I'm hitting this song "Read 'Em and Weep" pretty hard this week, but I can't decide which version is better...
Okay, so it was originally composed by Jim Steinman and performed by Meat Loaf for his 1981 album Dead Ringer, but I honestly come to the song thru Barry Manilow, whose version I fell for first (and the version that made the song a hit in 1983 - turns out it was Manilow's final #1 hit on the adult contemporary charts - that's gotta count for something)...
Here's Meat Loaf's:
...and, here's Barry's (which is also a tour de force vid, replete with choreographed harlequin stage actors, backstage shenanigans, and one massive crocodile tear):
What do you think???
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although paved on the meat loaf road to victory, i gotta say, i vote for barry. its a hard decision, but it came down to the production in the music, i just think its better arranged and the background singers are given some much needed breadth. loaf's is epic but barry brings it home.
ReplyDeletetotally agree about production/arrangement, but without Meat Loaf's original, would B-Man-Lo have taken Steinman's composition to such soaring heights? Me tends to think yes...Barry has a considerable record of raising the stakes (and octave) in the final 30 to 60 seconds of just about every song he ever recorded! (joining the likes of Righteous Bros. and Roy Orbison, on that note).
ReplyDeletewow that barry vid is amazing. big fan of the theater jazz dance in music videos thing. barry as the sad clown, i am super feelin this deep down in my belly innards and bung. it's a toughie. i am leanin towards the always seriously dramatic vocal performance delivering meat man
ReplyDeleteDon't deny the bung, garaco!!! You don't wanna cross the bung.
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