Cinderella
Night Songs

THE REVIEW

The year 1983 is an important one in which metal and hard rock albums were born that we now consider classic and historic.

In the same year, a band was formed that we could now consider as one of the leading exponents of the hard rock/hair metal movement: Cinderella. Hair metal, also known as Street Metal or even better as Glam Metal, reached its peak in the '80s and was born from the '70s Glam Rock. It was the name used to identify all hard rock/heavy metal bands that presented themselves with a particular look, characterized most of the time by abundant facial makeup and flamboyant, eye-catching clothing, and not least, remarkable bleached hair. Glam Metal developed like a disease, and in a certain sense seemed to be a necessary requirement, during a period when Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Mötley Crüe, W.a.s.p., Europe, and many others were affirming themselves.

But let's get back to our band, Cinderella, named after the same character as a fairy tale, but taken from a porn film, who actually lived a little fairy-tale with a happy ending. In 1985, the band, with a very imprecise lineup but one that definitely included Tom Keifer on vocals and guitar and Eric Brittingham on bass, was playing in various venues. One day, the mythical Jon Bon Jovi entered a venue where Cinderella was playing to have a drink and was fascinated by the band's style, so he introduced them to Polygram, the record label of Universal Music.
"Night Songs" of 1986 is the debut album, listening to it immediately brings to mind AC/DC, especially due to Tom Keifer's warm and raspy aggressive voice. The repetitive chorus and the right rhythmical cadence of the title track form the classic gem of melodic hard rock with fantastic riffs and rough guitar solos. "Shake Me" sheds a bit more light on the style of these American guys, the rhythm is catchy and cheerful while still keeping the rebellious and aggressive atmosphere alive, but within the driving rhythm and the singing style, one can notice blues elements, especially in "In From The Outside" which are very noteworthy and better season the composition.

Excellent guitar works are also present in the calm yet very beautiful ballad titled "Nobody’s Fool", famous and at the top of the '80s charts for quite some time. Some songs take many characteristics from '70s hard rock, such is the case of the beautiful "Nothin' for Nothin" or "Once Around the Ride". Among my favorites, "Hell On Wheels" with its typically rock title and wild, powerful rhythm, like the cadenced "Somebody Save Me". As I have already said, Cinderella is a historic band in the field of hard rock, and listening to them particularly recalls AC/DC; those who have already indulged in the genre from Deep Purple to Def Leppard will not hear anything new and different from this album, but it is certainly not to be ignored.