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| Another Braver review | |
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The_wolf_with_the_red_roses 10:08 pm UTC 09/14/16 |
| It isn't the REAL Bat 3 we all wanted back in 06, it's closer in terms of thematic cohesiveness to Dead Ringer, but it isn't that either. Last Christmas saw Star Wars return with a piece of work that evokes past glories, whilst adding enough new to warrant a return to a galaxy far far away after such a long time. Braver Than We Are is Meat and Jim's Force Awakens, burying thier differences once more to tell the world that going all the way is just the start. Who Needs the Young Pure. Meat. And. Jim. From the funky guitar riff kicking off proceedings, which then becomes the soundtrack of a Batman villain's fever dream. Visual, funny and heartbreaking. Or, to simply reiterate, pure Meat and Jim. Going All the Way (a song in six movements) I cried the first time I listened to this. Karla and Ellen are sublime and Paul Crook's production has taken a song which, in my opinion, was always "soft" and gentle, and transformed it into this song that evokes lament and optimism about growing up. While I mentioned that, no, this isn't Bat 4 or the "real Bat 3", Going All the Way represents that style perfectly and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Bat Out of Hell and I Would Do Anything for Love as a quinticential Meat and Jim ADVENTURE. On a dark night, with eyes closed and headphones on loud, the three songs could play in sequence and in the midst of it all, I don't think I could tell you when one song ended and the other began. The song is THE perfect centrepiece of the album; if Meat and Jim had only recorded one more song, and it had been this one, I would have been more than content. Just stunning. Speaking in Tongues Of all the songs on the album, this one feels the most "new". Of course, none of the songs are new, but with a gospel-inspired arrangement and a brand new verse written by Jim only this year, it shows that despite strokes, heart surgeries and broken bones, Jim hasn't a missed one fucking beat when it comes to crafting something so laughably obsurd and breath-takingly real and inspiring. My Erection of the Heart is throbbing, my faded plaid shirt is bursting apart and I now need a dry cleaners AND a cardiologist. Souvenirs How fitting that, on an album that is heavily rumoured to be a round off to Meat's recording career, he chooses to revisit a song from his and Jim's seminal project together, 1974's More Than You Deserve. On my first few listens, the song sounded a little incomplete. There are no additional lyrics from Jim's demo and, with music and lyrics being lifted from this and reused in later, better songs, I had hoped it would have been one Jim and Meat added a bit more to. That being said, the production is top notch; Meat is at his most harrowing and broken vocally. A definite grower on me, although I still think that this one could have easily been reworked into a "sequel" to Paradise. Who here can't imagine Ellen Foley telling "the boy" that "you always were a super dad but as a lover you were less than fine"? Loving You's a Dirty Job Like many fans of Jim, I've heard all these songs before, however, while some of the songs I've heard as demos, this already has an official release and yet is one of Jim's songs I'm least familiar with. Before finding out Loving You's a Dirty Job was being covered on this album I hadn't listened to the Bonnie Tyler and Todd Rundgren original in almost five years. Let down by a dated production and vocals from Rundgren that weren't to my taste, it was a song I don't think I'd ever had an urge to listen to. Which is why its inclusion intrigued me so much. Could a fresh take bring out the songs potential, which I always felt was there? The production here is a vast improvement on the original, which felt a little tinny and unfocused. Meat's low, drawling vocals create a fantastic juxtaposition with the youthful and soaring Stacy Michelle's. Like Souvenirs, this one is a grower. Only When I Feel Only When I Feel is my favourite song ever. It just speaks to me in a way that no other song has. A 2005 recording of Meat singing it live is amongst my most treasured recordings. On Bat 3 it was recorded in an incomplete form as "If It Ain't Broke, Break It". A decade later and the song is finally completed, it's just that the two parts exist on separate albums. There's no new verse for Only When I Feel, and Paul and Meat decided to not re-record the full song. Many reviews have said this is Meat's weakest vocal performance on the album and often cite this song as evidence that Meat has lost it. But Meat is a clever man, and never does anything by accident and here uses the song as a calm, defeated acceptance of one's shitty lot in life. Which is what makes the song all the more satisfying. More Meat's gravelly vocals, the grimey sounding synths all evoke a sleazy grindhouse vibe, like the character is walking the streets filling his body (and filling other bodies) with sensation to block out the pain. If there's any justice in the world, Robert Rodriguez is already in negotiations to direct a music video for this song. Godz If More is about taking, then Godz is about being stolen from, and cursing the world for all it's taken from you. Meat relishes every discourseful line with snide and relish. "Fire, fire FIIIIIIIRE!" Screams Meat, channelling the disillusioned teenager inside him, and all of us, with startling accuracy. Blood pumping, cathartic and just fun. Skull of your country Meat was offered Total Eclipse of The Heart back in the 80s, and in all the years and albums since the thought to retroactively put his stamp on it may have been tempting. The conceit here is showing the world which song had the iconic "turn around bright eyes" first... or at least part of it. Skull of your country is lifted from "Come in the Night", the epic opener of Jim's "Dream Engine", the musical he wrote and starred in in 1969, so naturally when I saw this on the track list I was ecstatic. One of the few disappointments of the album here. Even as early into his career as Dream Engine, Jim's work was evocative and raw and Come in the Night would have been the perfect closer to Braver Than We Are. "Whoever said that Madness was a sin?". This could have been the ray of light and defiance to end, not just the album, but to close the Meat and Jim songbook forever. Instead... Train of Love Take away the Springsteen-isms of Bad For Good and what you're left with is Train of Love. Not a favourite of anyone, Jim included, it genuinely puzzles me that Meat, Jim and Paul saw fit to trim songs and leave others un-expanded and record this song. Had they removed it from the finished album, I don't think it would have factored in my overall opinion of it one bit. Summary I love this album. Thematically cohesive, a producer who gets the material the same way Todd did back in 77*. And Meat? His voice has changed, but it is far from shot. He sounds more invested, more passionate and more on-point that he has done since Bat 2. Yes, there are effects to enhance his voice, but as Katy Perry's entire recording career stands as testaatament to, all the studio tricks in the world not saving a bad performance. All of these extra bells and whistles just enhance an already terrific production , and given the chance I'd love to see Paul Crook do more stuff with Jim in the future. I said before that in places the album feels sparse, but I'd rather the album left me wanting more and rewarding me with repeat listens as opposed to being a slog like Bat 3 or Hell in a Baskett was. It's a shame there's no "new" songs, and I do think not recording Sun in Your Eyes, a song seemingly tailor made for this project and choosing Train of Love over is a missed opportunity on an otherwise triumphant tour-de-force for Meat and Jim. | |
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