Cinderella always felt like a different kind of hair metal band. On the album cover for Night Songs, Tom Keifer and his band encapsulate the look of the era. However, they also collaborated with legendary producer and engineer Andy Johns, whose resume includes Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones.
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The classic rock and blues elements helped Cinderella’s music age better than other hair metal acts. So when they returned with Long Cold Winter, Keifer leaned further into his blues roots, and Cinderella made their best album.
“Gypsy Road”
While the band’s image, music videos, and Fred Coury’s snare drum reverb certainly lean into hair metal’s cliches, Keifer’s songwriting feels more timeless. “Gypsy Road” is a 70s-inspired blues riff that wouldn’t have been out of place on The Black Crowes’ Shake Your Money Maker. And Keifer’s voice recalls the broken-glass howl of AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, giving some grit to Cinderella’s glam.
“Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”
Hair metal albums need a power ballad. And 80s bands had no problem leaning into deeply earnest lyrics, with emotional and overtly sentimental singers. A lot of fist-clutching and looking away from the camera in a tune about taking a romantic partner for granted. Keifer’s “been looking for the words to say, ooh,” and without the right words, he simply launches into a soaring guitar solo.
“Coming Home”
If you tweaked the production on “Coming Home”, you might get to something like Big Star. The track also shares more with Tom Petty’s heartland rock than with Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”. With a 12-string guitar, the song eventually breaks into a gospel blues jam with “Shine on me” ad-libs. Keifer’s growling delivery against the lush instrumentation gives the whole thing a beauty-and-beast vibe.
“The Last Mile”
“The Last Mile” opens with a 12-string guitar before transforming into a hard rock riff reminiscent of the band’s first hit “Shake Me”. The song is Keifer’s outlaw tale about a weary traveler—a hair metal take on Hank Williams’ “Lost Highway”. Cinderella benefited from the popularity of hair metal, but the band seemed, musically, to be outsiders. Maybe it’s the difference between the East Coast and West Coast scenes. Similar to Bon Jovi, Cinderella was very much “of the time” but also a little beyond it.
Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images
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