Good, Great or Garbage: Jim Steinman's "Bad For Good"
It's Friday, that means it's time for TRAPPO, the show that talks about stuff on purpose. This week, we're talking (on purpose) about 1981's Bad For Good, the sole solo album from late legendary rock music producer and composer Jim Steinman. This particular episode goes down a bit of a rabbit hole, since Bad For Good isn't just a stand-alone album, but more of a fascinating oddity that serves as something of a keystone for much of Steinman's later work as a music producer and songwriter. From Meat Loaf to Bonnie Tyler to Barbra Streisand, Bad For Good squats at the center of a tangled musical web, and this podcast aims not only to evaluate the album on its own merits, but also to follow all the threads and see just how tangled a web Jim Steinman wove back in 1981,,,
You can check out the episode below, or you can always find us on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher, so choose your own adventure and join us as we celebrate the majesty and glory of old school rock and roll.
Feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below, telling us what you thought of the episode and sharing your favorite Jim Steinman compositions, or if you're feeling more verbose you can always shoot us a badass email, and you can always visit us on Twitter and Instagram. Tell us how we're doing. What's good? What's not so good? We're all ears, so don't be shy! We may respond to your feedback on our next episode!
Speaking of which, stay tuned for a very special holiday celebration, coming soon. Thanks for stopping by and we'll see ya next time!
I've never been the biggest meatloaf fan, but I like enough of the music. I didn't really know anything about Jim Steinman before listening to the show, and I thought it was all pretty cool. I have to agree wth the one guy that that left in the dark song is awful, tho. But I don't think any of the other covers of the song were that good either, from what I heard on your episode. But that's just me. I'm not a Barbara Stisand person. I guess my favorite meatloaf song is paradise by the dash board because it's really the only one I knew at all. Maybe I should start getting into this stuff now. Thanks for the show, I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI've listened to my fair amount of Meat Loaf albums, but I have to say I didn't know Bad For Good existed before now. I had no idea Jim Steinman ever made a dsolo album in his life, and I guess I've learned a thing or two from this episode. It's really neat having you guys break down some of the differences between the better known versions of these songs and their original cuts from this old album that went under my radar forever. And that Stark ravin gLove song transforming into Holding Out for a Hero blew my fucking mind. I remember hearing hat song during the end of Short Circuit 2 and it's been living rent free in my head ever since, along with some other stuff from that movie that may have fucked me up for life, but that's off topic. THanks for the podcast, I thought it was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteWhy is this stuff all so horny? I know I've listened to some Meat Loaf, but I guess I never gave the content of the music a lot of thought, and it's all about trying to get laid. It ALL sounds like it's about trying to get laid! Is this Jim Steinman just a one note song writer? It feels pretty monotonos after a while. Also, his voice is terrible. You say there are two guys singing on that album, but based on the clips in the episode, I can't tell the damn difference. It's just bad all around. Why didn't this guy do what Santana did with Supernatural and just call in a bunch of current singers to record for his album? Why did he do all of this himself? You cover a lot of bases on your episode but I don't know if you ever answered that question. It's driving me nuts. Why would a guy who really can't sing just put an album out with his rotten voice all over it?
ReplyDeleteThe episdoe was fun, though. I enjoyed it. I don't really have any favorite Jim Steinman songs because I don't really familiar with his music, but some of the Meat Loaf songs you played on the show sounded pretty cool. I did listen to Rock & Roll Dreams Come Through after I heard the episode, and I really liked it. So maybe that one. Good job.
RIP Meat Loaf! It's a damn shame! I listened to this episode again today in memory of both these legends. How about a Meat Loaf tribute podcast?
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