Published on Jul 17, 1999
Following the success of their debut album
Night Songs, one had to wonder what was next for the hard
rock quartet Cinderella. Would they fall prey to the dreaded
“sophomore slump”, or would they put out an album that solidified
their position as one of the genre’s leading acts? (I’m going to
try very hard to refrain from making any “fairy tale”
references.)
The answer came in 1988 with the release of
Long Cold Winter. Spawning a few chart successes, including
the ballad “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”, Tom Kiefer
and crew seemed to prove that they were no mere flash in the pan.
Eleven years after its release, it’s still a fun album to listen
to.
Long Cold Winter was the first album where the unofficial
“fifth” member of Cinderella, keyboardist Rick Criniti, was
formally credited. (The band had taken some heat for not disclosing
that they were using a keyboardist on
Night Songs and on tour.) One thing that strikes me as odd
about the album is the plethora of guest musicians, including
drummers Denny Carmassi (then of Heart) and the late Cozy Powell.
Granted, I really can’t hear where their contributions come into
play on the album, but it seems strange that Cinderella would need
such high-octane help.
After the country-blues opener “Bad Seamstress Blues” (a
foreshadowing of what was to come on the band’s third album
Heartbreak Station), Kiefer, lead guitarist Jeff LaBar,
bassist Eric Brittingham and drummer Fred Coury kick things into
high gear with the groove-oriented “Falling Apart At The Seams”.
This is a track that I don’t believe got much attention when the
album first came out, but is a solid rocker which rightfully
deserves your attention.
Long Cold Winter‘s singles – “Gypsy Road,” “Don’t Know What
You Got (Till It’s Gone)” and “The Last Mile” – all still sound
fresh today, though “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)” is a
bit syrupy sweet for my tastes. Cinderella was no stranger to
ballads; they included “Nobody’s Fool” on
Night Songs, so it’s not that they couldn’t or shouldn’t do
ballads. It’s just that this particular one sounds so much like
they were following a formula laid out by other bands of the time
(a la Poison).
Both “Gypsy Road” and “The Last Mile” are powerful rock tracks,
though “Gypsy Road” sounds a little bit like “Night Songs” from the
debut (but not enough for me to dare call it a clone). “The Last
Mile” could well be the best of the singles, and remains, along
with “Falling Apart At The Seams,” my favorite track.
While the second half of
Long Cold Winter might not be as noted as its singles, it
contains some powerful rock that showed Cinderella’s spark of
creativity was still burning. Songs like “If You Don’t Like It,”
“Fire And Ice” and the title track all are very enjoyable, and have
lost little of their edge over the years.
Cinderella seemed like they had to prove with
Long Cold Winter that they were a band of substance that
deserved to be noticed among the hard rock band overflow of the
late ’80s. Fortunately, they succeeded – and, in the process,
recorded an album that still stands strong today.