Cinderella: Hits And Misses On Their "Once Upon A..." anthology
Written: Jul 07 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: Hot 100 hits:"Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone),""Nobody's Fool,""Gypsy Road"...
Cons: Well over half the tunes are easily forgotten.
The Bottom Line: All eight of the band's Hot 100 hits are here, including "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)," "Gypsy Road," "Somebody Save Me," "Coming Home" and "Nobody's Fool."
Don_Krider's Full Review: Once Upon A... by Cinderella (Metal)
Let me tell you a little Cinderella story.
Once upon a time in the little American kingdom known as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, four young men in outlandish attire, with very, very big hair (and loads of money for hair spray) got together to form a band they called Cinderella.
In this "field of dreams," the message was "if we play it, they will come." All the peasants of the kingdom soon turned out in huge numbers to hear the band's pop-ish, heavy metal, guitar-driven songs, and the crazed "banshee wail" of Cinderella lead singer Tom Keifer.
The prince with the vinyl record contract, instead of the traditional glass slipper, who discovered them was the much-beloved joker of the magical kingdom Jon Bon Jovi, who took the group to Mercury/Polygram Records to meet the Merlins Of Magical Music who were known for remarkable deeds such as producing recording contracts for handsome young musicians with big hair.
The rest is history. Cinderella soon was opening for Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" tour and their debut album, "Night Songs," rocketed the group to # 3 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart in 1986-87.
By 1988, Cinderella had placed a second album on the charts with "Long Cold Winter," which peaked at # 10 in 1988. Both albums have since been RIAA-certified for sales of three million copies each.
By 1991, the group had scored eight Hot 100 Singles, but no Top 10 hits, in Billboard magazine, including "Nobody's Fool" (# 13 in 1986-87), "Somebody Save Me" (# 66, 1987), "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" (# 12, 1988), "The Last Mile" (# 36, 1989), "Coming Home" (# 20, 1989), "Gypsy Road" (# 51, 1989), "Shelter Me" (# 36, 1990-91) and "Heartbreak Station" (# 44, 1991).
The band exists to this very day, but sales dwindled and the band's studio album output stopped at four albums. Drummer Fred Coury left the band for a time, but returned to the fold for good with this anthology CD, "Once Upon A...", in 1997.
In 2002, Cinderella toured with Poison ("Every Rose Has Its Thorn") in one of that year's most successful summer stadium tours, but record company interest didn't follow. In 2004, the band decided not to tour during the summer, according to the group's website --- such are the ups and downs of rock music.
On the CD "Once Upon A..." is evidence of a band that created a few songs that I really like. There's equal evidence that the band can produce some pretty weak tunes as well --- in fact, some critics have claimed the band never met a guitar riff (Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Enuff Z'Nuff) that it didn't "borrow."
The band's greatest strength in my opinion is lead singer Tom Keifer. He has what some critics call a "banshee wail" for a voice, somewhat sweet and raspy at the same time --- it can be an amazing rock instrument on a tune like "Gypsy Road," but it can also be an irritating distraction when Keifer comes close to screaming some of the songs.
One guy, whom I respect, guitarist Wally Bryson of The Raspberries ("Go All The Way"), has praise for the band in an interview with Michele Cervoni-Anderson at Raspberries.Net. He said, "I like Cinderella... Tom Keifer writes great songs. I like a lot of their stuff."
Cinderella attracted my attention in the 1980's --- they seemed better than most of the "hair bands" banging their heads all over the place. They also made interesting videos that dominated MTV for a time.
On this anthology, I'm reminded of some cool tunes that cut through much of the sludge passed off as music on the airwaves in the 1980's.
This album:
Tom Keifer, Eric Brittingham, Jeff Labar and Fred Coury are Cinderella. "Once Upon A..." is a 15-song "greatest hits" collection on a single CD ("War Stories" was recorded for this release as a bonus track).
The 8-page CD booklet features photos of the band and credits, but no lyrics or track commentary.
The tracks:
"Shake Me," "Nobody's Fool," "Somebody Save Me," "Gypsy Road," "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)," "The Last Mile," "Coming Home," "Shelter Me," "Heartbreak Station," "The More Things Change," "Love's Got Me Doin' Time," "Hot And Bothered," "Through The Rain," "War Stories" and "Move Over."
The recommendation:
Fans of Motley Crue and Poison will enjoy the collection. I'm a power pop/classic rock fan myself, but I like a few of the tunes here, which made the CD worth adding to my collection (I listen to those tunes a lot). On the other hand, the majority of the tunes don't appeal to me (so I don't listen to them at all). Even so, I think the collection is worth a listen if you've got a few bucks to spare.
The best tracks:
"Gypsy Road":
The guitar intro on "Gypsy Road" is energetic and tasty, with Keifer's vocal sounding positively Steve Tyler-ish on this rocking little number. Keifer also proves himself a capable songwriter here:
"...my gypsy road can't take me home / I drive all night just to see the light..."
I love the tune, but it peaked at only # 51 in 1989.
"Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)":
It was pretty much required for graduates of the Big Hair Heavy Metal School Of Rock to include a major power ballad in their set lists in the 1980's. Cinderella had their's, too, with "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)," which peaked at # 12 in 1988 (their highest charting hit of their career).
I know people who hate the tune and I know people who love it. Depending on my mood, I can be in either category, but I do like the song most of the time.
As sweet, piano-based ballads go, this isn't bad --- Keifer's voice is heart-breaking when it needs to be and he sounds like he has lived the lyrics here:
"I can't tell you baby what went wrong / I can't make you feel what you felt so long ago / I'll let it show / I can't give you back what's been hurt / heartaches come and go and all that's left are the words / ... / don't know what you got till it's gone..."
"Coming Home":
"Coming Home" hit # 20 on the Billboard charts in 1989. I consider it a fine rocker about the life of a musician on the road and those he leaves behind. The tune is absolutely 1960's in its simple feel, performed with tight musicianship and some heartfelt lyrics written like a letter home from the front lines:
"I took a walk down a road / it's the road I was meant to stay / I see the fire in your eyes / but a man's got to make his way / so are you tough enough for my love / just close your eyes to the heaven above / I'm coming home..."
On the web:
Official site: http://www.cinderella.net/
Fred Coury official site: http://www.fredcoury.com/
Fan site: http://www.rocknrollhell.com/cinderella/
Interview with Eric Brittingham: http://www.metal-sludge.com/RewindEric.htm
MusicMoz site bio: http://musicmoz.org/Bands_and_Artists/C/Cinderella/Links/
Fan site: http://www.angelfire.com/music3/seinc/cinderella.html
MTV bio: http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/cinderella/bio.jhtml
Fan site: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/8321/cinder.html
That interview with The Raspberries' Wally Bryson where he mentions his favorite bands of the 1990s, such as Aerosmith and Cinderella: http://www.raspberries.net/bryson.html
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