Blind Before I Stop

Blind Before I Stop is the fifth studio album by Meat Loaf released in September 1986. The album was produced in Germany by Frank Farian and was the first to fully embrace the '80s sound. Critics were concerned about the album missing the characteristic Steinman-influenced sound by incorporating synth chords and samples. According to Meat Loaf's 1998 autobiography, he would have preferred to wait to work with more Steinman material, but his contractual obligations with Arista required him to complete two more albums by the end of the 1980s, including this album and a live album.

Blind Before I Stop
Original Arista album cover
Studio album by
Meat Loaf
ReleasedSeptember 1986
RecordedFebruary-June 1986
GenreRock, synthpop, heavy metal[1]
Length48:33
LabelArista
Atlantic (US/Canada)
ProducerFrank Farian
Meat Loaf chronology
Bad Attitude
(1984)		 Blind Before I Stop
(1986)		 Live at Wembley
(1987)
Alternate US album cover
Alternate cover used for the US release
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Kerrang![3]

Meat Loaf co-wrote three of the songs on the album. One of them, "Blind Before I Stop", was performed live on Saturday Night Live, with Meat Loaf playing guitar. "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries", a duet with rock singer John Parr, was released as a single in the UK. Meat Loaf sang the song live with Parr on only one occasion and did not do so again after an incident just after the release of the single. During a sold out show in London, the singer failed to introduce Parr onto the stage and Parr walked off after the song was over. Despite leaving dozens of phone messages begging for forgiveness, Meat Loaf never heard from Parr again. During his late 1980s tour of Europe, Meat Loaf picked up pianist Frank Doyle. Richard Raskin had made contributions to arrangements on previous musical tracks some years before and his style can still be heard on bass.

Music videos were created for several singles from the album, including "Getting Away with Murder" and "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries".[4] Several songs from the album were featured as bonus tracks on the 1998 CD re-release of Bad Attitude in lieu of their inclusion on The Very Best of Meat Loaf compilation album released the same year.

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Execution Day"Meat Loaf, Dick Wagner6:30
2."Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries"Michael Dan Ehmig, Alan Hodge5:00
3."Getting Away with Murder"Terry Britten, Sue Shifrin3:49
4."One More Kiss (Night of the Soft Parade)"John Golden, Meat Loaf5:40
5."Blind Before I Stop"Paul Christie, Golden, Meat Loaf3:33
6."Burning Down"Billy Rankin5:00
7."Standing on the Outside"Steve George, John Lang, Richard Page3:57
8."Masculine"Rick Derringer, Jake Hooker, Bernard Kenny4:23
9."Man and a Woman"John Harris, Jerry Riopelle4:11
10."Special Girl"Eddie Schwartz, Dave Tyson3:54
11."Rock 'n' Roll Hero"John Wilcox4:30

Personnel

Band
  • Meat Loaf — lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 2, 6, 8), guitar (5), additional guitars (2)
  • John Parr — guest vocals (2)
  • Mats Björklynd — guitars (1, 2, 3, 8), bass (3, 6), keys, programming, drums (5, 9)
  • Johan Daansen — guitars (2, 7, 10)
  • Peter Weihe — guitars
  • Dieter Petereit — bass
  • John Golden — bass (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10)
  • Harry Baierl — piano (4, 7, 8), keyboards, programming (2)
  • Pit Löw — keyboards and programming
  • Mel Collins — saxophone (1, 3, 6)
  • Curt Cress — drums
  • Amy Goff — female vocals (9), backing vocals
  • Frank Farian — additional vocals (2), backing vocals (6)
  • Peter Bischof — vocals
  • Bert Gebhard — vocals
  • Bimey Oberreit — vocals
  • Elaine Goff — vocals
  • The Jackson Singers — choir (1, 6, 7)

Singles

Charts
Chart (1986) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[5] 51
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[6] 36
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[7] 21
UK Albums (OCC)[8] 28

References
  1. http://www.allmusic.com/album/blind-before-i-stop-mw0000190872
  2. Ruhlmann, William. "Meat Loaf Blind Before I Stop review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  3. Dickson, Dave (2 October 1986). "Meat Loaf 'Blind Before I Stop'". Kerrang!. 130. London, UK: United Magazines ltd. p. 19.
  4. http://www.mtv.com/#/music/artist/meatloaf/artist.jhtml
  5. "Offiziellecharts.de – Meat Loaf – Blind Before I Stop" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  6. "Swedishcharts.com – Meat Loaf – Blind Before I Stop". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  7. "Swisscharts.com – Meat Loaf – Blind Before I Stop". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  8. "Meat Loaf | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
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