- Original Sin (Pandora's Box album)
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Original Sin 
Studio album by Pandora's Box Released 1989 Recorded The Power Station, New York City Genre Pop, Adult Contemporary Length 67:19 Label Virgin Producer Jim Steinman Jim Steinman chronology Bad for Good
(1981)Original Sin
(1989)Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell
(1993)Original Sin is a concept album performed by Pandora's Box and produced by Jim Steinman. Steinman wrote the majority of this album, although there are a couple of cover versions. It was the group's only album, and was a commercial flop.
Although the album was not a commercial success (except in South Africa), many of the songs have gone platinum with other artists. Steinman is said to be very proud of the songs on this album, even though Original Sin sold very poorly in comparison with his highest selling albums and songs. The album charted at #43 in Sweden.[1]
The album was rereleased in 2006 along with a DVD featuring the videos for "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" and "Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)", a featurette featuring interviews and performances by Steinman.
Contents
Track listings and cover versions
Steinman regularly reworks previous material for a newer project, and much of Original Sin has been recycled, as listed in the table below. Some demo versions of tracks recorded by others are listed. Some tracks were intended to be released on The Dream Engine's debut album.
Track No. Title Main Vocalist Subsequent Cover Versions 1 The Invocation Ellen Foley featured in Jim Steinman's musical Neverland 2 Original Sin (The Natives Are Restless Tonight) intro and outro by Laura Theodore; lead vocals by all the girls, primarily Gina Taylor and Ellen Foley Taylor Dayne on the soundtrack to the 1994 movie version of The Shadow; Meat Loaf on Welcome to the Neighborhood; rewritten as "Gott ist tot" ("God is dead") for Tanz der Vampire/Dance of the Vampires 3 Twentieth Century Fox Ellen Foley This is a cover version: The Doors (1967), though the gender pronouns have been switched to indicate a male "fox." The song opens with the 20th Century Fox Fanfare, and includes a snippet of "Light My Fire" at the end. A new lyric during the bridge refers to "In the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett. 4 Safe Sex Gina Taylor A demo of "Safe Sex" performed by Canadian vocalist Karine Hannah has been leaked onto the internet from the period when she was working with Steinman on an ill-fated album; it is expected to appear on The Dream Engine's debut album[2] 5 Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere) Holly Sherwood Meat Loaf on Bat out of Hell II: Back Into Hell 6 Requiem Metal a sample from Verdi's Requiem Mass re-used as backing track for "Wasted Youth" on Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell II: Back Into Hell 7 I've Been Dreaming up a Storm Lately monologue performed by Jim Steinman re-used in an early draft of Dance of the Vampires 8 It's All Coming Back To Me Now Elaine Caswell Céline Dion on Falling Into You; Meat Loaf and Marion Raven on Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose 9 The Opening of the Box an extract from "The Storm", from Steinman's 1981 album Bad for Good re-used in Dance of the Vampires 10 The Want Ad monologue performed by Ellen Foley featured in Jim Steinman's musical Neverland 11 My Little Red Book Ellen Foley This is a cover version: written by Burt Bacharach; the arrangement closely follows the cover by Love on their first album. 12 It Just Won't Quit Elaine Caswell Meat Loaf on Bat out of Hell II: Back Into Hell 13 Pray Lewd solo piano medley of "Original Sin", "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" and "It Just Won't Quit", performed by Steven Margoshes covered at some Dream Engine/Over the Top concerts 14 The Future Ain't What It Used to Be Gina Taylor Erika Christensen on Wuthering Heights OST (re-using the original Roy Bittan piano track); Meat Loaf and Jennifer Hudson on Bat Out of Hell III Rory Dodd mostly contributed background vocals and his voice was barely distinguishable in the songs, unlike that of Fire Inc, where he is definitely more audible in the background. Todd Rundgren also helped out with the background vocals this time. Another Bat out of Hell veteran who contributed with her voice was Ellen Foley.
Videos
Music videos were produced for the songs "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Good Girls Go to Heaven."
Ken Russell directed the video for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". It was filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. Steinman wrote the script, based on Russell's segment in the compilation opera movie Aria.[3] Elements include leather, snakes, tombstones and cockrings with shrunken heads, and the video featured Caswell as a girl near death—from a motorcycle crash—being ministered to by paramedics, fantasising and being 'sexually aroused by a large python and writhing on a bed that lit up in time with the music, while surrounded by a group of bemused, semi-naked dancers'.[4] When Steinman's manager saw it, he responded 'It's a porno movie!'[3] The two day shoot ran over schedule and budget, costing £35,000 an hour. Russell and Steinman even designed a sequence where a motorcyclist would cycle up the steps of a local church-tower, jump out of the turrets at the top, and then explode; alas, the wardens of the church refused permission.[4]
The video for "Good Girls Go to Heaven", directed by Brian Grant, was set in a prison. It shows the arrival of a new inmate called Jenny (the name featured in the first chorus) and her induction. As the song begins, the other inmates dance around her.
Personnel
Pandora's Box
- Elaine Caswell — Vocals
- Ellen Foley — Vocals
- Gina Taylor — Vocals
- Deliria Wilde — Vocals
- Jim Steinman — Keyboards
Band
- Eddie Martinez — Guitars
- Steve Buslowe — Bass Guitar
- Tony Levin — Bass on "Original Sin (The Natives Are Restless Tonight)"
- Roy Bittan — Grand Piano
- Steven Margoshes — Piano on "Pray Lewd"
- Jeff Bova — Synthesizers, Keyboards, Programming
- Jimmy Bralower — Drums, Programming
- Todd Rundgren, Eric Troyer, Rory Dodd, Holly Sherwood, Laura Theodore — Backing Vocals
- Curtis King, Tawatha Agee, Vaneese Thomas, Brenda King, Darryl Tookes — Additional Backing Vocals
- New York Philharmonic (conducted by Steven Margoshes) — Orchestra on "The Opening of the Box"
Reception
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[5]Piero Scaruffi 
[6]In his book A History of Rock Music: 1951-2000, Piero Scaruffi says that the albums "symphonic-choral song-cycle ... [is] the ultimate in rock melodrama ... The brutal and romantic "Original Sin" (halfway between Phil Spector, a gospel mass and a Beethoven overture) and the heartbreaking balled "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" show the range and depth of Steinman's art. [The album] wed decadent rock of the 1970s and punk spirit of the 1980s. Steinman composed a metaphysical concept that mimicked Broadway musicals and that alternated Zappa-esque parody and street pathos. This was brutal, colossal music of manic crescendos, of punishing rhythms of delirious choirs."[7]
2006 Special Edition re-issue
In the slipstream of the release of Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, Virgin / EMI released a two disc special edition. The first disc contains the remastered original album, while the second disc is a DVD, containing the two promo videos, and some additional promotional footage.
DVD track listing
- "Jim Steinman Opens Pandora's Box" - 18:18
- "Prologue (A Teenager In Love)" (video) - 0:58
- "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" (video) - 6:38
- "Good Girls Go To Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)" (video) - 6:12
DVD credits
- Produced and Directed by Mark Wightwick, Executive Producer: Sue Winter
- Directed by Ken Russell, produced by Vasconcellos
- Directed by Ken Russell, produced by Vasconcellos
- Directed by Brian Grant, produced by Jonathan Cooke
DVD Produced by Abbey Road Interactive
References
- ^ swedishcharts.com - Pandora's Box - Original Sin
- ^ A short clip was made available on their MySpace in August 2006: http://www.myspace.com/thedreamengine
- ^ a b Simmons, Sylvie (1989). "Sex, Lies & Videotape" (Reprint on website). RAW magazine. http://www.jimsteinman.com/sexlies.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-04.
- ^ a b Hotten, Jon (September, 2000). "Bat Out Of Hell - The Story Behind The Album" (Reprint on website). Classic Rock Magazine. http://www.jimsteinman.com/00classicr1.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
- ^ Guarisco, Donald A.. "allmusic ((( Original Sin > Review )))". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r372188. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
- ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Jim Steinman". pieroscaruffi.com (Italian). Retrieved on December 31, 2010.
- ^ Scaruffi, Piero (2003). A History of Rock Music: 1951-2000. iUniverse. p. 232.
External links
Categories:- Albums produced by Jim Steinman
- Albums produced by Roy Bittan
- 1989 albums
- Concept albums
- Debut albums
- Virgin Records albums
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