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Rating: Mr. Marvin Aday, known to most as Meat Loaf, owes his fame mainly to the masterpiece that was "Bat Out of Hell", a record that since the late Seventies has allowed him to sell just a few tens of millions of copies. At a time when punk and heavy metal were on the rise, releasing an LP that was a concentrate of Fifties rock'n'roll and that exuded from every single groove the passion of Jim Steinman, the true deus ex machina of the entire operation, for the most classic musical could have proved more than just a gamble, but, ironically, that album launched both into the pantheon of world music.
The idyll naturally doesn't last long and shortly after, the two would spend the Eighties bickering with lawyers, all while Aday tried to keep the business afloat between one bankruptcy and another. As tradition dictates, however, after fifteen years of disputes the long-awaited reconciliation occurs, with a new album that could only repeat the formula of their great success, namely "Bat Out of Hell II", which definitively boosted Meat Loaf's standing. The old grudges, however, wouldn't go away and shortly after their partnership is interrupted again: Aday is still a great organizer of others' work and from that moment on his career would return to very high levels, also because he would surround himself with top-notch authors and musicians.
This "Couldn't Have Said It Better" is from 2003, it is rarely cited among his reference albums but it is certainly a record of great quality, with all the credentials to become a small classic. By managing, on this occasion, to attract figures of the caliber of James Michael, Nikki Sixx, Diane Warrenn, and Tod Rundgren, as well as seasoned session musicians like Kenny Aronoff, "Couldn't Have Said It Better" proves to be a complete album, with quality songs, excellently played and produced. Do not expect any change in musical direction, it wouldn't make sense: Meat Loaf presents himself once more doing what he does best, that is, masterfully interpreting grandiose, compelling songs, perhaps more suited to a Broadway show than a rock festival.
The eponymous opening track reprises the winning duet with the spirited Patti Russo but the subsequent "Did I Say That" and "Why Isn't That Enough", more rhythmic, highlight Aday's interpretative skills even on more subdued songs. After the brief instrumental interlude, which ideally divides the album into two chapters, the second part lives up to the first thanks to songs like "Testify", one of the best tracks on the album, which manages to alternate more vibrant passages with evocative choruses, while "You're Right, I was Wrong" and "Because of You" revisit that pianistic rock style, always straddling rock'n'roll and AOR, which had already brought luck to Our Hero in the past. Ending with two covers, Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" and "Mercury Blues", an old classic from the Forties, here present as a hidden track. "Couldn't Have Said It Better" did not achieve particular success at the time of its release, but in return, the long tour was a sell-out pretty much everywhere, confirming how the weight and charisma of a figure like Meat Loaf remained intact over the years. Excellent album, fresh and lively, yet another great test of another immortal of rock'n'roll.
"Couldn't have said It Better":
1. Couldn't Have Said It Better
2. Did I Say That
3. Why Isn't That Enough
4. Love You Out Loud
5. Man of Steel
6. Testify
7. Tear Me Down
8. You're Right, I was Wrong
9. Because Of You
10. Do It!
11. Forever Young
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Couldn't Have Said It Better (07:10)
BOY:
And you said nothing at all
Well I couldn't have said it better myself
Tonight the conversation takes the fall
Just love me like you love nobody else
Little lady
I think there's something on your mind
I've known you long enough to know
The words are not that hard to find
And the harder you try
And the longer you go
Well there's nothing but love
In those eyes anymore
You know what to say
But you never know how
You can keep your mouth shut
Because it doesn't really
Matter right now
I will guide you all the way
Because i know exactly
What you're trying to say
You have the right
To remain silent
I'll get the lights
You get that smile
And you say nothing at all
Well I couldn't have said it better myself
Tonight the conversation takes the fall
Just love me like you love nobody else
I see the angels
They're standing right outside your door
GIRL:
They're watching over me
They're watching over us all
BOY
You can send them home tonight
Because you won't need them anymore
GIRL:
In your arms
I think i've found
The safest place to fall
BOTH:
When i step in the door and i stare at your face
there are so many things that i wish i could say
well i struggle with words but they put up a fight
you can keep your mouth shut
because it doesn't really matter tonight
I will guide you
All the way (tonight)
Because I know exactly
What you're trying to say
GIRL:
You have the right
To remain silent
I'll get the lights
You get that smile
BOTH:
And you say nothing at all
Well I couldn't have said it better myself
Tonight the conversation takes the fall
Just love me like you love nobody else
BOY:
And I know you feel the same
BOTH:
You've been searching for the words
Now you know what to say
BOY:
Just say nothing
Don't say a word
Silence is gold
GIRL:
Don't say a word
BOY:
Shhh
[instrumental bridge]
BOTH:
This is the moment we've been waiting for (ohh yeah!)
GIRL:
If I exercise my right
BOY:
I will take your body language
BOTH:
And hold it against you tonight
BOY:
And I know you feel the same
BOTH:
I've wondered all my life
If this moment comes
Would I know what to say
BOY & GIRL (GIRL IN "()"):
Then you say nothing at all
(So many times I stumbled on the words that I wanted to say)
You said nothing at all
(So many thoughts that I should have just let my heart explain)
You said nothing at all
(So many ways we could turn the words around)
You said nothing at all
(So many nights our hearts came crashing to the ground)
You said nothing at all
(So many dreams that are finally coming true)
Well I could'nt have said it better myself
(Now you finish me off when
you finish my thoughts the way you do)
CHORUS OUT
02 Did I Say That (06:02)
So this is what it feels like
To be the one left behind
To give it all you've got then find
You've already changed you mind
And this is what it sounds like
Crying on the bed that we both made
Waiting for a sign that you just can't give me
Any kind of sign
I don't want to be here wide awake
Clinging to a love that can't be saved
Hanging off the edge of every word
that you say
So I asked myself,
03 Why Isn't That Enough (04:08)
I don't know I can do this
What am I supposed to say?
You have been my dream for so long
Now that dream is slipping away
I don't want to let you go
It's only that I know I must
I can't hardly get the words out
Baby is this the end of us?
You know that I want You
You know that I need you baby
You know that I love you
So why isn't that enough?
I'v been sleeping in the daytime
I've been weeping at the scene
Wishing you would haunt me
And you would tell me this was all a dream
Wishing you were here beside me
What I would give to hold you tight
But nothing I can do or say
Will change the truth tonight
You know that I want You
You know that I need you baby
You know that I love you
So why isn't that enough?
If I want you
and I need you
and I love you
And I want that to be enough
Because I want you
and I need you
and I love you
And I want that to be enough
Yes I want you
and I need you
and I love you
And I want that to be enough
Yes I want you
and I need you
and I love you
And I want that to be enough
I don't want to let you go
it's only that I know I must
I can hardly get the words out
Baby is this the end of us
You know that I want You
You know that I need you baby
You know that I love you
So why isn't that enough?
Why isn't that enough?
I wish it was enough
06 Testify (04:58)
Come a little closer it's a feeling that I can't deny
I was weak, but I never thought I'd speak about the darker side
Is that a tent? I could repent upon the side of the road
But, I kept on going yeah I headed for another load
I get up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
I was laid upon the grave by a preacher's hand I cannot lie
And, I forsake the many vows I made to be with you tonight
Could you be the salvation cause I never felt like this before
And, could you lend me your hand because I'm falling back on the floor
up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
On a road outside of nowhere, in the middle of the night
Well I guess I hit rock bottom and the dawn was not in sight
And a Tempest made of fire, onset the sky aglow
And a sweet young thing called out my name
And this is how it goes, she says ....
'Go boy, can you hear them? Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?'
And I got down on my knees
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Every cut that heals reveals a scar that you can never hope to hide
All the pain that you restrain keeps buildings up deep inside
If you think you're above it then it's you my friend that I implore
You've got to walk before you run
See the night before dawn
Before you pull yourself off the floor
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
07 Tear Me Down (03:40)
Listen
I was born on the other side
Just always looking to you
I made it over the great divide
Now I'm coming for you
Your forces lined up in battle
Your soldiers and your machines
The sun been blacked out by shadows
The darkest hour now you've ever seen
And I'm easy and I'm serious
They try and tear me down
You want me baby I dare you
Try and tear me down
I rose up on the doctor's slab
Like Lazarus from the pit
And everyone wants to take a stab
Decorate me with blood, graffiti and spit
I've been held up on money
I've been beaten out of spite
You want a piece of me honey?
Lose or win
You know you've been in a fight
And I'm easy and I'm serious
They try and tear me down
You want me baby I dare you
Try and tear me down
''Girl:'' On March 6th, 1836 the walls of the Alamo fell to the Mexican army. After a 12-day siege, the troops of Santa Ana were victorious but too exhausted to hold on and the Texans won the war. It's further from El Paso to Texarkana, then from New York to Chicago. And when it joined the Union, Texas was the biggest state. Yeah, everything from Texas is big, larger than life and none bigger than little Marvin Aday. So big his daddy called him Meat Loaf. He grew into a big man, with a big voice. And he sings big songs and has big hits. You can try and tear him down.
Now there ain't much difference
Between a bridge and a wall
Without me right in the middle baby
You'll be nothing at all
And I'm easy and I'm serious
They try and tear me down
You want me baby I dare you
Try and tear me down
11 Forever Young (10:52)
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder in the stars
And climb on every rung
And may you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see light that's surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young
Forever young
May you stay forever young
May your hand always be busy
And your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And your song may it be sung
And may you stay forever young
Forever young
Forever young
May you stay forever young
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