Essential Cyndi Lauper [Original recording remastered]

Cyndi Lauper | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00008PX8X
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,384 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Alternative Rock > New Wave & Post-Punk > New Wave

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

126 of 130 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very solid Lauper collection, and finally, The Goonies!, June 10, 2003

By 

eric_f (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Cyndi Lauper (Audio CD)

When I heard that another Cyndi Lauper best-of album was going to be released, my first question was whether this new collection would measure up to her previous best-of collections, especially 12 Deadly Cyns...And Then Some. Well I can tell you that it certainly does. Essential Cyndi Lauper, in my opinion, comes the closest to being the ideal Cyndi collection available. But before I go on, I thought it would be helpful to first give a track listing (taken from her official website) since there doesn't seem to be one here:

1) Girls Just Want To Have Fun
2) Money Changes Everything
3) Who Let In The Rain
4) She Bop
5) Time After Time
6) I Drove All Night
7) Hat Full Of Stars
8) Change Of Heart
9) Sisters Of Avalon
10) All Through The Night
11) True Colors
12) When You Were Mine
13) Unhook The Stars
14) The Goonies 'R' Good Enough

The first thing I noticed about this collection is that it offers *all 6* of the smash hits from She's So Unusual. That alone is a major plus when it comes to a Cyndi Lauper collection. I would have liked to see "What's Going On" on this disc instead of "Change Of Heart," as I think that song better represents the True Colors album. But oh well, "True Colors" is here, and that's the biggest hit from her sophmore release. Yet again, only "I Drove All Night" is included from Cyndi's highly underrated A Night To Remember album. The powers-that-be still think that this song is the only worthy one off that album. But we know better, don't we?

Another thing worth mentioning about this collection is that it offers songs from both Hat Full Of Stars and Sisters Of Avalon. Whether you agree or disagree that the songs here representing those albums are the best selections, it's nice to see some songs from Cyndi's lesser-known (but still great) albums here.

And of course, my review wouldn't be complete without saying that "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" has FINALLY been included in an official domestic best-of collection. Until now, one had to spend quite a lot of money to get this song from the import collections or the (also pricy, not to mention hard to find) Goonies soundtrack. The inclusion of "The Goonies" here will surely make a lot of Cyndi fans quite pleased. I think it's a tragedy that "Hole In My Heart (All The Way To China)" is again not included in a Cyndi Lauper best-of compilation. If it had been, I would have given this album 5 stars without a second thought. So if you want that song, you'll need to find the Japanese version of 12 Deadly Cyns or A Night To Remember: it's a bonus track on both of those albums.

All in all though, this Cyndi Lauper collection doesn't disappoint and delivers. Highly recommended.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent music, but a disappointing collection., February 11, 2004

By 

Invisiboy2001 "invisiboy2001" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Cyndi Lauper (Audio CD)

Cyndi Lauper is wonderful. That's a given. And when I heard this CD was coming out, I was very excited. I was finally going to have all of Cyndi Lauper's hits together on one CD! Well, I gave Epic too much credit, and was therefore disappointed when I received this collection. Where is "What's Going On," which was a #12 pop hit in 1986? And where are the excellent minor hits "Hole In My Heart," "My First Night Without You" and "Boy Blue?" Of course, Lauper's Top-10 hits are here, but Epic passed up an excellent opportunity to produce a CD containing all the hits. Also, why were "Sisters of Avalon" and "Unhook The Stars" (nonhit tracks) included and "You Don't Know" and "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" (both hits on the dance charts in the mid '90s) not on this disc?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Cyndi Collection Yet, October 8, 2003

By 

Aaron (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Cyndi Lauper (Audio CD)

Sure, before you could buy the pricey imports, but "The Essential Cyndi Lauper" is much better than her previous American "hits" collections. It's not perfect, yet I think it's superior to "12 Deadly Cyns."

The big complaint was that for so long, american fans couldn't get "Good Enough" from "The goonies." Well, FINALLY it's included. Whether or not Cyndi likes the song, it's an 80's movie song classic and was a top 10 hit. Eight of Cyndi's top 10 hits are on here including the classic "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "She Bop", "All Through the Night" and "Time After Time" frm her debut. all four of these were massive radio hits and still heard to this day. "True Colors" and "Change of Heart" were big hits off of her sophomore album. Her last top 10 single is included too from "A Night to Remember" which is "I Drove All Night" *recently Celine Dion did an amazing cover of it.* "Money Changes Everything" is graciously included also which didn't hit the top 10, but was still a big top 40 hit. The non-hits are also very worthy. "Hat Full of Stars" is gorgeous and "Sisters of Avalon" is very catchy.

So why 4 stars? As outstanding as this collection is, "What's Going On" *a top 10 hit from "True Colors"* was left off as was the minor hit "Hole In My Heart." These are minor gripes but would've really put it over the top. Still, it's a great hits collection and well worth the money. Cyndi is awesome.