Cyndi Lauper True Colors CD

Also available in a 3-pack with SHE'S SO UNUSUAL and HAT FULL OF STARS.
Personnel: Cyndi Lauper (vocals, background vocals); Bangles (vocals, background vocals); Aimee Mann, Billy Joel (vocals); Jimmy Bralower (guitar, drums, percussion); James Box, John McCurry, Adrian Belew, Nile Rodgers, Rick Derringer, Robert Holmes (guitar); Peter Wood (keyboards, synthesizer); Jeff Bova (keyboards); Neil Jason (bass guitar); Anton Fig (drums); Lennie Petze (percussion, background vocals); Jon Goldberger (sound effects); Ellie Greenwich, Angela Clemmons-Patrick (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Jason Corsaro; Brian McGee .
Recording information: HIt Factory; Power Station.
Photographer: Annie Leibovitz.
Arrangers: Cyndi Lauper; Jeff Bova; Jimmy Bralower; Adrian Belew; Lennie Petze; Peter Wood; Stephen Broughton Lunt.
There were a few years in the mid-'80s when one couldn't go out for a cup of coffee without encountering Cyndi Lauper in one form or another. Her videos were playing constantly on MTV, her music was everywhere on the radio, and, best of all, children were even dressing up as Cyndi for Halloween. In retrospect, it was a Lauper-ish time but it was all over quite quickly; in fact, the period in the ultra-limelight didn't even span the period covered by two album releases, which means that this follow-up to her smash debut album was relegated to the also-ran pile, with sad results such as only one sort-of hit single (the title track) and nobody apparently interested in imitating the skirt she wore on the back cover photo, which seems like it is made of slashed-up concert posters. Kind of a shame since so much love and attention went into this album. Guest stars and high-dollar session musicians abound, including other '80s icons such as the Bangles and the manic Pee Wee Herman, who provides a great little answering-machine bit at the end of "911." Lauper is a fantastic vocalist, meaning that any record producer worth hiring would be happy to dream up endless settings for her. This album is nothing if not ambitious, and some of the stretches really pay off, such as the ultimately endearing cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." Other aspects date badly. For example, highly reverberated and artificial sounding drums and keyboards were really popular at the time, but a vocalist with a clear voice such as Lauper sounds much better in the context of real instruments with their warmer sounds. When it comes to tunes such as the nice Cajun number "The Faraway Nearby," drums should have been turned way down and other instrumental colors brought up. Despite these sorts of problems, there really wasn't that much music recorded by this artist during her most popular period, so fans will no doubt want to own it all. ~ Eugene Chadbourne
With the runaway success of her 1983 debut, SHE'S SO UNUSUAL, Cyndi Lauper received tremendous media exposure, leading to five hit singles. Even though Lauper's sophomore record, TRUE COLORS, didn't appear until the fall of 1986, there was still something of a backlash, from which she never entirely recovered.
A much more mature and controlled record than the candy-coated SHE'S SO UNUSUAL, TRUE COLORS features numerous guest stars (including Billy Joel, Til Tuesday's Aimee Mann, and Pee-Wee Herman) and a stronger creative presence from Lauper. For this set of songs, she wrote (or co-wrote) seven of the 10 tracks (including a great remake of "Maybe He'll Know" from the sole album by Lauper's old New Wave band Blue Angel) and tones down the attention-grabbing hiccups and shrieks. Although the state-of-1986 production makes a few songs sound a little dated, the strongest material, like the affecting title track and the disc's second hit single, the sweet "Change of Heart" (featuring backing vocals by the Bangles), is among Lauper's best.