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RSS Feed UAWIL #288: Cinderella - Night Songs
The triple platinum debut from Cinderella was the bedrock of a career that was shortened by grunge. The album cover is proof they were glam "hair metal" at one point but did they deserve to be dismissed with all the hair metal bands?
Cinderella came out of the gritty streets of Philadelphia by writing hookey riffs, shout along choruses and a fun, glammy stage show. Gene Simmons tried to get them signed but it was Jon Bon Jovi who would convince his label Mercury to get them a record contract. Led by lead singer/songwriter/lead guitarist Tom Keifer, Cinderella had hard riffs and a Sunset Strip performance style that made them perfect for MTV in the mid- to late-80s. Their debut album Night Songs landed in June of 1986 and laid the foundation for more platinum albums and MTV airplay.
Keifer's raspy voice can lead big sing-a-long rockers like Shake Me or Somebody Save Me or can sing a lament like Nobody's Fool. His friend Eric Brittingham provides the steady bass and Jeff LaBar lays textures against Keifer's hard riffs and trades a few licks. On the record, drums were provided by veteran studio musician Jody Cortez, though Fred Coury was brought in just in time to make the album cover (don't get Jackson started) and joined the band.
Yes, their lyrics are mostly banal and cliched sexual conquests but they were of a time and Cinderella may have done that sleazy 80s rock made famous by Motley Crue and Guns N Roses as well as anyone. Once grunge came, all that was glam or "hair metal" had to go but maybe Cinderella should have been given the opportunity to reinvent themselves like Def Leppard. We think they were unnecessary casualties of grunge and while Night Songs may not be skip-free, it's a solid hard rocking 80s album with some great riffs and fist pumping choruses. What's wrong with a little fun??
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