We have Gene Simmons of Kiss and Jon Bon Jovi to thank for Tom Keifer and Cinderella. Gene tried to get them signed first, wasn’t successful though. Then Jon came in the picture and boom, a contract. Cinderella’s debut album came out in 1986 and wow was it over the top with the packaging of the band’s look and their sound. They fit right in to the Hair Metal style. Their next album in 1988 came out, ‘Long Cold Winter’, and they got as far away from that sound and look as they could. With their third album, that took it the extreme the other way. That lineup of Tom Keifer, Eric Brittingham, Jeff LaBar and Fred Coury were a house hold names for me.
After their third album, Tom suffered major throat problems with paralysis of his left vocal cord. This delayed their fourth and final album, ‘Still Climbing’ in 1994, With little to no fanfare, the band basically called it quits…well with at least albums as we never received another one. It wasn’t until 2013 did we even get Tom Keifer’s first solo album, but that is a story for another day. We are talking ‘The Mercury Years’ box set of Cinderella which takes all 4 studio albums and puts them in one set. You also get a Bonus disc of live tracks and a booklet that gives some album information but mostly is a great story of the band. Since it is the music we love and want to talk about, let’s go through the albums included.
CD 1: ‘NIGHT SONGS’ (1986):
The debut, ‘Night Songs’, was released on June 9, 1976 and was so over the top. I mean look how they dressed. They were going for a target audience for sure. But the band was more than that. Yes, the songs might’ve sounded like everything else, but Tom’s screechy, gritty vocals are what set it apart from me. Plus, I saw them tour with Bon Jovi and thought they were great. The singles were fantastic with “Shake Me”, “Nobody’s Fool” and “Somebody Save Me”, but the opening track “Night Songs” blew me away along with “Hell on Wheels”. They made me a fan from the start so since this was where it began with me, it holds a special place in my heart. The three live bonus tracks on this disc were taken from the 12″ – The Live E.P. which came out in 1987. Great bonus tracks.
CD 2: ‘LONG COLD WINTER’ (1988):
‘Long Cold Winter’, which was released on July 5, 1988, is better than the debut as it shows a band that is more than a one-trick pony. They can do blues, rock and even those power ballads. The writing is more mature, the sound is better and it is a band that is trying to reflect more of who they really are and you have to appreciate that…don’t you! This is my favorite Cinderella album and no one will ever be able to change my mind on that one. With songs like “Gypsy Road”, “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”, “Coming Home” and the killer title track “Long Cold Winter”, you can’t beat this one. Even the deep cuts rule! The Bonus tracks on here are simply Single Edits of two of their big hits.
CD 3: ‘HEARTBREAK STATION’ (1990):
The last Cinderella album that most people paid attention to as it was still the final years of the Hair era before Grunge wiped it away was ‘Heartbreak Station’ released on November 20, 1990. I think this is another stellar album and some great tracks such as “Shelter Me”, “The More Things Change” and “Heartbreak Station”. The only thing wrong with it was that it felt like they toned things down too much. It wasn’t very heavy and they went away from the more bluesy album preceding it. It was softer which is not what I really wanted at the time. The bonus tracks on here were a radio edit of “Shelter Me” and the two new tracks from the compilation ‘Once Upon A…’ from 1997.
CD 4: ‘STILL CLIMBING’ (1994):
‘Still Climbing’ didn’t get much attention as this was 1994 and Grunge was in full swing and I will be honest I was cold on the album back in the day. It was released on November 8, 1994 and I missed it for awhile at least. But when I finally got around to absorbing it and taking it all in, I was thoroughly impressed. It felt like a step up from ‘Heartbreak Station’. They went back to a little more bluesy, the album seemed heavier and the songs stuck with me more. They maybe were finding out more of who they really were. I love “Bad Attitude Shuffle” and “Through the Rain” and “Hot & Bothered”, but also really loved “Blood from A Stone” and “All Comes Down”. Really can’t go wrong with any of it. If you haven’t heard it in awhile, time to crank it one more time. Sadly, no bonus tracks on this disc.
CD 5: ‘LIVE BONUS TRACKS:
This final disc is awesome, plus a great cover for the sleeve with that band picture. Really cool. This disc is nothing but live songs, most were B-Sides on European Single releases so not something you could get easily. Tracks 1 – 6 were recorded Live in August 1987 in Tokyo, Japan and these were the B-Sides. Tracks 7-8 were recorded Live by Clyde Radio One on 19th November 1988 and released on various versions of the single “Shetler Me”. And Tracks 9-10 were all taken from the Live Train To Heartbreak Station from 1991 and recorded live on 21 May 1991, at the Barton Coliseum, Little Rock (Arkansas). A great idea to package them all in one set.
BOOKLET:
You did get a little booklet of around 14 pages that has some great pictures but most importantly has a great essay on the band by Malcolm Dome. It is a very enjoyable read. The reast of album credits from each of the releases. A nice add and a must add in my book.
And there you have it. There are some things they got right…they added some bonus tracks and even an extra disc of live tracks from various B-Sides and E.P.’s. No complaints at all with that. I still think it would’ve been nice since they had so few albums, that the other official live albums such as The Key Club and the one they released with their fan club would have been a special add…but I get it…those weren’t with The Mercury Years I am assuming so understandable. I won’t ding them as a result. Otherwise, if you don’t have these albums on you…first…shame on you…second…go get it as you can usually find it for a reasonable price of around $30 bucks…not bad for 5 CDs!!!
