Shine [Import]

Cyndi Lauper | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 3, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sbme Import
• ASIN: B0001N1OI8
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,402 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Shine

2. It's Hard To Be Me

3. Madonna Whore

4. Wide Open

5. Rather Be With You

6. Who Let In The Rain (New Version)

7. Comfort You

8. Eventually

9. Waiting For Valentino

10. This Kind Of Love

11. Higher Plane

12. Water's Edge

13. Miss My Baby

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cyndi Lauper shines on first self-written release in years, April 7, 2004

By 

Steven Peterson "Steven" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shine (Audio CD)

Cyndi's 2003 release "At Last" gave us interpretations of the songs Cyndi Lauper grew up with. "Shine" is a much-needed return to the Cyndi Lauper WE grew up with.

Originally slated for release on September 11, 2001, this album was shelved when Cyndi's record company, Edel Records, went belly-up. She had to fight to get the music back, but thankfully she persevered. Due to the limitations of not being backed by a major record company, Cyndi decided to release several edited tracks from this album on her independent "Shine EP" but there were many amazing tracks that were not released on the EP that will finally be available to the masses.

"Rather Be With You" is the most stand-out hit on this album, making use of funky guitar and bass coupled with jazz organ and the kind of vocal harmonies we've come to expect from Cyndi.

"Wide Open" features the kind of guitar that made Cyndi's 1997 release "Sisters of Avalon" such an amazing, yet underrated album. The song is full of the same kind of soul that made the title track from "Sisters" so powerful.

"Who Let In the Rain" gets a much-deserved facelift, with rich synth undertones and more coherent backing vocals. The performance is as powerful, if not more, as the original, and this version has quickly become my favorite.

"Eventually" is a slower song with a synth track reminiscent of Madonna's "Live to Tell" and has a very cosmopolitan feel to it, with its churning industrial backbeat and conversational vocal style. It sounds like the kind of song that might be playing in the background at a sleek Manhattan coffee shop or nightclub.

"Higher Plane" is another high energy track that was also released as a bonus track to the "Shine" maxi-single that was released by Oglio last year. Unofficial dance remixes of this track have been circulating for some time now.

The songs from the EP that are also featured on this album include "Shine" (in its full-length album form), "Water's Edge", "It's Hard to Be Me", and "Madonna Whore". These four tracks were most likely chosen for the EP because they represent the style of the album best. In this release, they blend in seamlessly with the other tracks, giving us the full picture that was missing from the EP.

Also included is the essential Japanse bonus track - "Miss My Baby" which until now has been unreleased and unavailable (even on the Internet).

If "At Last" (a great album, in my opinion) left you disappointed and longing for the singing and songwriting that made Cyndi a superstar, "Shine" certainly won't disappoint you.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of her best Cd's:, March 20, 2004

By 

Patrick L. Burgette (Woodridge, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shine (Audio CD)

This is the lost Cyndi album from 2001. Features 12 original songs plus a bonus track. I have not heard the bonus track yet,but the other 12 tracks are some of her finest work. The Cd is a mix of different sounds. You'll find the dance grooves all over Higher plane and Comfort you (great vocals on both songs) and a r&b flavor on tracks like Rather be with you,Madonna... and This kind of love (Rather be with you has top 10 hit written all over it) there is a strong pop feel to Shine (sounds like it could be a classic 80's song) and Wide open (sounds like it could have been on Cyndi's masterpiece Sisters of avalon Cd) and some very touching ballads like Waters edge and Eventually. The song Waiting for Valentino was written by Cyndi for her grandmother,and a re-make of Cyndi's 1993 song Who let in the rain also appears on this Cd as well.

I urgh everyone to pick this Cd up and enjoy Cyndi doing what she does best (her own self-penned material) it's nice to see this album finally getting released as it was originally suppose to have been released 3 years ago.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This album deserves more credit, April 8, 2004

By 

Raymond E. Jarvis (Northern New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shine (Audio CD)

Sisters of Avalon, by my account, is Cyndi's best album ever, but this is a VERY close second. Shine is full of great music that creates an emotional rollercoaster; from the teary Water's Edge to the woman-empowering Madonna(...), from the fag-hag True Colors-esque title track Shine, to the should-be-a-dance-club-favorite Higher Plane, this album takes you across the board and around the world with it's many styles. There is no doubt that this album will sell like crazy in Japan, and I don't understand why it doesn't sell in the U.S. Cyndi's voice has only gotten better with time, and the vocal highlights on this album are amazing. The things she does with her voice would make the likes of Madonna and Britney cringe in fear. If you like She's So Unusual and True Colors, you'll love this. It's even got some eighties sounds (It's Hard to Be Me) on it to take you back to those albums. Buy or be square.