Taylor, Steve - Meltdown
1984, Sparrow
1. Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)
2. We Don't Need No Color Code
3. Am I in Sync?
4. Meat the Press
5. Over My Dead Body
6. Sin For a Season
7. Guilty By Association
8. Hero
9. Jenny
10. Baby Doe
Steve Taylor's first full length album is pretty dang cool... and I say that having just heard it last year. Is it dated? Heck yes. No denying that. But I think the songs are strong enough to overcome that. The title song alone with its deft way of lampooning glory seekers testifies to Steve's talent as a song writer and lyricist. I'll probably mention his lyrics in every single review because they're just that good. There's a lot of fan favorites on here and several of my own favorites are on here too. "Over My Dead Body" has a bit of a U2 vibe in the beginning and end. Even though it might annoy some, I like the out of sync synthesizer in "Am I in Sync?." The album ends pretty heavy with "Baby Doe," a protest song about the starving of Baby Doe by his parents because he wasn't "normal." It's a powerful song... a true gut punch to the conscience. It's an odd way to end an album, all down and serious, but that doesn't take away the fact that Meltdown is one of my favorite Steve platters.
Useless Fact: A video was made for the song "Meltdown" that featured the woman who played the snobby rich girl on Facts of Life.
I completely agree that the quality of Steve's songwriting overcomes any datedness of the production. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteI, too, like the out of synch sequencer in "Am I in Synch". I think the song's hilarious.
I love the fact that "Baby Doe" ended the album. Very powerful - and probably the closest he ever came to doing pure journalism (kind of like Tonio K's "Hey Lady").
Lisa "the snobby rich girl on Facts of Life" Whelchel Did indeed appear in the video. In fact (no pun intended), she and Steve dated for a short time.
Lisa Whelchel also released a pop album that contained her version of the Taylor-penned song "Good Girl." There is a snippet of Steve himself singing it in the "Shark Sandwich" track off of the "Now The Truth Can Be Told" compilation.
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