Cyndi Lauper - A Night To Remember

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:04
Size: 111,1 MB
Art: Front

(0:28) 1. Intro
(4:11) 2. I Drove All Night
(3:48) 3. Primitive
(3:01) 4. My First Night Without You
(3:24) 5. Like A Cat
(3:55) 6. Heading West
(3:43) 7. A Night To Remember
(3:56) 8. Unconditional Love
(3:30) 9. Insecurious
(4:12) 10. Dancing With A Stranger
(4:22) 11. I Don't Want To Be Your Friend
(1:15) 12. Kindred Spirit
(4:03) 13. Hole In My Heart
(4:09) 14. I Drove All Night (Summer Sonic 07)

On True Colors, Cyndi Lauper began to edge her way into adult contemporary territory, but it was on her third album, A Night to Remember, that she concentrated all of her attention on becoming a self-consciously "mature" singer/songwriter.

A Night to Remember doesn't always work, but not because she's incapable of performing polished, well-crafted middle-of-the-road material "Time After Time" and "True Colors" prove that she could convincingly deliver ballads. Instead, the album bogs down because it assumes that labored arrangements and precisely detailed production are tantamount to musical sophistication.

That said,there are some moments such as the seductive "I Drove All Night" that make a lasting impression, illustrating what Lauper was attempting to achieve with the record. By Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-night-to-remember-mw0000201047

A Night To Remember

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Cyndi Lauper - At Last

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:59
Size: 114,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:42)  1. At Last
(4:29)  2. Walk On By
(3:15)  3. Stay
(3:35)  4. La Vie En Rose
(4:27)  5. Unchained Melody
(4:27)  6. If You Go Away
(4:40)  7. Until You Come Back To Me
(2:37)  8. My Baby Just Cares For Me
(4:16)  9. Makin Whoopee (Duet with Tony Bennett)
(3:40) 10. Dont Let Me Be Misunderstood
(4:04) 11. You ve Really Got A Hold On Me
(3:33) 12. Hymn To Love
(4:08) 13. On The Sunny Side Of The Street

As the girl who just wants to have fun, Cyndi Lauper became an '80s music icon with her flamboyant style, powerful baby-doll voice, and quirky songs, but as time and tastes moved on, her playful persona wore thin and attempts at becoming a more serious artist failed to regain her dwindling audience. With At Last, Lauper steps even further away from that playful image to become the girl who just wants to sing as she tackles a set of pop standards that showcase her underrated voice. Although occasionally shrill and reckless, Lauper's forceful tones can be quite moving and awe-inspiring when corralled into the proper setting, as with her bluesy take on Etta James' "At Last." With its lazy tempo and minimal arrangement, Lauper is able to relax and convey the lyrics in one of her most mature and affecting performances. Even more low-key is the whisper quiet of "Walk on By," in which she turns Dionne Warwick's midtempo gem into a dark tale of mourning by sadly singing the lyrics over a crawling tempo. Getting a Tori Amos-style ballad treatment is the Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," which lets Lauper's rock roots rise to the surface with her edgy performance. While some of her song choices work, others fall flat, like "La Vie en Rose," in which her slightly ragged reading is too rough for the delicate song. Also misfiring is her corny duet with Tony Bennett, "Makin' Whoopee," where the voices of these two New Yorkers clash like stripes and plaids. Lauper also has a little too much fun with Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs' "Stay," as she reverts back to her boisterous voice of yesteryear and disrupts the mature tone of the disc. Although the results are mixed, At Last does focus on Cyndi Lauper's best asset her voice and may help to rejuvenate a career in which the personality unfortunately overshadowed the talent. ~ Aarom Latham https://www.allmusic.com/album/at-last-mw0000694563

At Last

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Cyndi Lauper - Detour

Styles: Vocal, Country
Year: 2016
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:25
Size: 93,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:15)  1. Funnel Of Love
(2:55)  2. Detour (feat. Emmylou Harris)
(3:19)  3. Misty Blue
(2:16)  4. Walkin' After Midnight
(3:10)  5. Heartaches By The Number
(3:12)  6. The End Of The World
(2:58)  7. Night Life (feat. Willie Nelson)
(3:24)  8. Begging To You
(3:42)  9. You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly (feat. Vince Gill)
(3:00) 10. I Fall To Pieces
(3:13) 11. I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart (feat. Jewel)
(3:54) 12. Hard Candy Christmas (feat. Alison Krauss)

A spiritual sequel of sorts to Memphis Blues, Detour finds Cyndi Lauper swapping out blues for country & western. The "western" part of the equation is crucial to Detour, a record equally enamored of cowboy camp as it is of Music City craft and corn. Such a wide purview is testament to Lauper's taste-savvy show biz sensibilities, but by balancing ballads with riotous romps, she winds up with a bit of a mess on her hands. On their own, the slow-burning-torch set pieces of "End of the World" and "I Fall to Pieces" have their charms  they offer ample evidence of Lauper's nuance and control, elements that are often underrated but when paired with the ferocious, mincing wink of "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly," "Cowboy Sweetheart," and "Detour," the spell is broken. Matters aren't helped much by the presence of Dolly Parton's "Hard Candy Christmas" a fine, faithful rendition that closes off the record on a sweet note  and the crisp, digital modern sheen of the opener "Funnel of Love," elements that pull Detour even further down a winding backroad. 

Such sudden shifts in tone might work better on-stage than they do on record, and with its cavalcade of guest stars, Detour often does play a bit like a stage revue, for better or worse. After all, much of Lauper's charm lies in her innate theatricality, and when she's paired with someone who shares her humor Emmylou Harris on "Detour" and, especially, Vince Gill on "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly" there's a crackling vitality that nevertheless winds up diluting the diva showstoppers, something that could possibly be finessed on-stage but seems like a sharp turn on record. Nevertheless, on a track-by-track level, Detour has a few stumbles the biggest is "Night Life," and that's due to the gravelly growl of Willie Nelson, not Lauper and if it's taken as a collection of performances and not a coherent record, it's fun. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine http://www.allmusic.com/album/detour-mw0002913797

Personnel: Cyndi Lauper (vocal);  Kenny Greenberg, Vince Gill, Tom Bukovac (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Willie Nelson, Bryan Sutton (acoustic guitar); Dan Dugmore (steel guitar); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin, fiddle); Jeff Taylor (accordion); Steve Nathan (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, Wurlitzer organ, synthesizer); Tony Brown (piano); Greg Morrow, Chad Cromwell (drums); Neal Coomer, Elaine Caswell, Perry Coleman, Kim Keyes (background vocals).

Detour

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