Meat Loaf, whose real name is Marvin Aday, was an American singer who could boast of having sold no less than 100 million records to date, just that. His stage name "Meatloaf" is said to be a reference to the nickname he was given after he gained weight as a young football player.
Singer who will form a first group Meat Loaf Soul in 1968 at the age of 21, a group which will go somewhat unnoticed and which will change its name several times thereafter. But it is especially by integrating some time later the troop of the musical Hair that his career will take off for good.
This is how he got noticed by the famous Motown, a label that offered him to record songs with another member of the troupe, namely the singer Shaun 'Stoney' Murphy. The duo will produce an album called "Stoney & Meatloaf" in 1971, which will finally give the young singer his first notorious success thanks to the title "What You See Is What You Get".
We find him two years later in 1973 in a new musical and not the least since he joins the troupe of Rocky Horror Sow, comedy which will be a huge success that year.
But he will have to wait four more years to finally be rewarded for all his efforts with the release in 1977 of his first album as such, namely "Bat out of hell", an album he had started writing in 1972 ! The album will be a real worldwide hit (to the point of selling more than 43 million copies worldwide) and project the singer to the forefront of the international scene in a spectacular way to say the least. In particular thanks to the huge Single "You took the words right out of my mouth".
The sequel will unfortunately prove to be more complicated to manage than expected with a singer on the verge of burnout, all because of too many tours, drugs and fatigue. With the catastrophic result of the gradual loss of his voice...
Four years will be necessary for him to recover his health and release the album "Dead ringer" in 1981, an album with less success than its predecessor. But who will still produce 2 very high caliber Singles with "I'm gonna love her for both of us" as well as "Dead ringer for love".
The situation deteriorated again in the mid-1980s with the failed release of several albums, including "Midnight at the lost and found" in 1983, "Bad attitude" in 1984 and "Blind before I stop" in 1986. No album was able to to produce the least Single of planetary class…
While we thought that the artist would never recover, he will rise from his ashes in a spectacular way at the beginning of the 90s with the release of the album "Bat out of hell II : Back into hell". The album was to be a huge global success and gave him the biggest hit of his entire discography on the Singles side with the title "I'd do anything for love (But I won't do that". Another single "Rock and roll dreams come through" will also experience a more than favorable planetary destiny.
A decade of the 90s which was particularly successful for him since the following album "Welcome to the neighborhood", which was released two years later in 1995, in turn became a huge success. Album carried at arm's length by the huge Single "I'd lie for you (And that's the truth)".
As much as the 90s were favorable to him, the 2000s and 2010s were much less so, despite the release of several albums. Albums that will experience a significant level of success, but without succeeding in producing the slightest Single that could have brought the singer back to the front of the stage as he had managed to do in 1993.
The great adventure will end definitively on January 20, 2022, the date of his death in Nashville at the age of 74 from the consequences of Covid-19.
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
70s Decade :
What you see is what you get 1971
You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth 1977
Two out of three ain't bad 1978
Paradise by the dashboard light 1978
All revved up with no place to go 1978
Hot patootie - Bless my soul 1978
Bat out of hell 1979
80s Decade :
I'm gonna love her for both of us 1981
Dead ringer for love 1981
Read 'Em and wheep 1981
Peel out 1982
If you really want to 1983
Midnight at the lost and found 1983
Modern girl 1984
Nowhere fast 1984
Surf's up 1984
Piece of the action 1985
Rock 'n' Roll mercenaries 1986
Getting away with murder 1986
Blind before I stop 1987
Special girl 1987
A time for heroes 1987
90s Decade :
I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) 1993
Life is a lemon and I want my money back 1993
Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through 1994
Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are 1994
I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth) 1995
Not a Dry Eye in the House 1996
Is nothing sacred 1999
2000s Decade :
Did I say that ? 2003
Couldn't have said it better 2003
Man of steel 2003
It's all coming back to me now 2006
Blind as a bat 2006
Cry over me 2007
2010s Decade :
Los angeloser 2010
All of me 2011
Going all the way 2016
Speaking in tongues 2016
Tracks :
1971... the beginnings in duo mode of shock and charm. What better way to start a career that promises to be more promising...
1977...no more titles in duo mode, here comes the big solo takeoff with this title. An enormous title which will project the young singer in a spectacular way on the front of the international scene and make him one of the biggest revelations of the moment...
1978 ... very quickly he displayed multiple skills and especially multi-tempo. We will therefore have to count on him as much on titles with a crazy rhythm as on titles with finesse...
1978...a first album that never ceases to produce high-calibre titles. What better way to make him one of the biggest phenomena of the moment...
1978... he still can't get top hits every time, it would be too good for a career start, however brilliant. This title will therefore remain as the 'little' hit of the album...
1978...this is one of the titles of the Rocky Horror Show which allowed him to make himself known during the year 1973. A cover as a tribute to a show which will have changed his destiny in depth...
1979... the end of the 70s will be a little more complicated to manage than expected with a singer on the verge of burnout. He will therefore have to regain control quickly, otherwise the exit from the road will be premature...
1981...he will take 4 years to get back on track, but it's now done. And in what way because he will come back in the race in a spectacular way with this title...
1981...but it is above all this incredible duo that will allow him to show that he is indeed back and that he certainly does not intend to make the same mistakes as in the past. HU-GE !
1981...very surprisingly, this title will pass somewhat 'through' despite a more than certain quality. Like what finesse does not always pay, the proof...
1982...this one won't do much better. While we thought that the artist was going to smash everything again, here he falls directly into the depths of the Charts. Should we be seriously worried about the rest of the events, only the future will tell us...
1983...it's England that will allow him to stay a little bit in the race. Fortunately, the Great Bretons are still there to support him and help him continue the adventure...
1983...we're not going to lie to each other, the rest of the decade will not really be a cakewalk for the singer. There is certainly a title production but the results in the Charts will not really be up to par, it is clear...
1984... he will succeed in saving the furniture in extremis with this title in the middle of the decade but there will be no others thereafter. At least until the next decade...
1984...in any case, he continues to believe in it, regardless of the lack of success achieved. And he's damn right because in music everything is always possible...
1984...an Ultimate Slow which would frankly have deserved a much higher recognition than it was. But everything is really very complicated for him in this mid-decade...
1985 ... now it's a title that passes 'through' and a title that comes out of it more or less correctly. He provides the union minimum while waiting for better days and the future will prove that he was damn right to continue to believe in it...
1986... well, we will still have to be a little patient before seeing him come back in the race in a consistent way. We will therefore have to be satisfied with the fairly average level of quality that he offers for the moment...
1986...times were really tough in the middle of the decade with a level of success that remained low on the daisies. Can and must do better !
1987...no noticeable improvement to be expected during this new year 1987. He still can't repeat the feat of the beginning of the decade and yet it's not for lack of trying...
1987... once again fortunately that the English fans are there to continue to support him because the rest of the planet seems to have completely turned away from him...
1987...every year he has at least one title that goes 'through' and for the year 1987 it will be this one. He's really going to have to redouble his efforts because for the moment it still doesn't want...
1993...it will take him several more years to take the exact measure of the adaptations to be made on his style and his sound. It is now done in this year 1993 and the result will exceed all his expectations with obtaining the biggest success of all his discography on the Singles side. MAS-TER-FUL !
1993...a title which paradoxically went somewhat unnoticed for lack of sufficient promotion. Don't worry, especially when you see what's on the horizon...
1994...new top hit which definitively establishes the artist. Like what he was damn right to believe in it, despite the big air hole he encountered during the previous decade...
1994...for the moment everything smiles on him as if by magic and each title that comes out allows him to add a new prestigious star to his prize list. Hope it lasts...
1995...and it continues with this title ! In just 2 years he will have returned to the front of the stage in a sensational way to say the least and will above all have shown that we will have to count on him !
1996...unfortunately all good things come to an end and the general euphoria will fall as quickly as it arrived. He will have really struggled to maintain himself consistently at the highest level, it is clear...
1999... that does not prevent him from continuing his adventure as he sees fit and no matter now the success in the Charts. A courageous decision to say the least...
2003...he will still have gone through the 70s, then the 80s, then the 90s and here he is proudly approaching the 2000s. Just for that, respect as they say !
2003...a year 2003 which sees him in rather good shape since success is back even if we cannot speak of a very large-caliber success. It's always better than nothing as they say...
2003...especially since he was going to pull off one last big shot, not on this title but on the next one. Like what, with him, nothing is ever over but that, we already knew !
2006...and the last big hit here it is all on a totally improbable duet with Marion Raven. A clash of generations which works perfectly and which above all makes it possible to produce a title of more than certain quality !
2006... the result will be much less favorable and the artist will now do more some figuration than anything else. But with 30 years of career on the clock and some very great successes, the singer has every reason to be proud of him !
2007...once again it's the English fans who will allow him to exist even a little bit on the front of the stage. English people who will have supported him unfailingly from start to finish...
2010...and here he is, starting a new decade, who would have thought. He doesn't want to let go and above all he wants to show the younger generation that he still has things to offer and especially to sing !
2011...an end to the adventure that is just around the corner, we're not going to lie to each other. This time even the English are no longer following, that's to say...
2016... almost 40 years of career and still there. Not for very long, but he in any case will have made it a point of honor to last as long as possible, regardless of the level - or not - of success encountered...
2016...one last title to close a magnificent adventure which will have seen him inscribe his name in the musical Pantheon of this end of the 20th century in a masterful way. Isn't that the main thing...?
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :