7 things I love about Jim Steinman

Moments of brilliance

Most of Steinmans songs have that little bit extra which take them from the good rating to excellent

Examples

The baseball commentary on Paradise By The Dashboard Light

The keyboard segue when I'll Kill You If You Dont come Back

the baby chimes/music box ending to Safe Sex

the purple Rain-ish heavy guitar section in Objects In The Rear View Mirror

the duelling guitar homage pastiche at the end of Stark Raving Love

Production values

To put it simply Steinman knows what sounds good together...unlike a lot of producers involved in rock music he was not scared to make the lyrics audible and everything clear...plus he liked to vary the instrumentation

Examples

Barry Manilows version of Read Em And Weep - truly excellent production

Floodland - he made The Sisters Of mercy sound like the greatest rock band of the time

Bat Out Of Hell 2 - I liek the way that each song can stand on its own, be different from others on the album yet unified too - part of that simply down to using different guitar sounds throughout the album

Funny or punny lyrics

Steinman is a much better lyrics writer than he is normally given credit for and occasionally there are gems

Examples

For Crying Out Loud - "cant you see my faded levis bursting apart..."

I Would Do Anything For Love... - "sex and drums and rock and roll..."

Two Out Of Three Aint Bad "crying icicles instead of tears..."

False endings

I know Steinman isnt original on this but its used a few times to great effect. Steinman is afan of Beatles producer George Martin and so would use tricks that he used

Examples

Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through
The Future Aint What It used To Be

Spoken word pieces

Steinman really shows his lyrics ability and theatrical background with these often surreal pieces... he seems to like puns and wordplay too

Examples

The Want Ad

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8wQinkrIps

Love And Death And An American Guitar
the intro to You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth

LONG song titles!

they are almost a story on their own

Examples

You've Got to Love Me With the Sun in Your Eyes Until the Day That You Go Blind

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU3D1n_BG7g

I Would Do Anything For Love But I Wont Do That

L-O-N-G songs!!!

nearly every thing Steinman has written has been long...critics say its unnecessary but I just think thats his style and he certainly knows how to milk the time well

Examples...
Bat Out Of Hell
The Future Aint What it Used To Be
Paradise By The Dashboard Light