Cinderella-Night Songs, 1986

The family outing at the zoo on Saturday went great and I had time to finish this review as well.

Background-By the mid-1980's it was starting to look like the commercial hard rock scene would be dominated by bands from the massive LA scene. Bon Jovi may have been one of the few east coast bands to hit big during this time period, but they wouldn't be huge until late 1986. Here came this band Cinderella that had the look of an LA band yet they were from Philadelphia. Even though they looked like an LA band they didn't exactly sound like one. This album did well and helped the band get it's foot in the door.

First Impression-I first heard Cinderella's debut back when it came out in 1986. I actually heard the whole thing not too long ago. I think it's decent, but not great. So let's slap it on and see what's there.

Review-
1.Night Songs-The opening track comes in with a brief intro and we have a medium slow beat and the music has a nice hesitation to it that catches your attention. Tom Keifer distinctly rough vocals come on. The song doesn't vary in pace much at all and all although good enough it was say it's slightly too long.

2. Shake Me-A basic drum beat starts this song off. The chorus is catchy and it's very sharp overall. It's not spectacular, but certainly tight and I know that I will remember this one when the disc is over.

3. Nobody's Fool-The slow beginning comes on and you know pretty much know what kind of song this is. It's slow through and through yet it's not sappy which helps. The band seems very in control and uses the song for all that it's worth.

4. Nothin' For Nothin'-There is a nice squealing riff at the beginning and the song moves alone pretty well. They sound excited and it really feels like there is some force behind this one.

5. Once Around The Ride-A real throw away track with the guitar rhythm sounding like second rate Motley Crue and the band just sounding tired. I actually had to go back and listen to this one a second time because I couldn't remember it after the first listen.

6. Hell On Wheels-Nice solid heavy riff with a solid pace going behind it. Tom Keifer sings like it like he means it. Even though the lyrics are cliche and the same old cheese it sounds good with his vocals.

7. Somebody Save Me-This is a medium slow song. I like it because of the vocals, but it would have been better with some more pace changes tossed it.

8. In From The Outside-I think this track begins maybe the strongest part of the album. A decent song and it rocks more than most of the previous tracks. Some nice riffs and finally music is brought a little more to the forefront.

9. Push, Push- This song brings about an aggressive side to the band that I wish had a showed up earlier and more often because they handle it well. Just like the previous track it's a solid rocker.

10. Back Home Again- The final track has a good chugging riff and solid beat behind it. I would say it was strong enough overall. However the fact that it was under four minutes and still seemed a little long indicates they maybe should have changed things up a bit at some point to make it a little more interesting.

Verdict-I would say the album is still decent overall, but I think the vocals are better than I remember. Tom Keifer can sing but he has a good solid roughness to his voice and it's good to have a few singers like that as opposed to everyone being so polished. By 1986 a lot of hard rock bands were forgetting about the rock part of their music. I think a number of bands between say 85-90 wanted hits and they concentrated on the vocals and a catchy chorus but they forgot about playing rock music. I think Cinderella didn't fall completely into that trap. Then again Cinderella were going to get better, way better actually. Over the next two album Long cold winter and Heartbreak Station, this band would discover their niche. They became blues rock band with hard rock undertones and they grew as songwriters. I think these guys are one of a few hard rocks bands from the late 80's/early 90's that can actually claim they wrote some great songs and executed them perfectly as well. The only other thing I have to say about Night Songs concerns the cover. It looks like the band went to Don Dokken's yard sale then they raided Steven Tyler's closet and then just mixed and matched from both sets of clothes. That's a minor issue though so it's pretty good album overall and I will be listening to it more often.

***Next month's 20 year old album review will be Motorhead's Orgasmatron.