Original Sin

by

Pandora's Box

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I had been looking for this CD almost for over 10 years (even had it on top of my Amazon wish list for quite a while...), it seemed impossible to get.

It all started when Celine Dion covered IT'S ALL COMING BACK TO ME NOW and i started researching which album by Bonnie Tyler or Meatloaf was holding this nugget.

It turned out neither did, it was appearing on Pandora's Box one and only release up to now.

Until a few months ago my boyfriend surprised me and had it sent out to me. The cd is everything I had expected it to be: a pure Jim Steinman masterpiece.

One may mistake this CD for a greatest hits collection: you will find in here the original versions of songs that became later on hits by other famous artists, while here they are delivered by some four superb little-known vocalists.

Original Sin (later recorded by Taylor Dayne and Meatloaf) sounds much better here, IT JUST WON'T QUIT (another Meatloaf cover) has a more savage feeling, GOOD GIRLS GO TO HEAVEN BUT BAD GIRLS GO EVERYWHERE (Meatloaf again!) is definitely a smash from the female's point of view.

You also get the IT'S ALL COMING BACK TO ME NOW original - let me tell you, Celine's vocal are still the best, but the orchestration knows no defeat on this CD, this mid-song guitar riff should have been kept with her version as well...

And then there is still one more song that could very much be the next BIG Jim Steinman's hit.

SAFE SEX is one of those epic ballads he only comes up with.

It has all it takes to be a chart topper, but strangely enough none of the greatest vocalist of our time seem to have discovered this gem yet.

A&R people, get yourself a copy of this and submit the song to Celine Dion, Lara Fabian, Tina Arena...I'd even say risk it and submit it to Christina Aguilera, she's got that vocal energy needed in a Steinman's song.

Whoever gets it first is sure to hit # 1...

Ah, it really pains me to say it, but this is disappointing Steinman. Much ernest bombast (and I am not anti-bombast, mind you; nothin' like good bombast, if you ask me), but it's ultimately less than the sum of its parts. Albeit with flashes of almost-brilliant exception, it's mostly a kind of generic Steinman, if that isn't too much of an oxymoron. It's Steinman trying terribly hard to be great, but somehow this just can't seem to rise to the greatness intended. The ladies' voices are good, but let's just say, there's not a Bonnie Tyler in the bunch. It's hard to settle for pedestrian, intense, formula Steinman (hm, another few oxymorons there, yes?). So, to say Pandora's Box "Original Sin" is good, is true...but merely "good" actually turns out to be rather an insult, given who we're dealing with here. It's Steinman, so its a "must listen," but if you can borrow someone elses, you will not be the worse for it in the long run. You won't be needing to listen to it every day or anything, after 'while. -- Ironically, the most satisfying cut on the album could be "Pray Lewd," featuring a beautifully-done flourish of straight solo piano. Go figure. -- I don't expect these sentiments to incur any favor with Steinmaniacs, but as one myself, I don't compare him to other stuff out there (no comparison), but to what I know he could be capable of. Aw, maybe I'm pining for him to break through to something higher/deeper than intense anguish that seems to stay stuck there. But then, I suppose he believes we ARE stuck there. -- Gosh, why do I feel like his high-school guidance counselor? You know, the one who said, "Jim is not living up to his potential. He can do better work."