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Sunday, October 31, 2010

Metal to the Core

Metal to the Core

Heartbreak Station [Japan Import]

Posted: 30 Oct 2010 09:03 PM PDT

Heartbreak Station [Japan Import]

AVG. Rating 4.0

Heartbreak Station, Cinderella’s third studio album and ultimately their last record to achieve platinum success, is one of the forgotten gems in the 80’s hard rock era. Long Cold Winter, for all its virtues, was marred by its pop-metal conventions. Heartbreak Station erases such principles. Filled with Rolling Stones / Aerosmith sensibilities and a fearlessness to deviated from the generic formula of hair metal, this genuinely great album showed that Cinderella had more genuine grit than their poodle-haired contemporaries.

Each track is strong, distinctive and never repeating themselves, a fatal error that plagued many hair metal albums. “Electric Love”, “Love Gone Bad” and the sweet, boogie-rock of “Sick for the Cure” are swaggering rock n’ roll that recalls the best of Aerosmith, when that band did not need power ballads or a Michael Bay movie to climb to the charts. “One For Rock N’ Roll” is a simple, country-fused ditty about lacking worries and just playing rock n’ roll. And “Shelter Me” is a riotous commentary on censorship (the accompanying video featuring Little Richard was comedy gold).

But the album’s coup de graces remain the two songs that have the making of an instant classic: the title track, with its melodic acoustic guitars, honky piano flourishes and an beguiling 12-string guitar solo, and the opulent “Winds of Change” both have an emotional splendor boosted by Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones’ majestic strings. The title track, in particular, is the true highlight, ranking with Bon Jovi’s “I’ll Be There for You”, Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and Skid Row’s “I Remember You” as one of the era’s greatest power ballads.

It may have not been their most commercially successful album but Heartbreak Station showcased a more ambitious, talented band whom many have taken for granted. Unfortunately, that’s what happened when grunge came by and swept everyone associated with hair metal. It was a dark day for 80’s hard rock and for Cinderella, as their careers went into a startling decline while bands like Helmet, L7 and Pearl Jam achieved gold status.

You know, what’s funny? Back in the 1990’s, everyone would have crucified a band for playing music like this but today, everyone wishes we could have an album like this again. It is the testament to Cinderella and especially Tom Kiefer that they created an album that was unfairly neglected and reaped for rediscovery. Even if you’re not an 80’s hard rock fan, you should pick this album up and give it a try. It is not only a great 80’s rock record; it’s a great rock album in general.

Heartbreak Station [Japan Import] Overview

1990, Mercury records Japan. Out of print original first pressing from Japan.

Customer Reviews

ONE FOR ROCK AND ROLL – MRT –
Cinderella have certainly experimented since their first album, ‘Night Songs’. From the pure hard rock, to blues in ‘Long Cold Winter’ and then a country feel is given to their third album, ‘Heartbreak Station’. Every style they play, they reach perfection in my opinion! This album certainly lacks no talent. Tom Keifer’s unique gravelly vocals remain. And as well as some great rock tracks such as ‘The more things change’ and ‘Sick for the cure’, there are some beautiful tear jerkers, i.e the title track – ‘Heartbreak Station’. They’ve taken their talents to another level. It’s clear alot of passion has been put into this album and the guys have done themselves proud! It’s a change, but a MUST for any Cinderella/rock fan. 5 star album!

Great album, good production – K. Mcgeough – Phoenix, AZ USA
Although, this album wasn’t as good as their previous two, it’s worth purchasing. On this CD, Cinderella joined up with the producers who created Guns and Roses first album, “Appetite for destruction”. I thought this was a good move, on their part. This album added a new
element, the saxophone on some of the tracks. If you ever listened to
Aerosmiths “Permanent Vacation”, you’ll find some similiarities with
that CD and the saxophone in some of their songs. Overall, a fine album. Four stars.

Bluesy, but still rockin’ – Justin Gaines – Northern Virginia
Cinderella took their sound as far into blues rock territory as they possibly could with their third album – 1990’s Heartbreak Station. This album is pretty far removed from the straightforward hair metal of Night Songs, but it still rocks. It’s just a bluesier, more Southern-sounding kind of rock, complete with twanging guitars, horns, and the occasional gospel-style choir on background vocals.

It may not be the Cinderella everyone was familiar with, but I love what they did on Heartbreak Station. Soulful songs like Electric Love, Dead Man’s Road, and the title track give the album and the band a sense of depth that a lot of Cinderella’s peers were sadly lacking, and it’s hard to resist the boogie-rocking The More Things Change, Shelter Me, and Make Your Own Way. People went nuts for Bon Jovi’s cowboy fixation. Why not extend Cinderella the same kind of credit, especially when the results are this good?

It’s not as good as Night Songs or Long Cold Winter, but Heartbreak Station is still a very strong Cinderella album, and I have a soft spot for it as it was one of the very first albums I bought when I moved from cassettes to CDs. Ah, long box memories.

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