''Braver Than We Are'' is the twelfth and final studio album by American singer

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

, released in Europe on September 9, 2016, by Caroline International S&D and released in the United States on September 16, 2016 by

429 Records 429 Records was an American record label. It was a subsidiary label of Savoy Label Group/ Nippon Columbia focusing on indie rock and adult album alternative performers. In addition to releasing new material from musicians such as Dr. John, Littl ...

. It is the last album for both Meat Loaf and songwriter

Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...

before their respective deaths in January 2022 and April 2021.

Background

first announced that he had begun working with

again on ''

The Jonathan Ross Show ''The Jonathan Ross Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2011 and airs on Saturday evenings following the conclusion of Ross' BBC One chat show, ''Friday Night with Jonat ...

'' in April 2013. "We've been communicating back and forth for the last six months every day by email," he explained to Jonathan Ross. At this time, Steinman was only contributing two songs to the album, though Meat Loaf was hoping he would contribute a third song. "We've cut three tracks, we're getting ready to cut three more, and then we'll hopefully cut three with Steinman." He had planned to begin working with Steinman in January 2014, with an expected release of September later that year.

Ellen Foley Ellen Foley (born 1951) is an American singer and actress who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the sitcom '' Night Court'' for one season. In music, she has released five solo albums but is best known for her colla ...

and

Karla DeVito Karla DeVito (born May 29, 1953) is an American singer and actress. Early life and education DeVito was born in suburban Chicago in Mokena, Illinois. She attended Willow Crest Grade School in Mokena and Lincoln-Way High School in New Lenox. Sh ...

were approached to record duets on the album. In September 2013, Meat Loaf told ''BroadwayWorld'' that he would—with Steinman's approval—like to record duets with

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...

and

Lorraine Crosby Lorraine Crosby (born 27 November 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. She was the female vocalist on Meat Loaf's 1993 hit single "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)". Her debut album, '' Mrs Loud'', was released in 2008. Ear ...

as well. Ultimately, all the songs were written or co-written by Steinman. The record's producer,

Paul Crook Paul Crook (born February 12, 1966) is an American guitarist known for his work recording and performing with Meat Loaf. He has also recorded and toured with Anthrax, Sebastian Bach and Marya Roxx. Biography Growing up in Green Brook Townshi ...

, commented that "although there's been '' Bat 1'', '' Bat 2'' and '' Bat 3'' completed, I believe this is actually ''Bat 3''. I'm gonna say that. I might get myself in trouble, but I'm gonna say that. Jim's involvement in this record is so intense. The songs, the way they run together and the narrative of the record, nothing has been this cohesive since ''Bat 1''."

Content

"Loving You's a Dirty Job" first appeared on

's 1986 album '' Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire''. The song "More" first appeared on

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasi ...

's 1990 album '' Vision Thing''. The album includes a reunion with vocalists

and

(vocalists from the studio and live versions of "

Paradise by the Dashboard Light "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is a song written by Jim Steinman. It was released in 1977 on the album ''Bat Out of Hell'', with vocals by the American musician Meat Loaf alongside Ellen Foley. An uncommonly long song for a single, it has bec ...

", respectively) on the song "Going All the Way". All songs can be traced back to earlier Jim Steinman projects such as his musicals ''The Dream Engine'' and ''Neverland'' of which also songs were used for early Meat Loaf albums. A ‘Bonus Edition’ of the album, sold at various chains like

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

and

Media Markt Media Markt is a German multinational chain of stores selling consumer electronics with over 1000 stores in Europe. With chain of stores Saturn it constitutes Media-Saturn Holding, owned by the retail company Ceconomy, which was demerged from ...

contained three exclusive bonus tracks. The same tracks were included in the Japanese edition.

Title

The original title for the album was announced as ''Brave & Crazy'', but was subsequently changed to ''Braver Than We Are'', the title of a

composition which was rewritten and recorded for this album as "Going All the Way (A Song in 6 Movements)".

Release and promotion

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

users who pre-ordered the digital release of ''Braver Than We Are'' could download "Souvenirs" and "Train of Love" immediately. The majority of the album, minus "Skull of Your Country", was accidentally leaked on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

on June 22, 2016, and was subsequently taken down after several hours.

Track listing

Personnel

* Produced, mixed and engineered by

* Creative consultant -

* Additional engineering -

John Miceli John Miceli (born May 29, 1961 in Long Island, New York) is the drummer for Meat Loaf's backing band, the Neverland Express. Meat Loaf Miceli began touring with Meat Loaf in 1991, and was a part of the Neverland Express when '' Bat Out of Hell ...

Pat Thrall Patrick Thrall is an American rock guitarist. Thrall began his recording career in 1972. He played guitar, vocals, and percussion with the group Cookin' Mama, which had his brother, Preston Thrall, on percussion. They released the album ''New Day ...

, Steve Rinkoff * Mastering Engineer - Maor Appelbaum

Arrangements

* Arranged by Jim Steinman,

& Paul Crook * Horn arrangements: David Luther * Backing vocal arrangements: Justin Avery

Band

* Meat Loaf -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

The Neverland Express

* Paul Crook -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, loops, synths * Danny Miranda -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Randy Flowers - guitars, vocals * Justin Avery -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, synth, strings * David Luther - saxophone,

B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, strings * John Miceli - drums * Stacy Michelle - featured vocals (3, 4) * Cian Coey - featured vocals (9)

Guest performers

- featured vocals (2) *

Rickey Medlocke Rickey Medlocke (born February 17, 1950) is an American musician, best known as the frontman/guitarist for the Southern rock band Blackfoot and a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. During his first stint with Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1971 to 1972, he played d ...

- slide guitar solo (10)

Studio musicians

* Alicia Avery - backing vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Meat Loaf albums Caroline Records albums 429 Records albums