siLLy puPPy Although CINDERELLA were as glam as you can get on their debut album “Night Songs” they wasted no time steering their image and sound away from trashy kitsch glam metal into bluesy hard rock arenas. While the debut sounded more like Brian Johnson led AC/DC, here the sound is more akin to 70s hard rock following the melodic paths of Aerosmith, Bad Company, Humble Pie and more. A risky move for a band to follow up a successful debut with a purposeful new sound, however CINDERELLA struck gold again with LONG COLD WINTER by scoring three top 40 hits and delivering another triple platinum album all with the help of MTV.

The album begins with an acoustic slide guitar intro but then heads into their hard rockin’ blues with “Bad Seamstress Blues / Fallin’ Apart At The Seams” which is followed by the lead single “Gypsy Road” another hard bluesy rocker. The strangest sounding song is the next one “Don’t Know What You Got (Til It’s Gone)” which was the band’s biggest hit. This is a strange Elton John meets AC/DC moment because it’s a piano ballad which incorporates Tom Keifer’s AC/DC vocals. It’s kind of an amusing little number. The rest of the tracks deliver the same catchy hard rockin’ blues style with absolutely no surprises in the mix.

This is a play-it-safe album by all means. It sounds like they were going for the jugular on the pop charts crafting tracks that were guaranteed to have you singing along (and then being frustrated if you can’t screech that way!) The album does seem a little hard-rock-by-the-numbers, but i have to admit that i find the tracks catchy and i really love the slide guitar and the delivery of how it’s all mixed. I do find this a step down from “Night Songs” which had an exotic metal sound to the mix, but LONG COLD WINTER still delivers ten strong catchy tracks that deliver in the melodic hard rock department.

siLLy puPPy Sounding somewhat like a more bluesy version of 80s AC/DC with Brian Johnson on vocal duties, NIGHT SONGS is the debut album by the Philadelphia band with the not-so-metal name CINDERELLA, yet another musical entity discovered by the then pop metal god Jon Bon Jovi. Like many a band of this era, CINDERELLA broke big fast due to some slick and savvy videos on MTV that revolved around the underdog character CINDERELLA being taunted by the evil twins who actually got to go to the CINDERELLA concert while she stayed home to mop the floors. Sad but true. She always got the last laugh in the end.

Well, gimmicks aside, i have to admit that this music is well constructed and seriously catchy. No, this is not philosophical or trying to reinvent any kind of wheel or other invention, but for what this music is, namely glam metal, NIGHT SONGS caught CINDERELLA on a high note where they were at their most metal before they shifted gears into a true bluesy hard rock band that would garner them even more commercial success on the following album “Long Cold Winter.”

CINDERELLA is basically the making of Tom Keifer who writes all the songs and is the vocalist and guitarist. This album not only hit the top 40 with the single “Nobody’s Fool” on the Billboard hot singles but also produced the huge video hits “Shake Me” and “Somebody Save Me.” The music is not complex in the least but the catchiness is infectious and i really find no track on this album to be a stinker. The title track starts the album with some kind of catchy exotic scale and the bluesy anthem rockers that pick up the pace sustain til the end. Much better than any Bon Jovi album and although a true product of its time, i find find this to be a great listen despite the “i am more of a poser than thou” album cover that just reeks of the times.

Stephen Cinderella's story began in 1983, formed by leader Tom Keifer and bassist Eric Brittingham where eventually two of the original members left to build another rival band, Britny Fox. With a little luck, Jon Bon Jovi spotted them performing in a club and referenced the band to Mercury that sealed them a recording contract. "Night Songs"' album sales crawled slowly when it was released in 1986, but thanks to the huge ballad hit, "Nobody's Fool", Cinderella seized triple platinums in 1987. Ironically, that song had always become my least favorite track of the album, and in my opinion, it’s probably the worst ballad ever penned by the band.

"Night Songs" featured a 40-minutes high octane rock and roll ride that was highly influenced by AC/DC and listening to Tom Keifer's raspy vocal style, you can't deny the close comparation to Brian Johnson. Their singles, "Shake Me" and "Somebody Save Me", are classic tunes, concert regulars, and definitely their best tracks here. Don't bother to look for any wasteful fillers, the rest are extremely enjoyable from the cool and sleazy "Nuthin' For Nuthin'", the heaviest monstrous track "Hell On Wheels", to the hard kicker, "Push Push".

The sound is raw, signifying a hungry quartet ready to break and crack. If you want to catch Cinderella at their primal start, "Night Songs" won't disappoint. Cinderella moved forward with a more bluesy approach onto their next release, "Long Cold Winter", so it's wise to always start exploring them from this album. Sadly, with over 25 years of experiences, Cinderella only produced four studio albums, and though this ain't their peak, it remains their essential album to have.

Stephen If you already got the Extended Versions, then I don't see any reason why you should buy this, because this is basically the same concert, only this time, you got couple of bonuses, but really doesn't worth your hard-earned money.

Now if you haven't got the disc, let me tell you why you should avoid this album. First of all, Cinderella is one of my fave bands and I think they have released a very good discography, but after "Still Climbing", basically they have done nothing to the community but throwing live CDs and compilations for some dollars. If my math is right, I have counted almost 10 greatest hits/live albums including this one and how many more is coming out ? I guess if you have bought "Live at the Key Club" in 1999, then it's more than enough.

Second of all, Tom Keifer sounds exhausted, a bit lazy, and unable to hit the peak notes anymore, not to mention he ran off-key couple of times. Several songs eventually needed to be tweaked from the original studio version by the band just to fit his voice.

Third of all, the production value is decent and probably because they're trying so hard to adjust a balance mix of the crowds' cheering and the bands, the overall sound tend to wave at times.

Good news is the band still playing tight, looks like they rehearsed enough, and the setlist is satisfying, they played almost all hits that people wants to hear. I still think their career ain't over yet but what I'm afraid is they've lost the passion of making a great new music anymore and a long endless greatest hits tour is the first thing they have in mind, it's a shame because they got the talent, and as a fan, I demand at least one or two memorable albums before they close the book for good.

Bottomline, this album is definitely only for completist and die-hards. If you're new to the band, I suggest you to go for "Long Cold Winter" or "Heartbreak Station" first.

Negoba Working for Credibility

Sophomore albums are notorious for destroying bands, especially groups that really didn't have much fresh to offer the first time around. Cinderella chose to go back to their roots on their 2nd disc, and the gamble worked. Long Cold Winter points back to hard blues rock of the 70's rather than the glam of the 80's. Tom Kiefer grabbed hold of the reins to an even greater degree, and the band enjoyed continued great success.

The tour to support this album was the first rock concert I ever saw at 15. I recall the piano being lowered from the ceiling and most of all the immense volume. My ears were still ringing the next morning.

The first single from this album "Gypsy Road" set the tone, being much more bluesy and pop oriented than anything on Night Songs. The band would have its biggest hit with the piano ballad "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)". But my favorite was the straight blues of the title song, where Kiefer plays some immensely tasty leads. For a kid already obsessed with Zeppelin, it felt good to see a contemporary artist paying homage in a more legitimate way than just aping Robert Plant.

Again, Cinderella was a never a band to break the boundaries musically. Here, they settle into some comfortable rock n' roll, which was actually a nice change in a time when everything was over the top. A solid offering.