic rock down a few notches - DEAD RINGER contains more than a few gems. Keepers include a fun duet with Cher, "Dead Ringer for Love," as well as "Peel Out" and "I'll Kill You If You Don't Come Back."