Track Listing

1. I'm Gonna Be Strong
2. Girls Just Want to Have Fun
3. Money Changes Everything
4. Time After Time
5. She Bop
6. All Through the Night
7. Change of Heart
8. True Colors
9. What's Going On
10. I Drove All Night
11. That's What I Think
12. Sally's Pigeons
13. Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)
14. Come on Home

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98276 in Music
• Released on: 1995-07-18
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Limited edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve.

Customer Reviews

An Unintentional Self-Criticism...
By weighting this "best of" CD so heavily with songs from SHE'S SO UNUSUAL, Cyndi Lauper unintentionally gives credence to some of her harshest critics. Robert Christgau, who hasn't had a kind word for Cyndi since the first solo album, homed right in on the fact that five (he mistakenly says "six")of the tracks are from UNUSUAL. Whether you agree with him that they are the five BEST tracks or not, it does make you wonder if the debut solo album might not be the wiser purchase after all.

On the other hand, Christgau is so out of touch that,not only does he miscount the number of tracks from UNUSUAL, he doesn't even recognize that "I'm Gonna Be Strong" is a re-recording of one of her Blue Angel tracks and thus a doff of hat to her actual (group) debut effort. He also refers to the reggae-flavored "Hey Now, Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" as a remix of her first hit single, when it is also plainly a re-recording with a new chorus and at a different tempo. So how well could he have listened? How well has he bothered to listen to anything Cyndi put out since he decided not to like her music in '88?

If like me, you only had UNUSUAL on vinyl anyway, purchasing 12 DEADLY CYNS in a new format made sense. Like most "greatest hits" collections of the past 25 years, it also contains three new or newly recorded tracks, so there is plenty of incentive for fans to pick it up. It also has a fair enough sampling of the three other Lauper albums recorded prior to '94 to offer a solid overview of a decade of her work. (Although I would agree with those who express some disappointment over the fact that so little of the much neglected A NIGHT TO REMEMBER was included.)

The re-recording of "I'm Gonna Be Strong" is classic Cyndi by the way. This old Gene Pitney chestnut is, in Cyndi's hands, an intriguing blend of old and new styles--folksy fiddles emerge almost out of nowhere after a torchy pseudo-ending. Lauper's unique vocal ranges from scratchy-cute to soaring. She constantly surprises. The song is a total revamp of the Pitney classic: yet it retains and actually amplifies the original's emotional ache. Kristi Yamaguchi wound up doing a skating routine to it at one point...Yet it almost defies the listener to actually LIKE it. "Oh, you thought I was going to end this with dramatic flair...not so fast, get a load of the actual hoe-down ending!!" Well, I ended up loving it. After a few listens, you just might too.

Ultimately, I can't be too hard on Cyndi for including so much of UNUSUAL. It was an extraordinarily successful album, and any "best of" package would have to give it its due. I see now that there are some European products out there that actually include many more tracks and therefore better cover the entire track record. Still 12 DEADLY is actually a fine place for most neophytes to start. You may find that Cyndi Lauper, while certainly unusual, is a solid, versatile singer and not just the kooky soul you thought you knew.

ALMOST all the best
this would be a 5-star cd if "the goonies 'r' good enough" was on it, but for some strange reason it's not. what makes it even worse is that the song isn't even available on any of her other albums or on any compilation albums. why is it that some artists and record labels feel the need to put a few new songs on their "best of" albums at the expense of songs that, in cases like "the goonies 'r' good enough", were top 10 hits? it makes no sense. note to sony music: the next time you put out a cyndi lauper hits album, please make sure to include "the goonies 'r' good enough", or at least put it on a compilation album. if you're going to put a new song in the place of a song that was a major hit, at least have the courtesy to make the song you're leaving out available on some other album. otherwise, this is a good cd; an 80's pop diva singing (most of) her biggest hits.

Incomplete, yes...Unsatisfactory? HELL NO!
Cyndi Lauper has this magical way of evoking both joy and sorrow with the simple slip of a vocal chord. The sheer urgency in her voice on tracks like "She Bop" and "Money Changes Everything" to the sadness and nosalgic atmsphere of "Sally's Pigeons" show both her range as a writer/co-writer and as a truly talented vocalist. Just ask Mariah Carey to whip up something this...sincere...betcha she can't! And yes, the CD should include "Good Enough", "Hole In My Heart", "The World Is Stone" and "Who Let In The Rain", but even without those beloved slices of pop Cyndi-style, this collection truly shines. The sound quality of the tracks alone is enough to make saliva dance and gush all about your mouth, but add that to the fact the much of the content has been remixed into what I would deem as their definitive versions and it's nearly enough to send one into cardiac arrest. Definately a must have! (also...you should check out the new DVD)