734. Cinderella / Long Cold Winter. 1988. 2.5/5

I always thought that Cinderella's biggest problem in following up their debut Night Songs was going to be - could they produce anything different from that album? Or, if they were going to travel down the same road, could they make it good enough that it didn't matter that it was the same?
OK, so it's pretty obvious from the opening that they decided to start heading down that same old road, but the start is worth it. "Bad Seamstress Blues / Fallin' Apart at the Seams" is a reasonable opening track, easing you into the album, while the rocking "Gypsy Road" kicks it along nicely, similarly to "Shake Me" from the first album. It's the song that gets you into the album, and you need that early on. Good solo in the middle. However, having sucked you in to the album, this is followed by the power ballad "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)". Well, it's a bit early in the piece to be introducing this, but I guess this was their 'money song', the one they hoped would get the radio airplay and make them their fortune. Here though it just brings the album to a screeched halt. Again - why stop the momentum of an album by introducing the slow ballad at the wrong time? Madness. "The Last Mile" and "Second Wind" restore some order back to the album, both good tempo songs that move along nicely, which only makes it more strange that they had "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" placed where it is.
The title track follows, and really stalls everything. This is a molasses-stretching yawn fest, a real boredom-inducing blues song that, if you like that kind of thing you will probably find is riveting. But for goodness sakes, it just reminded me of the worst of Gary Moore's 1990's blues escapism. Now this album is just mixing genres all over the place. By doing this, how did they expect to entice people to buy it? As it turns out, by the two songs I have just bagged. They were the stars of this album, and boosted its sales to the stars. Shows what I know. But that's personal taste for you.

There is enough here to like for fans of the first album. There is also an obvious movement through to a bluesier rock here as well, so if that tickles your fancy, and you like the occasional power ballad, then no doubt you will be a fan. Even fans of the harder rock side will get  kick out of songs like "Fire & Ice" and "Gypsy Road" and even "Take Me Back". For me though, there is just too much variation in the style of songs here for me to enjoy the album as a whole. I still enjoy pieces of it today, but it's like picking through a box of chocolates to find your favourites and avoid the turkish delights. I would run ten miles to avoid songs such as "Don't Know What You've Got (Till It's Gone)" and "Long Cold Winter". These really do not appeal to me on any level, and cast a pall over the album as a whole. So while the road is similar, it certainly has its diversions, and potholes. Big fans of the band will no doubt love this. I still come away dissatisfied and disappointed with the end result.

Rating:  I guess I've always been a travelling man.  2.5/5