494: Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual

Year: 1983

1. Money Changes Everything
2. Girls Just Want to Have Fun
3. When You Were Mine
4. Time After Time
5. She Bop
6. All Through the Night
7. Witness
8. I'll Kiss You
9. He's So Unusual
10. Yeah Yeah

RollingStone Says:
Lauper's first band had broken up, she had filed for bankruptcy, and she was singing in a Japanese restaurant. Then this debut album of razor-sharp dance pop became the first by a female performer to score four Top Five hits, including "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time."
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Adam Says:
I grew up listening to this music. 80's pop was my mothers music of choice, and as such I heard songs from this album on an almost daily basis. 20 years later and "Time After Time" is still one of my all-time favorite songs. It's such an epic, just a perfect storm of vocal harmonies, and smooth pop production. Likewise the other smash single, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is still a fun, breezy little piece of pop history.

Like a lot of pops albums though, none of the other cuts can match the sheer infectiousness of the two hit singles. The songwriting is solid throughout, and I appreciate that none of the songs feel like blatant filler, but when you have two of the greatest pop songs ever written in the first 4 tracks alone....well needless to say you're giving the rest of the album a lot to live up to.

It's also worth mention that at times Cyndi Lauper's vocals come across a little too unhinged for my taste. You can tell she was having an absolute blast while recording these songs, but she often sounds like a child whose had too much sugar, just bouncing off the walls and having trouble focusing. Then again I suppose that's part of the charm. It's a good album though, and a huge part of my childhood. I enjoy it as much today as I did when I was 4.

Overall - 4/5
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Dan Says:
I have only heard the hits "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and "Time After Time" off of this album. I love synth driven 80's pop music. I love the clean guitar tones, and the vocals are flawless. One weakness that I did find with this album is that some songs are a bit lengthy and become repetitive. In all a great album.

Overall - 4/5