CINDERELLA – Night Songs

Cinderella – Night Songs (1986, Mercury Records)

1. “Night Songs” … 4:03
2. “Shake Me” … 3:44
3. “Nobody’s Fool” … 4:49
4. “Nothin’ for Nothin'” … 3:33
5. “Once Around the Ride” … 3:22
6. “Hell on Wheels” … 2:49
7. “Somebody Save Me” … 3:16
8. “In From The Outside” … 4:07
9. “Push Push” … 2:52
10. “Back Home Again” … 3:30

Band:
Tom Keifer – Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Jeff LaBar – Guitar
Eric Brittingham – Bass
Fred Coury – Drums

Additional Musicians:
Jon Bon Jovi – Backing Vocals (“Nothing for Nothin'” and “In From the Outside”)
Barry Bennedetta – Guitar
Jeff Paris – Keyboards
Jody Cortez – Drums
Jim Drnec – Drums

Produced by: Andy Johns

Wow, check out that cover. These guys were trying REALLY hard to fit in with the rest of the 80s glam bands. As for sound, they were doing that too. It’s still sounds like the Cinderalla I’m familiar with (Keifer’s voice is unmistakable) but with less hard rockin’ blues and more hair metal.

This is a solid debut from one of the 80s most underrated hard rock bands. It’s not the generic hair metal release that I’ve seen others try to peg it as. A few songs (“Night Songs”, “Somebody Save Me”, “In From the Outside”) show what the band would later become on Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station.”Nobody’s Fool” was the band’s biggest hit, and it’s good, but it’s been used soooooo many times on 80s rock compilations, I think I could go the rest of my life without hearing it and be okay.

Mercury labelmate Jon Bon Jovi sings backing vocals for two songs. In addition to that, he helped the band get noticed by Mercury and Bon Jovi took the band out on their Slippery When Wet tour. This no doubt helped propel Night Songs to the triple platinum status that it has attained.

Highlights: “Night Songs”, “Shake Me”, “Nobody’s Fool”, “Nothin’ for Nothin'”, “Somebody Save Me”, “In From the Outside”

www.cinderella.net
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CINDERELLA – Heartbreak Station

Cinderella – Heartbreak Station (1990, Mercury Records)

Track Listing:
1. “The More Things Change” … 4:22
2. “Love’s Got Me Doin’ Time” … 5:19
3. “Shelter Me” … 4:47
4. “Heartbreak Station” … 4:28
5. “Sick for the Cure” … 3:59
6. “One for Rock and Roll” … 4:29
7. “Dead Man’s Road” … 6:38
8. “Make Your Own Way” … 4:15
9. “Electric Love” … 5:23
10. “Love Gone Bad” … 4:20
11. “Winds of Change” … 5:24

Band:
Tom Keifer – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Dobro, Mandolin, Piano
Jeff LaBar – Guitar
Eric Brittingham – Bass
Fred Coury – Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals

Additional Musicians:
Bobby Schumann – Guitar
J. Harman – Drums
Rod Roddy, Brian O’Neal, Rick Criniti – Keyboard
Jay Levin – Steel Guitar
The Memphis Horns: Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Trumpet
Jay Davidson – Saxophone, Piano
Ken Hensley – Organ
Bashiri Johnson – Percussion
Elaine Foster, Sharon Foster, Tara Pellerin, Carla Benson, Evette Benton, Curtis King, Brenda King, Tawatha Agee, Eric Troyer – Backing vocals

Produced by: John Jansen & Tom Keifer

A great continuation of the sleazy cowboy blues rock vibe (with some funk thrown in) that the band started on Long Cold Winter. “Heartbreak Station” is definitely one of my favorite Cinderella songs and the funk rocker “Love’s Got Me Doin’ Time” is a real foot stomper.

It’s a shame Cinderella’s popularity didn’t continue with this album as their sound expanded, Heartbreak Station is great stuff from an era when many hair bands (and their labels) were *really* playing it safe and by the numbers. Thus, we got grunge. >=/

Highlights: “The More Things Change”, “Love’s Got Me Doin’ Time”, “Shelter Me”, “Heartbreak Station”, “Dead Man’s Road”, “Electric Love”, “Love Gone Bad”

www.cinderella.net
www.myspace.com/stillclimbing

CINDERELLA – Long Cold Winter

Cinderella – Long Cold Winter (1988, Mercury Records)

Track Listing:
1. “Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin’ Apart At The Seams” … (5:23)
2. “Gypsy Road” … (4:05)
3. “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)” … (5:56)
4. “The Last Mile” …  (3:25)
5. “Second Wind” … (3:57)
6. “Long Cold Winter” … (5:22)
7. “If You Don’t Like It” … (4:13)
8. “Coming Home” … (4:55)
9. “Fire And Ice” … (3:19)
10. “Take Me Back” … (3:16)

Band:
Tom Keifer – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Jeff LaBar – Guitar
Eric Brittingham – Bass, Backing Vocals
Fred Coury – Drums

Additional Musicians:
Jay Levin – Steel Guitar
Rick Criniti – Piano, Organ, Synthesizer
Kurt Shore – Keyboard
John Webster – Keyboard
Cozy Powell – Drums
Denny Carmassi – Drums
Paulinho Da Costa – Percussion

Produced by: Andy Johns

Cinderella, just like Ratt, are an incredibly underrated band. They’re one of my favorites from the 80s scene and they weren’t just a good glam/hair band, they were a good rock band… Period. Long Cold Winter is one of the finest releases from the whole glam/hair era. This is one of my favorite albums out of my whole collection.

Though I certainly already knew their biggest hit (and an essential power ballad), “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”, my first exposure to Cinderella as a whole was by picking up their 1997 greatest hits compilation, Once Upon A…, at Wal-Mart on cassette (!!!) in 1998 as I was scooping up any and all hair band album I could get my hands on during that time… even if that meant compilations.

Eventually, that “best of” introduction led me to picking up this album.

Highlights: “Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin’ Apart At The Seams”, “Gypsy Road”, “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”, “The Last Mile”, “Second Wind”, “Long Cold Winter”, “Coming Home”

www.cinderella.net
www.myspace.com/stillclimbing