That's right -- blow the candles, Cyndi! This year marks 25 years since She's So Unusual, and quite honestly, other than her 12 Deadly Cyns compilation in 1995 and, more recently, The Essential Cyndi Lauper, I haven't paid much attention to the singer's albums since that first iconic one came out when I was nine (!!).And so it's with some surprise that I find myself billing her latest, the just-released Bring Ya To The Brink, one of 2008's great pop albums. Sorry Madonna and Mariah, but goonies 'R' good enough for me!
The album first crossed my desk in April, but truth be told, after about two listens, I set it aside. When a final copy of the CD arrived Saturday, I popped it in the car D'luv, and realized that BYTTB is indeed a driving album. That's how it's meant to be heard! Well, okay, it's probably more meant to be heard on a dancefloor, but I'm 34. In gay years, that's, like, 79.
Chances are you've already marveled at the sheer Holy shit, this is a rad jam!-ness of "Into The Nightlife." I'm actually glad that's to be a single, because "Same Ol' Story" didn't really knock my boots off.
"Lyfe" gets skipped everytime on this end -- which is ironic, since the title of the set comes from that song's lyrics -- but Cyndi's Andreas Kleerup collaboration, "Lay Me Down" and Axwell's "Rain On Me" are up there with "Into The Nightlife." In fact, I wish she would have called the album Into The Nightlife. It would've totally fit. "Echo" and the subtle, pensive "Raging Storm" are pretty bonza, too."Grab A Hold" is as close as it comes to '80s-era Cyndi Lauper. It makes me fondly think of the sheer joy "She Bop," "I Drove All Night" and "Change Of Heart" brought as a kid.
If you've not picked up Brink Ya To The Brink yet, download it from iTunes for the also-excellent bonus tracks -- the disco-y "Got Candy" and moody ballad, "Can't Breathe." (Why didn't these make the final cut instead of "Lyfe"?)
FINAL ASSESSMENT: Just really good stuff. Not the best album ever, but often the ones that stand out are the more subtle records that sideswipe you out of the blue. And make you wanna take a drive.
Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour starts this week.
ALSO SEE:
* Ferras' Aliens & Rainbows: The First Great Pop Album Of 2008