Welcome to the Neighbourhood
Studio album by
Meat Loaf
ReleasedOctober 30, 1995 [1]
RecordedApril–August 1995
Genre
Length58:56
Label
Producer
Meat Loaf chronology
Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell
(1993) 		Welcome to the Neighbourhood
(1995) 		Couldn't Have Said It Better
(2003)
Singles from Welcome to the Neighbourhood
  1. "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)"
    Released: October 3, 1995
  2. "Not a Dry Eye in the House"
    Released: January 15, 1996
  3. "Runnin' for the Red Light (I Gotta Life)"
    Released: April 15, 1996
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Cash Box(favorable)[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]

Welcome to the Neighbourhood is the seventh studio album by American rock singer Meat Loaf, released in 1995 as the follow-up to his successful comeback album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. It went platinum in the United States and United Kingdom.

The album is thought of as a concept album, as all of the songs are ordered in the track listing as to tell a story about a relationship throughout the years. Three singles were released: "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" (a duet with Patti Russo), "Not a Dry Eye in the House" and "Runnin' for the Red Light (I Gotta Life)". They reached #2, #7 and #21 in the UK charts, with the first two written by Diane Warren, who later also wrote songs for Meat Loaf's albums Couldn't Have Said It Better and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. In some markets, radio stations also played "Amnesty Is Granted", though it was not released as an official single. Despite the chart success of the album and its singles, only "Amnesty is Granted" has appeared on an official live album, Casa De Carne (Live 2008) as a bonus CD with Hang Cool Teddy Bear. "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" was recorded as a sound check with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, but only included as a bonus download track.

Of the twelve songs on the album, two are covers of songs from Jim Steinman projects; "Original Sin" first appeared on Pandora's Box's Original Sin album (it was also heard in the movie The Shadow, where it was performed by Taylor Dayne), and "Left in the Dark" first appeared on Steinman's own album Bad for Good.

Cover art

The theme on the cover art and inside booklet is that of detective novels of the 1950s. The booklet, aside from having the lyrics for every song, features a "Detective Novel" per song with modified titles to accommodate the titles of the songs. At least one image, the one associated with "Where Angels Sing" (the final track on the album), is easily recognizable: it is the same image, only with slightly altered colors, as in the movie poster for Lolita, Stanley Kubrick's film adaption of the controversial same-titled novel by Vladimir Nabokov; the typeface used to write "Where Angels Sing" is also the same one as in the poster. This style was also used for the three singles released off the album, with the cover art for each of them being its correspondent novel from the booklet.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Where the Rubber Meets the Road"Sarah Durkee, Paul Jacobs4:57
2."I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)"Diane Warren6:41
3."Original Sin"Jim Steinman5:56
4."45 Seconds of Ecstasy"Martha Minter Bailey1:06
5."Runnin' for the Red Light (I Gotta Life)"Durkee, Meat Loaf, Patti Russo, Harry Vanda, George Young3:59
6."Fiesta de las Almas Perdidas"Jeff Bova1:27
7."Left in the Dark"Steinman7:13
8."Not a Dry Eye in the House"Warren5:54
9."Amnesty Is Granted"Sammy Hagar6:09
10."If This Is the Last Kiss (Let's Make It Last All Night)"Warren4:34
11."Martha"Tom Waits4:40
12."Where Angels Sing"Stephen Allen Davis6:09

Collector's edition

In 2011, a three disc collector's edition was released. The first disc includes the songs on the original release with four additional tracks.

No.TitleWriter(s)From singleLength
13."Come Together"Lennon–McCartneyNot a Dry Eye in the House3:20
14."Let It Be"Lennon–McCartneyNot a Dry Eye in the House4:33
15."Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'"Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein III'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)3:05
16."Is Nothing Sacred" (Duet with Patti Russo)Steinman, Don BlackIs Nothing Sacred5:37

The second disc was recorded live at the Beacon Theatre on 23 October 1995, except tracks 10 and 11 (recorded in 1989). Track 9 is, by mistake, the studio track.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Life Is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back"Steinman7:59
2."Where the Rubber Meets the Road"Durkee, Jacobs5:42
3."I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)"Warren7:26
4."Amnesty is Granted"Hagar5:54
5."You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth"Steinman9:13
6."All Revved Up with No Place to Go"Steinman6:48
7."Dead Ringer for Love"Steinman4:29
8."I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"Steinman5:28
9."Runnin' for the Red Light (I Gotta Life)"Vanda, Young, Russo, Durkee, Meat Loaf4:01
10."Midnight at the Lost and Found"Steve Buslowe, Paul Christie, Meat Loaf, Danny Peyronel5:07
11."Whatever Happened To Saturday Night" (Recorded in Tallahassee, Florida)Richard O'Brien3:19
12."Bat Out of Hell"Steinman11:58

The third disc is a five track DVD.

No.TitleLength
1."I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" (Promo video) 
2."Not a Dry Eye in the House" (Promo video) 
3."I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" (BBC TV Top of the Pops Appearance 12-Oct-1995) 
4."Not a Dry Eye in the House" (BBC Top of the Pops 1-Feb-1996) 
5."Interview" (Meat Loaf discusses the making of Welcome to the Neighbourhood) 
Total length:47:02

Personnel

Arrangements

Band

The Neverland Express

Regular Meat Loaf studio sidemen

Special appearances

Charts

References

  1. ^ "BPI certifications for Meat Loaf".
  2. ^ "Welcome to the Neighborhood - Meat Loaf | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Welcome to the Neighbourhood- Meat Loaf". AllMusic. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  4. ^ Baltin, Steve (December 23, 1995). "Pop Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 9. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  5. ^ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "Meat Loaf". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 533. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  6. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  7. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  8. ^ "Ultratop.be – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2826". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  10. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  11. ^ "Meat Loaf: Welcome to the Neighbourhood" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  12. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  13. ^ "Charts.nz – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  14. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  15. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  17. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Meat Loaf – Welcome to the Neighbourhood". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  18. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  19. ^ "Meat Loaf Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  20. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Albums 1995 (page 2)". imgur.com. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  21. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2839". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  22. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1995". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  23. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  24. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1996". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  25. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1996". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
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