Cheesy Power Ballad??????

[Ben]

A woman named Victoria Newton writes a show biz column in The Sun newspaper. there is an article in there today about a US rock group called Evanescence, who's song is set to go to no.1 this week. she gives a quick write up to how the band were formed.

she goes on to say that band member ben moody met vocalist Amy Lee when he walked in on her playing 'Cheesy' Power Ballad I'd do anything for love by Meat Loaf at a summer camp.

Power Ballad - Yes, but
Cheesy - C'mon luv

if she was talking about some of the rubbish in the charts today, then you could understand, but Meat?

[Rob The Badger]

I'm gonna get stick for this . . . 8O

Steinmans songs are cheesy.
They're meant to be.
They're so overblown.
The whole fact of putting guitars and synthesisers to this type of lyric screams out for cheese.
Take Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". It's probably the most cheesy power ballad ever. But that's what makes it great. You don't think Steinman wants us to take most of his lyrics seriously do you? I mean Two Out Of Three is a love song. But it's so depressing it's insane. Steinman can't write happy songs, they don't work for him. They're all about sex, lost boys and gods and more sex. It's theatrical, overblown, cheesy. And that's why it's all so good.
$00.02 :)

[evil nickname]

"If you don't go over the top, you can't see what's on the other side"
-- J.S.

IMO, the best description of Jim's music.... and an extra portion of cheese with that, please... I want some sticks too! C'mon and throw 'em at me! :-)

William

(PS: Yes, this means I agree 101% with what Eyeore said... )

[mariella]

[quote="evil nickname"]"If you don't go over the top, you can't see what's on the other side"


Right you are!

Mariella

[evil nickname]

Right you are!

Make that "Jim is right!"... hadn't give Jim credit for his quote... I'll edit that now, ok...?

William

(Where are my sticks? I want them! now! Throw 'em, dammit!)

[original sin]

There ya go evil nickname allways happy to oblige :wink:

http://www.jumboinflatables.com.au/images/4m_cheese_sticks_packet-med_small.jpg

[sherrie87]

Yes, a lot (OK, maybe most ) of Jim's songs are a bit over the top, and many would say "cheesy". BUT- one man's cheese is another man's heartfelt sentiment. What one person may see a chessy may be to another person a reflection of their own feelings and life experiences. I really think that nearly all art can be seen as either painfully authentic and woefully cheesy, depending on which segment of the population is judging it. So- while it may be the genuine opinion of many that Jim's songs are cheesy, for those who enjoy the over-the-top melodrama they are art. I love most JS songs, but (for example) the monologue in Wasted Youth seems vastly cheesy to me- it's a different story for everyone, it all depends on how your own experiences and views color your opinions. Just my 2 cents....

Sherrie

[Ben]

Id agree that Jims songs are over the top, but id class a cheesy song as the cheeky girls or fast food rockers, not a JS song.

just my view.

[Testify]

i agree wit Ben

[Chris]

Having read the article at work, I was going to mention it here. However I realised that the context in which a song is played affects it's cheesiness.

Some Jim songs can be cheesy but i personally feel that Anything for love is not one of them. However imagine you were singing it to your best girl (or guy) on a night out. That would surely make it seem a lot cheesier. Any good love song can experience this,

For example, Joe Cocker and Jennifer whatsit sang "Up where we belong." As a love song it is great but as the music in the scene from "An Officer And A Gentleman" it is the most corny, cheesy song ever.

Just my tuppen'orth

[Shane]

A woman named Victoria Newton writes a show biz column in The Sun newspaper. there is an article in there today about a US rock group called Evanescence, who's song is set to go to no.1 this week. she gives a quick write up to how the band were formed.

she goes on to say that band member ben moody met vocalist Amy Lee when he walked in on her playing 'Cheesy' Power Ballad I'd do anything for love by Meat Loaf at a summer camp.

I bought the Evanescence album, Fallen, a few weeks ago, and was aware of the story of how they met, but hadn't heard that particular quote. RRRRRRR...but I guess everyone has their opinions.

[Rob The Badger]

I think you're getting me wrong. I'm not saying that it's not emotional, it's just cheesy. As it's all so epic and bombastic, it's just completely fantastical. The word Cheesy cannot be used in the same sentence as the Cheeky Girls, for them, we reserve the phrase "Gives contemporary music a bad name". Now I'm all for pop music if it's of a high quality (80's New Wave anyone?) so all we're saying is that by calling a Steinman song cheesy, we're not criticising it.

[badger]

I bought the Evanescence album, Fallen, a few weeks ago, and was aware of the story of how they met, but hadn't heard that particular quote. RRRRRRR...but I guess everyone has their opinions.

What is the album like? I haven't made my mind up whether they are very good alternative band, or just another nu-metal pop group.

I think Jim's music is deliberately cheesy, as was already stated, but I think there are different types of cheese.

Cheddar, Red Leicester, Brie...

Like was mentioned, Jim's songs are completely in a different league of cheece to the Cheeky Girls etc.

I guess it is down to what cheese you like.

[Jen]

What is the album like? I haven't made my mind up whether they are very good alternative band, or just another nu-metal pop group.

Ordered it a couple of days ago, sounds good, you can hear over a minute of each song on their website. There's also the story about how they met in their bio.

[RichieBoy]

How can you call the songs cheesy?

Eeyore for what its worth im gonna have to disagree with ya - surely the 'whole fact' of putting guitars and synthesizers together is for added emotion and power?!!

I'm sticking with Ben for this one Power Ballad certainly , cheesy? Don't talk b0LL*cks!

[mariella]

Okay, I am Dutch. :lol: But could someone please explain what does 'cheesy' mean? Is it French, Dutch maybe Swiss cheese we are talking about?
No, I really don't know what it means exactly.

Thank you,

Mariella

[sherrie87]

Mariella,

Cheesy is hard to define. Dictionary.com says : chees·y
adj. chees·i·er, chees·i·est
Containing or resembling cheese.
Informal. Of poor quality; shoddy.

but I'd say it means campy, overly sweet sentiment. Cheesy, like camp, is very much in the eye of the beholder. :lol:

Sherrie (who has been accused of being both cheesy and camp!)

[RichieBoy]

It seems some people are confused, they are calling Meats songs and Jim's lyrics cheesy!

What they mean by cheesy are songs which are too over the top, songs which should be entered in the Eurovision Song Contest those sort of songs!

Cheeky Girls, Gareth Gates, S Club ..... Now they're officaly cheesy song makers and performers - to put ML music in the same league RIDICULOUS!!!

Hope this helps Mariella

Rich

[mariella]

Thank you so much Sherrie,

So, I gues this means I would have to say I LOVE the lyrics to Anything.
This could mean I am a very 'cheesy' person too! :lol:

As long as we LOVE the song, right!

Mariella

Hi Richieboy,

Missed your post, since we posted at the same time. Well, I must say if THAT is what 'cheesy' means JS lyrics/songs are NOT in any way cheesy, IMHO.

These lyrics are brilliant, I think!

Thank you so much for explaining!

[Shane]

What is the album like? I haven't made my mind up whether they are very good alternative band, or just another nu-metal pop group.

I think Jim's music is deliberately cheesy, as was already stated, but I think there are different types of cheese.

I'm not really familiar with "nu-metal pop", so I can't respond to your comment about that. Evanescence has been compared to Limp Bizkit, a comparison which Evanescence rejects.

I do like the album a lot, but not as much as Meat Loaf of course. The only criticisms I'd have is that there is too much emphasis on guitars and not enough variety in terms of arrangement (although the album does have a couple of `piano' songs) and the subject matter of their songs, but I consider this minor. The piano is absolutely 100% INCREDIBLE, and the piano player would be my pick for Bat 3 (other than Jim or Roy). There are strings and choirs on some songs also which I love, especially the fading out of the last track, which has a choir repeating a Latin phrase. The choirs sound a bit `neo-classical', if you know what I mean.

I have seen Evanescence (and the album) being advertised as goth rock, and I guess I'd agree with that. There is a bit of a religious thing in their music, and the members of the band are Christian, but they are not a `Christian' band. The songs are about hurt and dark times and needing help etc, but I think there is a positivity to the album if you look hard enough. I hope this helps you.

Regarding Steinman songs, I guess you may be right about the cheese, depending on your definition of cheese. But the term `cheesy' to most people has negative connotations. Criticisms of Jim's songs that I have read mention them as over the top, theatrical and silly, but we know that it is all of these things deliberately.

[evil nickname]

To me, "Over The Top" + Theatrical + Silly == Cheeze.

On a other note, that quote from The Sun is addapted from their official bio on their website (http://www.evanescence.com/band/index.html):

Co-founders Lee and guitarist/songwriter Ben Moody met while in their early teens. "We were at a youth camp," Moody recalls. "During some sort of recreational period held in a gymnasium, I heard Amy playing Meat Loaf's 'I'd Do Anything for Love' at the piano. So I went over to meet her, and she started singing for me. I was pretty much blown away, so I suckered her into joining a band with me."

The cheese is added, so to speek.

To me, they sound nothing like Linkin Park, Limp Biskshit (or however you spell that) or any typical 'nu-metal' group, at all. Most of these bands are "Angry For No Apperent Reason" (TM), a guy who's messing up his good lp's and have no female lead singer (and no, that guy on the single is not in the band), where Evanescence has some great lyrics, a female lead, keys and no DJ... gonna see them live in a couple of weeks, and I'm really curious if they can keep up with the excelent performance on their CD. (which is a strong contender for MY "Best album of the Year")

But Shane, too much emphasis on the guitars? It's a rock band, they should have a lot of guitars. And the pianoplayer on Bat 3? I hope not. He's good, but not that good.

[Rob The Badger]

I'd Do Anything For Love . . .But I Won't Do That.

That statement right there is cheesy. From a critical point of view.

I'm not saying that it's bad.
Now you call The Eurovision Song Contest entries cheesy. Correct. Abba were not cheesy. But it's damn good music. Theatrical music (Steinman's) is not mainstream. It's cheesy,over the top. That's why so many companies refused to take on Steinmans project, Bat Out Of Hell.

Of course, not all Steinmans songs are cheesy, but the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Heaven Can Wait and Objects In The Rear Mirror (I would count For Crying Out Loud (Great lyrics) but the Steinman-described "boner line" (Can you see my faded levis, bursting apart" kinda makes that bit a bit cheesy).
All his love songs are cheesy.
I don't think there is one, non-Steinman Meat Loaf song that is cheesy.
Synthesisers and guitars are put together to make it sound bombastic. It adds power, decreases emotional sentiment.
If anything, the ultimate emotional song is a folk song. (Acoustic guitar, man in ponytail).
Now Steinman's songs are emotional. Yes they are. But they are cheesy.
Now this is the last time I'm going to make my opinions on this known, as I'm obviously outnumbered.
But yes, it does vary from person to person.

[Shane]

To me, they sound nothing like Linkin Park, Limp Biskshit (or however you spell that) or any typical 'nu-metal' group, at all. Most of these bands are "Angry For No Apperent Reason" (TM), a guy who's messing up his good lp's and have no female lead singer (and no, that guy on the single is not in the band), where Evanescence has some great lyrics, a female lead, keys and no DJ... gonna see them live in a couple of weeks, and I'm really curious if they can keep up with the excelent performance on their CD. (which is a strong contender for MY "Best album of the Year")

But Shane, too much emphasis on the guitars? It's a rock band, they should have a lot of guitars. And the pianoplayer on Bat 3? I hope not. He's good, but not that good.

Thanks for the info. I don't listen to Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit so I am unable to comment on the comparison myself.

Meat's albums are rock (aren't they?) but a lot more attention is paid to the other parts. On BOOH for example, there is a lot more variety in terms of arrangement. The emphasis on guitar is a lot different amongst the five tracks containing them. I guess I'm comparing Evanescence to Meat, which is possibly not a reasonable comparison.