Everything louder than everything else

[venta]

On Fridays this year, we ask...

What's in the Box?

The Box in question is the glovebox of my car, home to my extremely motley tape collection. By the time I owned a car with a tape player tapes were on the way out and most of my music was in CD format. However, charity shops were practically giving tapes away, which meant that I bought rapaciously and eclectically. A half-remembered 80s band who once released a single I'd liked a little ? A band I'd vaguely heard of ? An unknown group with good cover art ? Bring them on.

Of course, the net result is that I've ended up with a tape collection which any music-lover would be slightly ashamed of. There was a relatively narrow window (late 70s to later 80s) when tapes were big news, and my horde represents that. However, in amongst the terrible pop I've found some gems and I reckon its time to come clean about my guilty musical secrets.

In The Box this week we have:

Pandora's Box - Original Sin

If you listen to this album for more than, oooh, 15 picoseconds you'll work out who was behind it: Jim Steinman. At least, you will if you know your Wagnerian rock well; if not you'll probably just think it sounds a bit like Meat Loaf.

Now, I know the idea of a Jim Steinman concept album is pretty terrifying, but just hang in there for a moment. You see, I have this idea that secretly everyone actually rather likes that big, overblown, overorchestrated, overeverythinged rock sound. Sure, you wouldn't want it every day, but musically it fills the same role as hot chocolate pudding. It's indulgent and ultimately rather comforting, although an excess is unwise.

Some of the songs on Original Sin (like Good Girls Go To Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)) were later recorded by Meat Loaf following Pandora's Box's commercial failure. In fact, if Wikipedia is to be believed, pretty much all the material was recycled and rehashed in various formats.

I've never quite made my mind up about this album. The lush, sing-a-long tracks are ideal hammering-up-the-motorway music. On the other hand, the more "concepty" tracks are a little weird. Sitting in a traffic jam on the M6 while some scary bloke tells you about his trouble with mirrors, or trying to parallel park while being subjected to an extended rant about the perils of placing personal ads is... well, it's odd. Not bad, just odd.

I'd also like to observe that Mr Steinman ought to get some sort of songwriting award for services to parentheses.

Pandora's Box - Original Sin (The Natives Are Restless Tonight) [link expired]

[Not a very good quality mp3, I'm afraid: the tape's a bit knackered. And I'm still not quite sure I've got the recording levels right. It sounds like the volume was cranked up too high for the system to cope with, but it's not come out that loud. Back to fiddling with the stereo.]

[Poll #1123248]

Comments

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I was introduced to this album by wimble (maybe you would have guessed that). It's clearly barking mad, but at least it's a folie de grandeur. I much prefer it to most of his Meatloaf stuff -- but, as you say, one wouldn't want to listen to it too often.