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CD Review: Cyndi Lauper, "The Body Acoustic" (Epic)
"The Body Acoustic" is a curious effort, even by Cyndi Lauper standards. Given the artist's flamboyant past, that's really saying something.
With this new album, the colorful '80s icon borrows a page from Alanis Morissette's book--which, in turn, was nicked from bestsellers by the likes of Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and even Tesla--by revisiting past hits in a semi-acoustic format. Lauper, however, doesn't stop at stripping the songs down. She then dresses them back up in strange outfits that seem utterly inappropriate for the party.
The star-studded CD, which features the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Jeff Beck and Ani DiFranco, kicks off with a folksy, countrified version of "Money Changes Everything" that sounds like an outtake from a bad John Mellencamp session. The vocalist comes across equally like a fish out of water as she then swims with toast-master Shaggy through a hollow take on "All Through the Night."
The great "Time After Time," at least as it was originally recorded, has certainly weathered the test of time. The new duet version on this album, however, is simply a test of patience as McLachlan and Lauper prove that two great voices don't always go great together.
The worst song on the album is "She-Bop." That once-fun tale of masturbation is served up here in an utterly reworked, and utterly ridiculous, version that finds Lauper trying to channel Billie Holiday.
The best moment on the CD comes when Lauper combines with Japanese pop-sensation Puffy Ami Yumi to re-create the girl-power anthem "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Unfortunately, whether you're a girl or a boy, there's simply not much fun to be had by listening to "The Body Acoustic."
