Pandora's Box: Original Sin - 1989 (produced by Jim Steinman)

 

An almost forgotten but grossly underrated work here from the pen of Jim Steinman was this 1989 "concept" album. It gloriously featured five "horny angel" female vocalists - Elaine Caswell, Ellen Foley, Holly Sherwood, Gina Taylor and Deliria Wilde. They all contribute at various stages throughout the album. The musicians include Roy "E St. Band" Bittan on piano (always a good sign) and Steve Buslowe on bass guitar. Old Meat Loaf mates Todd Rundgren and Rory Dodd are on backing vocals.

The songs are all, unsurprisingly, typical Steinman offerings - big, lengthy, choral epic offerings dealing with mainly one thing - sex. That suits me fine. Classic Steinman ingredients. 

Several cuts were subsequently recorded by Mea Loaf - these are Original Sin (The Natives Are Restless Tonight), on Welcome To The Neighbourhood; It Just Won't Quit on Back Into Hell: Bat Out Of Hell II; Good Girls Go To Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere) on the same album; The Future Just Ain't What It Used To Be and It's All Coming Back To Me Now on The Monster Is Loose: Bat Out Of Hell III. The latter, of course, was also covered successfully by Celine Dion.

All of these tracks are superb, and they all out-do the Meat Loaf versions, it may surprise you to hear me say. Another fine serving of Steinman's acquired-taste obsessional approach to sex was delivered in Safe Sex -

"there's no such thing as safe sex

when it comes to loving you".

He likes it erotically dangerous. The whole album gives off that vibe. It positively drips with it. Like a sheen of fresh sweat on a heaving cleavage.

Also notable is Ellen Foley's excellent cover of The Doors' Twentieth Century Fox, which sample Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady and The Doors' Light My Fire. Wonderfully amusing is Foley's spoken diatribe against blind newspaper ad-inspired dates on The Want Ad. Listen to it - it's a hoot. 

Any Steinman aficionados will love this.