Meat Loaf released his seventh album, Welcome to the Neighborhood, on November 14, 1995. It was the follow-up album to Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, so there were high expectations going into this album. Looking at the writing credits, it’s notable that Jim Steinman only wrote two of the twelve songs that appear on Welcome to the Neighborhood, after having been such a crucial part of the previous album.

The album opens with “Where the Rubber Meets the Road,” which was written by Sarah Durkee and Paul Jacobs. It opens with a quiet piano, with Meat Loaf singing softly; however, the tempo quickly changes, and the guitar and percussion come in, changing the song into more of a sound a listener would expect from Meat Loaf. It’s decent for a song to open an album. However, to me, it’s a little on the weak side for what I would expect from Meat Loaf.

Next is “I’d Lie for You (And That’s the Truth),” which was written by Diane Warren. This song, which was released as the lead-off single for Welcome to the Neighborhood, is a duet with Patti Russo. The single peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and it’s one of my favorite songs on the album. Next on the album is “Original Sin,” which was written by Jim Steinman. This opens with a heavier guitar riff than anything heard on the previous two songs. Then, the guitar disappears, leaving just piano and Meat Loaf’s vocals, and then the heavy guitar returns in full force. It definitely has the trademark Jim Steinman sound to it.

The next song is called “45 Seconds of Ecstasy”; however, it’s a minute and six seconds in length. It features vocals by Susan Wood, and Meat Loaf doesn’t appear anywhere on it. This is followed by “Runnin’ for the Red Light (I Gotta Life),” which was written by Sarah Durkee, Meat Loaf, Patti Russo, Harry Vanda, and George Young. It’s a very uptempo rock song, and makes for a very awkward transition from the previous song. This was released as a single from Welcome to the Neighborhood; while it’s closer in sound to what one would expect to hear from Meat Loaf, I can hear why this single didn’t perform very well on the charts.

Next is “Fiesta de las Almas Perdidas,” which is one minute and twenty-seven seconds in length. It’s an instrumental with a Spanish feel to it. I can understand why this piece was included, because it does help the transition between the previous song and the next song. This is followed by “Left in the Dark,” which is the other song written by Jim Steinman. It starts with Meat Loaf accompanied by a piano. While instrumentation is added, it doesn’t turn into a full-out rock song like “Original Sin.” This is another song that definitely has the Jim Steinman hallmarks to it.

The next song is “Not a Dry Eye in the House,” which was written by Diane Warren. It was released as the second single from Welcome to the Neighborhood. Like “Left in the Dark,” it opens with Meat Loaf being accompanied by a piano. Then, other instruments join in, but the song stays as a slow ballad. While it’s not as strong of a song as “Left in the Dark,” it’s still a solid pop song. It’s a little surprising that this song didn’t perform better on the charts.

“Amnesty Is Granted” was written by Sammy Hagar, and was performed as a duet between Meat Loaf and Sammy Hagar. It’s a much more rocking number, and it really picks the tempo of the album back up. After the opening, the song does slow down a little bit, and a keyboard can be heard. It’s not a bad song, but it’s not as strong as some of Meat Loaf’s other songs in his catalog. “If This is the Last Kiss (Let’s Make it Last All Night)” was written by Diane Warren, and it’s another duet with Patti Russo. It’s a midtempo song that sounds like it was tailored for AOR radio. It’s a decent song, but I think that “I’d Lie for You (And That’s the Truth)” is a little stronger.

Next on the album is “Martha,” a song written by Tom Waits. It opens with a piano and strings accompanying Meat Loaf’s vocals. This song definitely slows the tempo of the album back down again, and musically, it’s one of the simpler songs on the album. Welcome to the Neighborhood closes with “Where Angels Sing,” which was written by Stephen Allen Davis. This one also opens with minimal instrumentation to accompany Meat Loaf’s vocals. It’s another slower song, but it has the perfect sound to be a song to close an album.

While Welcome to the Neighborhood isn’t necessarily a bad album, I don’t believe this to be one of Meat Loaf’s stronger works. While some of the individual songs on the album are enjoyable, I feel that the album as a whole doesn’t have much cohesion to it. I think that, ultimately, there were too many people involved with both the writing and producing aspects of the album, which made it more difficult to make everyone’s contributions work well together. Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II are both very cohesive albums; however, Welcome to the Neighborhood just doesn’t have this same quality. And in the end, I believe this is why Welcome to the Neighborhood ended up not performing as well as its predecessor, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell.

Stitt began his music career in the late 1950s, and he is credited as one of the earliest performers of “toasting” (a form of Jamaican deejaying that directly inspired hip-hop). Stitt is best known for the songs “Paradise Plum” and “Fire Corner.”

Stitt is survived by a daughter.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – Out of Frequency
Authority Zero – Less Rhythm More Booze
Lawrence Ball – Method Music
The Big Sleep – Nature Experiments [MP3 Download]
Buxton – Nothing Here Seems Strange
Chronicle: Music From The Motion Picture
Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
Candy Dulfer – Crazy
Ruthie Foster – Let It Burn
The Fresh Beat Band – Music From the Hit TV Show
Gotye – Making Mirrors
Hit the Lights – Invicta
Imperial Teen – Feel the Sound
The Internet – Purple Naked Ladies
The Jealous Sound – A Gentle Reminder
Lightning Love – Girls Who Look Like Me [EP]
Jeff Lorber Fusion – Galaxy
One Model Nation – Totalwerks 1: 1969-1977
Gretchen Peters – Hello Cruel World
Prinzhorn Dance School – Clay Class [MP3 Download]
Fionn Regan – 100 Acres of Sycamore
SOJA – Strength to Survive
Ringo Starr – Ringo 2012
Ana Tijoux – La Bala
Laura Wilde – Sold My Soul [MP3 Download]

The schedule for the tour is:

February 10, 2012: Roseland Ballroom in New York
February 12, 2012: Terminal 5 in New York
February 15, 2012: The Ritz (Webster Hall) in New York
February 19, 2012: House of Blues in Chicago
February 23, 2012: The Fillmore in Silver Spring, Maryland
February 24, 2012: House of Blues in Atlantic City, New Jersey

iTunes is offering an exclusive global pre-order of an 18-track Deluxe Edition of MDNA, which includes one exclusive remix from the new album. The bonus remix will be available from February 3 through February 6, 2012.

The lead-off single, “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” which features Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., will be made available on iTunes on Friday, February 3, 2012. The music video will also be available on iTunes on February 3. On February 2, a preview of the video will air during that evening’s episode of American Idol.

Fischer’s career spanned more than 60 years. He had worked with such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Prince, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Branford Marsalis, Raphael Saadiq, Usher and Brandy.

He was nominated for a Grammy 11 times in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category. He won in 1986 for his album, Free Fall, and in 1981 for Salsa Picante plus 2+2. Fischer recorded 51 albums during his lifetime with his son, Brent Fischer.

Fischer is survived by his wife, Donna; sons Lee and Brent; daughter Tahlia; and three grandchildren.

Kniss was born in Portland, Oregon. In addition to playing with Peter, Paul & Mary, Kniss was a member of John Denver’s 1970s band, and he played with such jazz greats as Herbie Hancock and Woody Herman.

Kniss was also active in the 1960s civil rights movement. He had performed at benefits for a wide range of causes, and he also played during the first celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a national holiday.

Kniss is survived by his wife, Diane Kniss.

1. Set Fire To The Rain – Adele
2. We Found Love – Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris
3. Good Feeling – Flo Rida
4. Turn Me On – David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj
5. The One That Got Away – Katy Perry
6. It Will Rain – Bruno Mars
7. Sexy And I Know It – LMFAO
8. Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) – Kelly Clarkson
9. Ni**as In Paris – Jay-Z and Kanye West
10. Domino – Jessie J

The Kidz Bop 21 compilation album debuts at number two, selling 59,000 copies in its first week of release. Black Keys’ El Camino holds steady at number three, selling 29,000 copies (which is a 20% decrease in sales).

Drake’s Take Care holds steady at number four, selling 29,000 copies; this is an 8% decrease in sales. Rihanna’s Talk That Talk moves up two spots to number five, selling 20,000 copies; however, this is an 8% decrease in sales from last week.

Young Jeezy’s TM 103 Hustlerz Ambition holds steady at number six, selling 19,000 copies; this is a 19% decrease in sales. James Fortune & FIYA’s Identity debuts at number seven, selling 18,000 copies in its first week of release.

Toby Keith’s Clancy’s Tavern moves up fourteen spots to number eight, selling 17,000 copies (which is a 27% increase in sales from last week). Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto moves up down one spot to number nine, selling 17,000 copies; this is a 13% decrease in sales. Nickelback’s Here and Now falls one spot to number ten, selling just under 17,000 copies, which is a 13% decrease in sales from last week.

This week’s album sales (5.01 million units) are down 1% compared to last week, and down 4% compared to the same week last year.

Madonna released the Something to Remember greatest hits album on November 7, 1995. The concept behind this greatest hits package was that it only featured ballads, rather than being a set that encompassed all of Madonna’s hits. Of the fourteen songs on the album, two were recorded specifically for this release, one was from a tribute album Madonna had contributed to earlier that year, one was a remix of one of the new songs, and the last track was a new mix of a non-single that originally came from the Like a Virgin album. I bought this album when it originally came out, and at that time, there was no back insert included. In order to know what songs were on the disc and in what order, you had to take out the CD booklet; that was the one major drawback of this release for me. Later pressings of the album would rectify this flaw.

The album opens with “I Want You,” a cover of a song originally done by Marvin Gaye. Madonna collaborated with Massive Attack from this track, which originally appeared on Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye. This is the longest song on the album, and the length is a little bit of a detriment, especially with the plodding sound of the music. It’s not necessarily a bad version of “I Want You,” but I think it would have been stronger if it was a little shorter in length.

Next is “I’ll Remember,” which was originally released on the soundtrack for the 1994 film, With Honors; this song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This is followed by “Take a Bow,” which was the second single from Madonna’s 1994 album, Bedtime Story. This song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The next song on Something to Remember is “You’ll See,” which was one of the two new songs specifically recorded for the album. The song was released as the first single from the album, and it peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This particular ballad is definitely a breakup song, and it tells of someone who has moved on from a relationship that included deception on the part of the other person. Sonically, this song has a “heavy” sound to it, which really adds to the impact of the lyrics. One thing I really like about the composition of this song is how it builds in intensity.

This is followed by “Crazy for You,” which was originally released on the soundtrack for the 1985 film, Vision Quest. This song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The next song on this collection is “This Used to Be My Playground,” which was the theme song from the 1992 film, A League of Their Own; this song also peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. “Live to Tell” is the next song on the album, which was recorded for the film At Short Range, and then was included on Madonna’s True Blue album. This is another song Madonna took to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The next song is a remix of “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” which is a cover of a Rose Royce song that Madonna recorded for her 1984 album, Like a Virgin. However, when Madonna’s label decided to include this song on Something to Remember, it was decided to put on a remixed version instead of the original track. Personally, I feel that this remix weakens the song; the new instrumentation diminishes Madonna’s powerful vocal performance, especially at the end of the song. For whatever reason, this remix was promoted as a single from Something to Remember; however, the single only peaked at number seventy-eight on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Something to Remember,” the title song for the collection, originally came from the I’m Breathless album Madonna released in 1990; however, this song was never actually released as single from that album. This is followed by “Forbidden Love,” which is from the Bedtime Stories album. This is another song on this greatest hits album that was never actually released as a single.

“One More Chance” is the second new song recorded specifically for this release. It’s a very simple song that features Madonna and stripped back instrumentation. Lyrically, the song is about wanting another chance for a relationship. While this was released as a single in foreign markets, it was not released in the United States. Personally, I feel this song would have fared better on the charts than the remix of “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore.”

“Rain” is next, and it originally came from Madonna’s 1992 album, Erotica; this song peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Oh Father” originally comes from Madonna’s 1989 album, Like a Prayer; this song peaked at number twenty on the Billboard singles chart. Something to Remember closes with an orchestral mix of “I Want You.” Personally, I prefer this version of “I Want You”; removing the plodding instrumentation and replacing it with an orchestral backing track really adds something to this song. If I listen to “I Want You,” I tend to listen to this mix over the original.

Overall, Something to Remember is a nice set, especially for listeners who enjoy Madonna’s ballads. However, I’ve never really understood the sequencing of the album. It’s always kind of felt like the songs were randomly thrown together onto the set, except for “I Want You,” which was used to bookend the release. Even with the sequencing, I would still recommend Something to Remember as a release to own if a listener enjoys Madonna and her ballads.