Style: hard rock, hair metal, blues-rock
Label: Mercury
Year: 1988
Home: n/a
Members: Tom Keifer ~ vocals/guitars/harmonica
Jeff LaBar ~ guitar
Eric Brittingham ~ bass/b. vocals
Additional: Jay Levin - steel guitar
Cozy Powell, Denny Carmassi - drums
Rick Criniti, Kurt Shore, John Webster - keyboards
Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
I always think of Cinderella as a glam outfit, due to seeing them on MTV when I was young. Yet, their second & most commercially successful album actually saw them move away from their glam roots to being a bluesy rock band. For comparison I'd cite Tesla, '70's Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, AC/DC. Maybe the best view of them would be a less melodic Aerosmith. This album thus ook me by surprise. I was so expecting something bland, but got some cool rock'n'roll swagger. I'll totally take it over what I thought I was getting. This album spun out the hit "Don't Know What You've Got (Till It's Gone)", the typical '80's power ballad which made me mis-characterize the band ... to their detriment. Its enjoyable, but doesn't really not stand up to the bluesy lesser known songs on the album, such as "Gypsy Road", the Aerosmith-esque "Second Wind" & "If You Don't Like It". These songs, & others, have guts & sound less like every other '80's band. Its so great hearing a band really doing something different, really breaking the mold, really having a unique personality that draws from some different sources. Yet, Cinderella falters, making this not the great album it could be, but just a really good blues-rock album where I want to keep them on my radar to see where they go next. Too many songs never seem to take off. Right when I wanted them to hit a climax they instead fade out. Its like the band was hesitate to experiment too much & stray too far from home. I also feel like the vocals are the glue that holds so many songs together ... but only just so much. I found the emphasis was often too much on Tom Keifer's vocals, while the music just wasn't supporting him with great melodies to weave around & bounce off of. Tom's singing on "If You Don't Like It" would make Stephen Tyler proud, but the music doesn't rise to the same level of excitement, so he's pulling a dead horse. Thus, Tom sounds like a man singing for his life on the verge of drowning. Don't believe me? Hum some of the guitar parts of the album. Not the vocals melodies, but the guitar melodies. Doubt you can, or you won't get far. You won't find many of them & they won't stick with you. Its just a wall of chords weighing down the album. On some level I loved hearing this, but on another level I can't help but think what it could have been. I'd love to have the band re-issue the album, or re-record it, but call me in as a producer. We'd push the blues button even harder. Still rock, but get dirtier. Groove more. Slow it down. Speed it up, even. Pump up the guitar solos. Maybe bring in some guests like Joe Bonnamasso or some blues guy to rip over the foundation they've laid. Take a listen to "Gyspy Road" & ask yourself how cool this would be with a smokin' blues solo. The slide solo on the closer "Take Me Back" sorta goes there, but comes too late in the game. There's such potential here, but the band either doesn't have the skills to go there, nor were they willing to do something that was drastically different than their peers, or maybe they just didn't hear the magic they were making. Its too bad. There's makings of something great here. So great that I'm curious about their next album that supposedly developed along this same formula. This might be more commercially successful, but if they push the blues some more that might be the musically superior album. I look forward to hearing it. This is a good enough album so I'm interested in joining the ride long-term. There is one more track needing mention. "Coming Home" is sang by Tom in his real voice. Its so different its shocking. While the track feels out of place both due to his vocals & the acoustic instrumentation. But, its out of place cause its the most interesting track on the album & a highlight. It throws out all the '80' hard rock pay-by-numbers output & just goes to great new places, new places I wish more of the songs had more gone. I was left thinking: This is unique, this speaks personality, this brings together the best of the band, & I want to hear this sound on their next album. The song even builds up in a climax none of the others have & has the best guitar solo. Wow, what happened to this album that we went from gritty early Aerosmith to derivative glammy "Don't Know What You've Got" to this fascinating bluesy beast? So, hint, hint, re-issue ..... e-mail me & let's talk. I'll work for cheap, cause when you hear something almost there you want to help it get over the hill. I originally wrote this blog over a month ago, but today the news went out that their guitarist Jeff LeBar passed away, so I decided in his honor to share this now.
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