Bonny Tyler's Total Eclipse Of The Heart: classic or dud?

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Dan: Well said!

― Enrique (Enrique), Monday, 27 October 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Journey completely wins these stakes, BTW.

Quite right. Listening to "Any Way You Want It" on my iPod recently gave me the sudden realization that said song trumps (in retrospect) both the Electric Six and Andrew WK at their own game, all at once.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 27 October 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Soulseek is oddly reluctant to give me a copy of Keep On Loving You.

Soulseek must have a conscience after all, electing to spare you from the sonic blight that is the Speedwagon's excretion.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 27 October 2003 16:39 (twenty-two years ago)

hurrah for my unrepentantly wonky ears!

― Marcello Carlin, Monday, 27 October 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.themusicindex.com/rockahead/reviews/foreigner4.jpg

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 27 October 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

heh heh heh heh heh heh heh

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 27 October 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

hey - even though its a bit old now, i think the last grand larger than life ballad like this that truly rocked was surely ms. braxton's UNBREAK MY HEART

― Vic (Vic), Monday, 27 October 2003 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

i couldn't give you any evidence beyond, uh, Creed, but the Powar Ballad is alive and well in nu-metal surely? though it seems de-sexed; it's all vague homo-social 'struggle' rather than Love. 'beautiful' is like this too, i guess.

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Monday, 27 October 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I got the magnificent 'Keep On Loving You' on a free 'ROCK' CD given away w/ the Evening Standard last week. The CD also had 'More Than A Feeling' by Boston on it, another winner.

Didn't Bryan Adams spending 16 weeks at no. 1 help to (temporarily?) kill off the power-ballad?

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

How long ago did Don't Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith come out?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Can I reiterate that That particular Aerosmith song makes me want to go all Michael Myers on humanity?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Dan's ears are right on the money. Pas de wonky. He sees why 'Beautiful'>>>>>>>'Don't Want to Miss A Thing'.

― Enrique (Enrique), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:11 (twenty-two years ago)

'Don't Want To Miss A Thing' not helped by awful 'Bruce Willis vs the comet' affiliation

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Stevem, you said "awful" when I think you meant "excruciatingly, nut-twistingly horrendous in a manner that will scar children and the elderly alike".

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

i couldn't give you any evidence beyond, uh, Creed, but the Powar Ballad is alive and well in nu-metal surely?

that reminds me.....EYES WIDE OPEN *ducks*

― Michael B, Monday, 27 October 2003 17:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I dunno why every American here starts foaming at the moment once someones mention Creed (ok i have an idea why, the rest of their stuff is shitty)...it's a great song

― Michael B, Monday, 27 October 2003 17:21 (twenty-two years ago)

It's because Scott Stapp is a gigantic cockfarmer and his band is deeply, deeply mediocre at best.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

How long does it take for TEOTH to repeat? 1:30? 2:00? I love songs like that. Anyway, excellent song that is probably hard to screw up.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

are none of you feelin' ms braxton ? wtf

― Vic (Vic), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, any love for Ms. Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero"? Same urgency but with the weirdest drum solo ever!

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I need to download "Holding Out.." - oddly enough I loved that one when I was 10 despite hating Eclipse.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:29 (twenty-two years ago)

me too!

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)

sweet jesus, is that song good. it's on the footloose soundtrack. i wore out like three copies of it when i was little.

"where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods/where's the streetwise hercules to fight the rising odds"

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I think my feelings on Toni Braxton are abundantly clear (ie TONI I LUV U COME SNUGGLE WITH ME).

"Unbreak My Heart" was one of the best singles of its year.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:36 (twenty-two years ago)

where is Toni Braxton? not bankrupt again i hope

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:40 (twenty-two years ago)

song: classic / video: extraclassic

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:41 (twenty-two years ago)

but the Powar Ballad is alive and well in nu-metal surely
WAKE ME UP! Wake me up inside
etc

― Alan (Alan), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:44 (twenty-two years ago)

If you put tape over the tabs of the Footloose tape and erase "Footloose" it becomes the best soundtrack of all time. "Let's Hear It For the Boy"!!! Good God!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't like either beautiful or unbreak my heart,i hate dont want to miss a thing,and love total eclipse and pass the dutch...
does this mean i love or hate fun?

― robin (robin), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

also whatever about dizzee rascal there's a fair bit of gabber in pass the dutch
(if i remember right,i only heard it once)

― robin (robin), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

where does Daniel Bedingfield's "If You're Not the One" fit in all this?

― Michael B, Monday, 27 October 2003 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

right in my heart.

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Monday, 27 October 2003 17:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I think http://www.jimsteinman.com/wwwboard/fantasy.htm says everything that needs to be said.

No, really. Go look right now.

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 27 October 2003 19:06 (twenty-two years ago)

!!!

...I cry now.

― cis (cis), Monday, 27 October 2003 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

"We take a bath together in Strawberries and Creme and drown in ecstasy. Oh-la-la!"

Dude, that's not cool.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 27 October 2003 19:23 (twenty-two years ago)

"Jim comes to my door when I'm not even expecting him. He says that he knows how big a fan I am because he lives next door even though I never knew. He says he's watched me through the window many times when I've been masturbating to his music and that he is really turned on by the way I move my body and that I'm very much in harmony with the music. He then asks me if I'm willing to come to his place and help him work out some of the kinks he's having with some of the new songs he's been writing. I tell him I'd be happy to help but I don't know how I could. He says that I could let him watch me masturbate myself and that would be his inspiration because he would tell by the way my body responds if he's making the right adjustments. I'm more than happy to oblige and off we go. (For some reason this is a reoccurring fantasy I have whenever I do myself - that he asks to watch and I let him.)"

Well, Jim certainly looks pleased.

http://www.jimsteinman.com/wwwboard/jim198.gif

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 27 October 2003 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

"Beautiful" is vile and, in Michael Parkinson's words I'll punch any man who says otherwise (except Enrique, perhaps, cos he's a good egg). the question is: what do we think of "We Don't Need Another Hero"? I can think of some contexts where that song Makes More Sense than almost anything else, and other contexts where it is just absurd.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Monday, 27 October 2003 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm amazed that this thread has gotten this far without anyone mentioning the wedding scene in "Old School".

"And I need you now tonight / I fuckin need you more than ever"

"Beautiful" is ass.

― Tom Breihan (Tom Breihan), Monday, 27 October 2003 19:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Does anyone else remember the '84 David Copperfield special where Bonnie Tyler sang "I Need A Hero" to him from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon while Mr. Copperfield levitated over the thing? The split screen image of Copperfield in a full lotus, arms crossed, eyes closed, hovering 1,000 feet above the canyon floor while Bonnie called him home in song is one of those things that makes childhood seem like an endless acid trip.

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 27 October 2003 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Taking sides: "Total Eclipse..." original version vs. "Total Eclipse..." house/trance/etc remix?

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 27 October 2003 23:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm still upset that Limp Bizkit covered "Behind Blue Eyes" instead of this. I dunno if it's classic or not (I only hear like parts of it on the radio, like most Jim Steinman songs) but it's better than "Behind Blue Eyes."

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 27 October 2003 23:18 (twenty-two years ago)

trance remixes of eighties songs are the worst thing ever...

― robin (robin), Monday, 27 October 2003 23:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Was "Total Eclipse..." in the running for a limpbizkit cover, Anthony?

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 27 October 2003 23:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Yup, along some Love And Rockets song I never heard of. THE MIND BOGGLES.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 27 October 2003 23:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I repeat, NIKKI FRENCH = ROWR

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 October 2003 23:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I suspect the secret of the original "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is how it wants "Power of Love" to be "Wuthering Heights", or vice versa.

If there's a problem with Diane Warren/Celine Dion effect it's that it has tended to iron out all eccentricity in the power ballad. That's partly why Bedingfield's "If You're Not The One" is so great, and why "Never Gonna Leave Your Side" or whatever it was is so drab.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 27 October 2003 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)

it has tended to iron out all eccentricity in the power ballad

Ah, bless you Mr. Finney. Again you are a genius. :-) But yeah, this sums it up. There is also very little sense of...well, 'camp' is such a loaded word, but the lack of same in favor of sheer pointless formalism in so many of these ballads is wearying. I was thinking of this in particular when watching an episode or two of Pop Idol with Martin during my UK trip, the sheer dullness of one soundalike ballad after another -- more than a few selections coming from Ms. Warren's pen in particular, I seem to recall -- made the whole exercise pure pain. There was nothing to get excited about, no reason to care.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 28 October 2003 00:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha ha Australian Idol has been *much* better in this regard!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 28 October 2003 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I misread the thread title and thought that Bonnie "Prince" Billy had covered "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Now *that* would be fucking awesome.

― Nick Mirov (nick), Tuesday, 28 October 2003 05:42 (twenty-two years ago)

it's overblown, camp, manipulative tosh and humanity is poorer for liking it!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 28 October 2003 08:58 (twenty-two years ago)

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