One could be forgiven for thinking that Cyndi Lauper has slowly faded into obscurity since her supernova like explosion onto the popcharts with her 1983 debut album Shes So Unusual. But the girl that just wants to have fun has merely grown up and matured into one of the most endearing voices in pop music today. On her new album, The Body Acoustic, Laupers put together a collection of her hits and favorites, stripped down and reworked to really expose the beauty of her poignant lyrics. Its been over 20 years since Cythia Ann Stephanie Lauper, or Cyndi as we affectionately know her, won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist and released a string of top ten hits including She Bop, True Colours, All Through The Night, Money Changes Everything and Time After Time which has since been covered by over 70 artists including Willy Nelson and Miles Davis. At age 50 she recorded an album of standards, At Last, which received critical aclaim, and launched the seed for The Body Acoustic. All the hits are here along with three new songs. Guest musicians and singers join Cyndi who plays the dulcimer as the pared down tracks take on a whole new life. True colours lit only by strings is almost hauntingly sad, while Sarah McLachlan adds her angelic vocals to Time After Time. All Through The Night features Shaggys unique vocal stylings, and Japanese duo Puffy AmiYumi join in on the fun of Girls Just Want to Have Fun. Lauper co-produced the album with Rick Chertoff, who produced her hit debut Shes So Unusual, and William Wittman, who produced At Last. Yeah, girls just wanna have fun, but then so do grown women. |
