Cinderella

Back in the 1980s, when I was "metaler than thou," I trashed Cinderella as "just another hair band."

Well, a hair band they were. But now that I can drop the tough pose, hey, their stuff was pretty good! What has *happened* in between then and now is the death of music.

Tell me that I'm supposed to take lame "Coldplay" seriously, but not Cinderella. Sorry, I just can't do that. "Gypsy Road" is just plain and simple hard rockin' fun, to cruise to with the top down.

Take, for instance, "Shake Me." By 80's standards, it was pop. Twenty years later, I'm headbanging to it incessantly. Again: I'm supposed to respect Justin Timberlake seriously, but not Cinderella? Can't do that, either.

Time for all you "purist" metalheads to realize what greatness lies in these so-called cheesy hair bands. It's a wonderful feeling getting all sentimental about music I thought I was too good for twenty years ago, but something deep inside me told me wasn't really so bad after all.

Shame on me for being such a jerk. I'm even warming up to Bon Jovi, Poison, and Whitesnake now. It may have taken two decades, but now I'm Nobody's Fool.

Cinderella are and always have been one of the most talented groups. Every song on this album is incredible, from the first to the last track. My personal faves are Long Cold Winter, omg, can Tom Kiefer's voice give you any more emotion? The answer is yes, this is one of the best bluesy rock ballads you'll ever hear. And how can one forget the power ballad that is, don't know what you've got.
I have been a fan of hair metal since the 80s and have always defended hair metal in that, it was an era when every member of the band had to have some talent, that's why bands like Cinderella have stood the test of time, not just because they had fantastic hair!!!! LOL!!
Buy this album if you want to hear good music, if you don't like good music, well it probably won't do anything for you!!

The surprising success of Cinderella (multi-platinum top ten albums, numerous top 40 singles) is interesting in that history has kind of forgotten them. When hair metal gave way to grunge, most bands of their ilk fell to the wayside and Cinderella was no exception. Mercury records unceremoniously dropped them when Still Climbing failed to move the tonnage the band's previous albums had. And unlike the more showy bands of the time, Cinderella seemed to fade into the woodwork.

That's too bad, because as this best of comp shows, Cinderella was often better than their teased hair peers. Despite the glammy dressing on the covers, Cinderella delivered gutsy hard rocking blues (even when drenched in the mammoth stadium reverb so popular in the 80's). Topped off by frontman Tom Keifer's cat-in-heavymetal-heat howl and his solid songwriting, the 17 songs here still pack and impact. They band had a solid enough show that when Jon Bon Jovi caught this Philadelphia based act at an early gig, he brought them to the attention of Mercury records (who were host to Bon Jovi and Def Leppard at the time), had him sing background on the debut and sent Cinderella on the road to support BJ's Slippery When Wet. Platinum success was soon in their flamboyant grasp.

The early half of their career (Night Songs and Long Cold Winter) showcase a band drenched in blues but unafraid to throw in a good pop hook. The title track of "Night Songs" even recalls the atmospherics of Black Sabbath before Keifer's wail sets it apart. The band also had the pre-requisite power ballad with "Nobody's Fool," is the same league as similar hits from Whitesnake and mentor Bon Jovi.

The band was also restless, and by the third album had made some serious style shifts. 1990's Heartbreak Station changed focus to s grittier blues rock, with slide-guitars and dobros entering the mix. The title track and "Winds of Change" point to a band maturing and preparing for a long-term run, even though the band's bread and butter audience was on the brink of discovering Nirvana and Soundgarden. Add a tune to Wayne's World ("Hot and Bothered"), and that catches you up with Cinderella before the scene collapsed around them.

"Hot and Bothered" eventually ended up on "Still Climbing," but four years and a paradigm shift left Cinderella high and dry. There is not much lacking here (although "War Stories" would have been nice), and the first three albums are as good a set of time-capsules for 80's rock as you're likely to find.

I love Cinderella. I bought the first complilation cd years ago called Once Upon a Time. I am not sure why I didn't care for that cd, something was just missing. So I sold it, and eventually replaced it with this new hits cd. I love this hits release over Once Upon a Time, the sound is killer, and even better is the companion DVD, pick that up and your Cinderella collection is complete.

Being from Philadelphia, this band was a huge deal in the 80s. I even remember when they went from being a "local bar band" then Night Songs came out and they were on MTV and it was cool to see their success. However, while Cinderella was (is) a good band, I don't think they are ever going into the Hall of fame or anything like that. Back in the day I had Night Songs on cassette and Long Cold Winter on LP, and now a couple of decades later I wanted to hear "Shake Me" again so I picked up this CD. I debated between getting Night Songs and this greatest hits, and figured the hits disc might have some gems I hadn't heard. My overall feeling to this CD is.... "eh." After several listens, Shake Me is still my favorite and often the only song I listen to from this disc. If you're anything less than a hardcore Cinderella groupie, this CD should be all you need from this band. Tom Keifer's voice kind of wears on me after a while. Eric Brittingham is a heck of a nice guy. I wanted to love this CD but it kind of fell short of my hopes. Standout tracks: Shake me, Nobody's Fool, Gypsy Road

Words cannot describe how much I love this album. It was the very first GLAM ROCK album I owned and ever song is KILLER! Everyone puts down these groups because of their "drag queen" image, but I think they are great! Not only do the songs totally rock, but they are interesting to look at! It's called stage presence, people! When I saw the video for "Shake Me," I was instantly hooked! Within hours I had the CD in the stereo and the poster on my wall! Cinerella was also unique because they had two lead guitar players. Double the pleasure, double the fun!

Other albums I own that sound like this are: Sloopjohnd , Look What the Cat Dragged In and Long Cold Winter

Thanks to the howling wind, the AC/DC-like bell chime and the opening guitar notes of the album's title track, there's something sinister and foreboding about Cinderella's tight debut record from 1986, especially compared to the lighter-weight bands that would follow later in the decade. "I need a shot of gasoline," snarls lead singer Tom Kiefer on the leadoff track, "Night Songs," amid a squealing guitar lick, surprisingly trashy production and a scarily robotic chorus that conveyed the members of Cinderella hailed from a more soiled place than their 1980s peers. (In fact, the band came from Philadelphia, not L.A.'s Sunset Strip).

In other spots, "Night Songs" is every bit as fun-loving as your typical `80s metal album, if a bit grittier. "Shake Me" contains elements of AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long," while "Push, Push" is just as in-your-face and obvious in terms of its meaning. Jon Bon Jovi contributed background vocals on "Nothin' for Nothin'" and the swinging "In from the Outside," but his vanilla presence on each song is practically unheard and doesn't affect things one way or the other.

As for the hit singles on "Night Songs," "Nobody's Fool" is a half-ballad/half-rocker that's both mysterious and aggressive, while "Somebody Save Me" is, in my opinion, one of the best, most tuneful songs Cinderella ever wrote. Another all-out rocker that deserves mention is the thunderous "Hell on Wheels," a song that really defined the popular metal sound of the times.

There is nothing abstract on this album. The choruses are punchy and loud, the drums large-and-in-charge and Kiefer's voice has all the subtly of a screeching cat -- and that's meant in a good way. Meanwhile, as was mandatory for every heavy metal band from the `80s, Jeff LaBar provided scorching guitar work, and the members of Cinderella could belt out the chorus segments of each song with the best of them. In short, don't let the hilarious album cover fool you. These guys were talented musicians who had more soul in their sound than you might think.

To this day I still love the song "Nobody's Fool." It is a gorgeous song. I long for the day when this music reigned supreme; it's saddening that all we have to listen to on the radio now is top 40 garbage that relies on a few back beats to sell cds by the millions.

Five stars just for the hair.
Everyone asks how all these bands can be broke now.
It didn't go on booze, drugs or wild women.
It went on hairspray and makeup!!!
As for the music.
Awesome 80's rock.
Cinderella really were in the top tier of hair bands.
Not one single bad track on the disc. An instant classic and a must have for hair metal fans.
Recommended!!!

Just a sorry excuse for an Aerosmith cover band with even your clone version of Steven Tyler only younger and with less talent. Glittery clothes; more makeup than Madonna; 10,000 dollar hair extensions; and close to zero talent sums up what this band is all about. Steven Tyler must have had this band in mind when he wrote 'Dude Looks Like a Lady.' What made Hollywood think this band was going to last. Even more disturbing, why do people think this is good glam rock? It's not even original! Along with Poison, this has to be the sorriest glam band to come out of the eighties. Just listen to Aerosmith instead of this crap. If good '80s glam is what you really want, just listen to early Motley Crue, Ratt, Dokken, or even Bon Jovi instead of this joke of a band.

No matter how much talent these guys from Springfield, PA had, they were meant to be a glam band. "Long Cold Winter" came at a time when the glam image was on the way out the door, and Cinderella shed their feather boa's and hair spray in an attempt to fit in with the changing times. The songs, thankfully, did not suffer because of it. Cinderella stretches into a new bluesy territory here without abandoning their classic pop rock sound. Personally, I like straight ahead rock and roll, and there is more of it here than blues music. "Gypsy Road," in particular, gave me the same chills as the first time I heard "Shake Me." Enough said. Unfortunately for Cinderella, the title "Long Cold Winter" was appropriate. This was the last album they made that found success on the charts.

Other albums I bought that sound like this are: Sloopjohnd , Open Up and Say...Ahh! , and Night Songs

It used to be fashionable to rip on fashionably conscious, 1980s-era bands like Cinderella, whose star was mightily crushed when Nirvana took over the music world in 1991. But strangely enough, despite all the decadent excess that occurred in the rock `n' roll world back in the `80s, today's music "scene" (if the Internet counts as a music scene) is sorely lacking talented, in-your-face bands like Cinderella. Laugh snidely if you want, but Cinderella and their enthusiastic, hard-touring brethren from back in the day were actual rock stars who regularly sold out arenas, churned out hit songs with ease, sold millions of albums and, most importantly, created some memorable music that has persistently survived. As Tom Keifer, the leader singer of Cinderella, would sagely say: You don't know what you got till it's gone.

The first half of "Long Cold Winter" is nothing short of masterful. "Bad Seamstress Blues"/"Fallin' Apart at the Seams" combines the gritty world of blues with the slick sound of great `80s heavy metal. Like many lead singers from the `80s, Keifer screams with a been-knocked-around vengeance that's endearing; and to say his voice is raspy is an understatement: it's almost a constant strain that would be painful if it weren't so cool amid the great music he writes. Guitarist Jeff LaBar employs memorable hooks and solos on greats like "Gypsy Road" and "The Last Mile," and like RATT and Def Leppard, Cinderella knew the value of top-notch backing vocals to enhance songs. Additionally, as the times required, a ballad was included on "Long Cold Winter" -- but thankfully one with substance. "Don't Know What You Got (Till it's Gone)" is, in my opinion, a genuine rock `n' roll heart-tugger that displays true soul and talent, despite its seemingly cliched theme.

Keifer's lyrics are at times defiant. One memorable line on the song "Gypsy Road" goes, "And who's to care if I grow my hair to the sky!" It's a cool rebuke to the '80s metal critics who scoffed at the teased-up look that surrounded this music, and Kiefer's bold defense in that single line stands up well even today. At other times his words paint a portrait of a rock `n' roll vagabond who doesn't know the meaning of the word "home," perhaps because of the incessant touring his band used to do. And though a few tunes stray toward the generic ("If You Don't Like It," "Fire and Ice"), it took guts to write a total blues song like "Long Cold Winter," which, like some of the other tunes, contains a homey, warm feel that make this CD, as its title would suggest, a perfect complement for the wintertime blues.

You could tell things weren't going to be the same just looking at the cover to Cinderella's 1988 sophomore album Long Cold Winter. The stark white cover stood in direct contrast to the poofy hair and silly posing of Night Songs. Likewise, from the very first notes of the bluesy intro Bad Seamstress Blues, you knew Cinderella had taken a big step forward. They were still a hair metal band, but a newfound maturity was plain to see.

Soulful, blues-based hard rock is what the band delivered with this album, and man did they do it with style. Fallin' Apart at the Seams is a monster of a blues-rocker, and Gypsy Road is so infectious that there's no way it wasn't going to be a hit single. Of course, the ballad Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) was THE big hit from this album, and while I understand why it was huge (it was essentially Cinderella's Every Rose Has Its Thorn) it's probably my least favorite song here. It certainly can't hold a candle to the soulful title track, where Tom Kiefer's whiskey-soaked wail sounds like he's literally ripping his heart out. The vaguely Southern road anthems Coming Home and The Last Mile were also pretty big hits, and are among the album's better songs. Even "filler" songs Second Wind, If You Don't Like It, Fire and Ice, and Take Me Back were still head and shoulders above what most bands were releasing at the time. There really isn't a song on this album that I'd consider weak (OK, If You Don't Like It was a bit silly, but it still rocked).

Long Cold Winter is the album that made it impossible to write Cinderella off as "just another hair band". It's by far the band's best work, and is an essential album for any 80's rock collection.

The follow up to a very strong rock n' roll debut, Cinderella's follow up, Long Cold Winter, gets off to a decent start, with "Bad Seamstress Blues," though the second half of the song, "Fallin' Apart at the Seams," fails to impress. "Gypsy Road," on the other hand, is rock gold! Strong guitar work, a great vocal performance, and catchy melodies really grab the listener, and it's no wonder that this is among the band's more famous songs.

"Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" is a great ballad, and is followed up by a real rocker in "The Last Mile," a personal favorite of mine from this album. The album's title track, "Long Cold Winter," is so far from stereotypical "hair metal," that it's not even funny...A slow, ultra-bluesy number, and a real album highlight.

In sum, this is a pretty good album. A few tracks are clear filler, but for the most part, it's strong and, occasionally, surprising. Good stuff!

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST ALBUM THIS GROUP EVER MADE. WHAT I LIKE MOST IS THE VERSATILITY OF THIS RECORD.IT COMBINES HARD ROCK AND BLUES TO CREATE A DIFFERENT SOUND FROM THE PREVIOUS RECORD. "GYPSY ROAD" AND "THE LAST MILE" ROCK, BUT THE BALLAD "DONT KNOW WHAT YOU GOT TILL ITS GONE" IS THE STAND OUT TRACK. "COMING HOME" IS ALSO VERY TOUCHING.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ALBUM.

Cinderella took their sound as far into blues rock territory as they possibly could with their third album - 1990's Heartbreak Station. This album is pretty far removed from the straightforward hair metal of Night Songs, but it still rocks. It's just a bluesier, more Southern-sounding kind of rock, complete with twanging guitars, horns, and the occasional gospel-style choir on background vocals.

It may not be the Cinderella everyone was familiar with, but I love what they did on Heartbreak Station. Soulful songs like Electric Love, Dead Man's Road, and the title track give the album and the band a sense of depth that a lot of Cinderella's peers were sadly lacking, and it's hard to resist the boogie-rocking The More Things Change, Shelter Me, and Make Your Own Way. People went nuts for Bon Jovi's cowboy fixation. Why not extend Cinderella the same kind of credit, especially when the results are this good?

It's not as good as Night Songs or Long Cold Winter, but Heartbreak Station is still a very strong Cinderella album, and I have a soft spot for it as it was one of the very first albums I bought when I moved from cassettes to CDs. Ah, long box memories.

There's no question that this album starts off with a bang, though I'm forced to wonder why the most famous songs off of this album are all clustered together. It makes for a great start, but a lackluster finish. That's not to say that this is a bad album. It's not. But it doesn't live up to the two that immediately precede it, Night Songs and Long Cold Winter, and it just doesn't seem to rock quite as hard as those albums did. Maybe that's why this one is named after the ballad, rather than a rocker or bluesy number...it's just a bit more laid back. I still like Cinderella's use of instruments outside of the usual guitar/bass/drums trio, which add a lot of depth to their music that sets them apart from others in the "genre" (and I do use that word VERY loosely).

I was a huge fan of Cinderalla in the 80's. Their first 2 albums are classic. So of course I was extremely excited when they put out a new album. I wasn't all that excited about the title track as the lead off single, but I bought the CD anyway. Probably should have waited until it made the cut out bin.
The CD felt forced to me, like they had run out of material and just threw some songs together to fulfill a recording contract. Non of the songs are catchy or memorable in my mind. I have probably only listened to it 2 or 3 times since it came out. Hoping maybe it would grow on me, NOPE.
I just recently saw them in concert, and they don't even play anything off of this collection. Should probably tell ya something. Get their first 2 CD's only get this if you are die hard, or looking to die hard.
Sorry Cinderella, better luck next time, if there ever is one.

I was sadly dissappointed with this album and only give it 3 stars. Perhaps it was the fact that I've listened to their first 2 albums for so long, but overall this album just doesn't get it done in my opinion. Give me the hard rocking Cinderella of old any day vs. this lightweight version. The title track, Heartbreak Station is indeed a great song but other than that the rest of the album just didn't do much for this hard rock fan. Many of the songs vocals are also very muffled and aren't nearly as clear as Cinderella's previous 2 albums. Here's hoping "Still Climbing" is much better. Despite the fact that it was a letdown, it's still much better than anything being released in today's hip-hop, bubble gum pop, whiny world of music.

Another solid effort by Cinderella that once again failed to raise them to the level of their buddies Bon Jovi. And that is in some ways unfair as their debut and it's follow up had more honest grit than just about all of Bon Jovis albums combined. Not that they were great by any means but they were from a beer swillin' heavy rocker headspace, even if the image was that of a shameless hair metal band in search of cash and girls.

Heartbreak Station sees a considerable shift for the boys (now looking more like boys with each album) and this is portrayed upfront with The More Things Change. In with the blues, in with a less hysterical image, in with some slide guitar and honky tonk stylings. Each track feels totally as if it came from a different band to that which gave us the first two Cinderalla albums with the possible exception of the aforementioned track. A lot of jangly guitars, a more rustic feel and year another simplistic production job aid the band in this, what amounted to an effort by the band to be taken more seriously. The same trick was tried, with varying degrees of success, by a number of bands in the late 80's/early90's and given their musical track record Cinderella were perhaps more deserving of success. What shouldn't be forgotten is that this shift to more blues/country songs with open structures happened prior to grung. It came out in 1990 so this album deserves credit for NOT being a change in direction due to panic at impending oblivion.

Of course that doesn't make the music great. Whether you but into the new Cinderella will depend on how receptive you are to an ex-glam/hair rawk rock band suddenly "getting" a more laid back style of the blues and going into a studio where the radio was glued onto an alt-country station. And then a few months later coming out with this album.

This album scored OK with a bunch of critics at the time (Kerrang magazine etc) but the bands fan base either weren't up to the change in direction or had grown up and gotten jobs by 1990. Which is a pity as the band pulled off the change fairly well, even if by halfway through the album your hankering after a numbskull rocker like Hell on Wheels or Somebody Save Me. Which is probably why the album stiffed so badly - fans of their previous genre are more likely to slit their wrists listening to this maudlin stuff than tell their friends to go out and buy it.

This has GOT to be one of the most under rated blues based rock/metal albums of all time. Cinderella rocks in their finest tradition in this body of work. Why is this still not in print? Makes no sense to me. Beg, borrow or steal a copy and you won't be sorry if you are a true Cinderalla fan. I surely hope Tom's voice improves well enough to put out one more album of this caliber. By the way, Cinderalla sounds as good live as they do in the studio! I saw them at the House of Blues in Chicago and they ROCKED. Never heard a bad sound so close to their studio sound. They really do sound exactly like on their CDs, unlike most bands. And they still look cool too. :-)
S.C.
Chicagoland

The fact that Cinderella existed (+ still on a major) in 1994 was somewhat of a surprise to me. And perhaps to many in the genres fanbase. But I was game, so bought and IMHO;

This is pretty good. Gone (still) are the silly band pics showing a bunch of pretty boy wannabes. Also tossed out are the country rock stylings of Heartbreak Station. Instead we get a vastly more mature rock album. A whole bunch of these tunes sound like more considered versions of what they put on their first two discs - cases in point being Bad Attitude Shuffle, All Comes Down and Blood From A Stone.

There are still introspective tunes, done with far more aplomb than attempts at similar stuff by Poison or the Crue. This album also contains the track Hot & Bothered which was used on the Waynes World movie soundtrack.

This is the only Cinderella album I've given four stars to. A low four stars but four stars all the same due to the consistency of the tunes, the blend of slower numbers with the rockers and the honesty of the blues based rock as opposed to some of their peers whose links to the blues were far more tenuous and their attemps to embrace the blues laughable (yeah I'm lookin' at you Poison).

In fact outside of a best of this is probably the only Cinderella album I'd suggest for a newcomer as it's probably their most accomplished studio effort.

At the time Cinderella released Still Climbing, grunge music was still riding high as bands like Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden were topping the Billboard album charts. Hard rock or "hair metal" was dismissed as nearly every band of the genre except for its superstars (ex...Bon Jovi, Def Leppard) became extinct in the eyes of the general public. Which brings us to Cinderella, a band coming off 3 platinum albums, several Top 40 hits, and a sound more suited to traditional rockers Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones than hair metal bands Poison and White Lion. Sadly, they met the same fate as those latter bands despite their strong catalog of music.

Although it sold very little and barely made the charts, Still Climbing is a very strong release and their most consistent album since their debut album Night Songs. After the riff-rock of their debut, the band expanded their sound with each release and they reached their apex here. While many '80s hard rock bands would add horns and keyboards to spice up their sound, none of them did it as well as Cinderella as evidenced by the R&B horns on the killer tracks "All Comes Down" and "Talk Is Cheap" and the piano on the stellar title song. "Hard To Find The Words" is arguably their best ballad and in another time would have been a huge hit along the lines of "Don't Know What You Got (Til It's Gone)." The hard rockers "Blood From A Stone" and "Easy Come Easy Go" are great hard rock songs played with conviction even if they don't possess the catchy hooks of earlier hits "Gypsy Road" and "Shake Me." The killer opener "Bad Attitude Shuffle" and "Free Wheelin" rock even harder and are much stronger than the heaviest songs on their previous albums such as "Fire And Ice" and "Love Gone Bad." Other decent tracks include the introspective "The Road's Still Long" and "Hot & Bothered" which was originally released on the Wayne's World soundtrack. The only song that really doesn't work is the ballad "Through The Rain" which sounds forced compared to the rest of the set. However, this is a very strong album that all fans of the band and great hard rock music should check out.

Well, Cinderella is not my favorite band, but it's definitely one of rock's precious gems.
Cinderella, is a band of insanely talented musicians, they crafted some of most beautiful rock n' roll songs and ROCK BALLADS! But they never got the attention and exposure they deserved. Late 70's, 80's and early 90's had a baby boom in the world of rock n roll & metal. Some of them have grown up and aged to be rock legends, unfortunately some of the raw talent were left in the delivery room and weren't given the chance to prosper. Cinderella was one of the latter, it's those tie & suit people in highrise offices who literally killed dozens of talented bands, that was their fate, and here is the Album Still Climbing, songs of dissapointment, of what could have happened, of highs and lows of life. This is a very seriously thought album - precise picture of what Cinderella felt in their hearts. I own all Cinderella albums, this one is truly a heartfelt one.

This band just keepes getting better with every release, an amazing rock/metal album that would make any metalhead proud!

Cinderella is an incredible band. I see them every chance I get. I can't rave on their talent enough. This album has the best cuts of their best songs. I practically wore it out when I first received it. Their talent is untouchable. Seeing them live is a joy I'll never forget. They made me feel so good about rock. God Bless Cinderella! I count them as my friends - even though "only" a fan. There's a real connection there - if only in my heart. Love the music, guys! Write some MORE! We need a new album now so people know your pulse is strong! Love ya' always...

Of all the Greatest Hits packages out their for Cinderella. This one, along the Once Upon A ... disc are both my favorites. Simply, both include previously unreleased tracks and any greatest hits package should be that way. Let me add here, of all the '80's Metal Bands. Cinderella should have had a much longer career than they had. Should never have been so underrated as they where and they had a weapon few bands have with a amazingly talented musician being Tom Keifer.
With this release, your getting a 2 discs, 30 tracks, including 4 live tracks never before released, spans all 4 releases and mixed beautifully. Which I really liked, productions awesome (with only one minor glitch on "Night Songs")and was excited to see "Still Climbing" so well represented on this package. The song selection on here's amazing, as a fan your going love it and can't complain about anything missed. With technology the way it is, just burn Disc 3 with all the favorite tracks they missed. Definately, recommend this release to any new fan and don't be surprised if you don't find yourself buying all their releases on Amazon. If you are a Cinderella fan you already purchased it and crank it up..

There are a few more songs off the first album that I would have included on this in place of other songs, but overall, this is Cinderella in fine form. Definitely Rockin'!

Like their benefactors, Bon Jovi, Cinderella were a hair band, but they were often much more than that. True, their first album was generic pop-metal, but they grew up real fast, and almost immediately started writing chronicles of working- and middle-class people struggling against their circumstances- often coming up short, but never ceasing to fight. Cinderella were kind of a heavy metal version of all the great Southern rock bands, if those bands were fronted by the rasp of Rod Stewart circa 1971. Leader Tom Keifer's belief that the young Australian tourist jailed in Indonesia since 2005 for drug-smuggling was unjustly convicted, as well as his advocacy of increased funding for community policing, makes this anthology an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience.

I've been a Cinderella fan since the late 80's when Long Cold Winter came out. What a fantastic album of bluesy rock 'n roll. Saw them open up for AC/DC way back when "Shake Me" was their only hit single, and saw their headlining tour with Nelson as a support act (remember them? Non-other than Ricky Nelson's twin son's) Well, Nelson has long been forgotten on the road map of Rock 'n Roll, but Cinderella lives on as strong as ever.

They never really were a "hair metal" band, they just had to take on that image at the time because that was the way the music business was leaning. Ever see the early photos of Gun's 'n Roses when Axl and company were a "Glam Rock" band struggling to break into the club music scene in L.A.? His hair all teased up all over the place. Great stuff. Anyway, Tom Keifer/Cinderella did what they had to do to make it no different than KISS's Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley before them. Point is, don't dismiss them as some kind of has been, old fashion, out-of-style 80's rock that plagues so many other good acts. Cinderella is "the REAL Thing". An honest, hard working, and very talented Rock 'n Roll band.

Now, to the Gold collection. How can you go wrong? Thirty (yes...30!) tracks. All newly remastered with today's technology. (That's something that needs to happen to all the Cinderella albums, but that's another issue) An 18 page booklet of photos and liner notes, including the details of those "new" live songs. Thought maybe they were from the Key Club show in 1999 or maybe the same as the BMG Extended Versions disc from 2005 didn't ya? Well, here's the scoop:

Two of the six tracks have been available before, but only on the hard-to-find, rare Japanese promo disc "Live Train to Heartbreak Station". The other four are from the same live show, which to my excitement was the last concert I attended in my home town of Little Rock, Arkansas. Yes, all you fellow Arkansian's, the Cinderella concert at Barton Coliseum on May 21, 1991 was recorded and is now being released on this 2-disc collection. Awesome! They do a fantastic 12 minute version of Gypsy Road at the end. Highly Recommended to all true ROCK Fans!

Play it time and again and tune up the bass and crank the decibels. Recommended.

The first time I saw Cinderella they were opening for Bon Jovi promoting Night Songs. I hadn't heard much about them other than what was on the radio and MTV at the time. They were awesome! I remember leaving the show that night thinking "I expect to hear a lot from those guys." Now, m-a-n-y years later, I see them whenever I have the chance. I've been impressed with how the songwriting has matured over the years. Cinderella has always been a great live band and "Live At The Key Club" truly captures that live sound with a nice acoustic set thrown in too. With songs from all of the records, it's a great representation of their catalog. The recording quality is great and you'll definitely catch yourself singing along to "Somebody Save Me", "Shake Me", "Last Train", Don't Know What You've Got..." and others. A very much recommended CD!

As big of a live album nut that I am, I would highly recommend this fourteen track '80's hair metal release to anyone who even remotely digs this genre of music. Wasn't even aware of this CD until recently. Even more so, that since I've seen Cinderella play live fairly recent, I can appreciate 'Key Club' just that much more. Tunes that are always great to hear are "Push Push", "Shelter Me", the wailing "Night Songs", "Somebody Save Me", "Falling Apart At The Seams", their signature gem "Nobody's Fool", "Gypsy Road" and the total '80's rocker (you know it!) "Shake Me". Essentially, a must-have.

Cinderella has put on a great live show every time I have seen them (which have been numerous times since the 80's). This album captures their show and sounds good. My only complaint would be that I would love to see them do some different, more rare stuff once in a while and a new album would be nice, but as long as Cinderella is putting on shows or music, I will always support them as I know I will get my moneys worth.

I am often skeptical of live recordings, but this was an incredible collection. The best songs from their 4 studio recordings in the 80's and 90's are well represented here. The tracks that especially rock are "Somebody Save Me" "The Last Mile" "Gypsy Road" & "Shake Me." I was also pleased to hear "Push, Push" on here, as it is often overlooked and left out of Cinderella's greatest hits collections.

One will also find the many ballads that Cinderella was known for. In particular, I am a fan of "Heartbreak Station" & "Coming Home." This rendition of "Night Songs" has a pretty cool introduction on this recording. Make this song first as background music for your next Halloween Party! It's really cool.

This CD is also unique in production, in that it has that raw, live sound; but the quality of the recording is not sacrificed. If you like Cinderella and/or the combination of a solid rock sound and great ballads, go pick up this CD. It won't disappoint.

Cinderella had the swagger of the Rolling Stones, the hooks of Bon Jovi, and pure energy of many bands in the 80s. That is all evident on this album. Every song on here is excellent and are played flawlessly executed on this live record. I'm usually not a huge fan of live albums but the songs, musicianship, and pure energy make this a must have for any Cinderella fan.