Still Climbing (Cinderella album)

Last updated

Still Climbing
Stillclimbing.jpg
Studio album by
Cinderella
ReleasedNovember 8, 1994 [1]
Recorded1994
Studio
  • Kajem Studios (Gladwyne, Pennsylvania)
  • Devonshire Studios (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length53:27
Label Mercury
Producer Duane Baron, John Purdell, Tom Keifer
Cinderella chronology
Heartbreak Station
(1990)		Still Climbing
(1994)

Still Climbing is the fourth and final studio album by the American rock band Cinderella, released on November 8, 1994, by Mercury Records. The release of Still Climbing was delayed due to lead vocalist Tom Keifer losing his voice in 1991. [2] [3]

Contents

The album peaked at No. 178 on the Billboard 200. [4]

Background

Cinderella first performed "Talk Is Cheap" and "Freewheelin" during a show at the Empire Rock Club in Philadelphia in 1985. [5] The version of "Talk Is Cheap" that the band performed in the 1980s is shorter in duration and performed at a faster tempo than the final version the band recorded for Still Climbing. [6] Around 1985, prior to recording their first album Night Songs, the band also recorded a demo of "Talk Is Cheap." [7]

"Hot & Bothered" had first appeared on Wayne's World: Music from the Motion Picture in 1992. [2]

Stylistically, Still Climbing maintained the stripped-down, bluesy sound the band had begun exploring in their prior album Heartbreak Station. Bassist Eric Brittingham stated that he found it "refreshing" when people acknowledged the band's continued shift from glam metal to blues-based rock. [8]

Songwriting and production

While the band was writing for and recording the album, Tom Keifer experienced vocal cord paresis, which he cited as an obstacle for his songwriting. The surgery and resultant recovery time forced the band into a two-year hiatus, which Brittingham cited as the reason it took the band so long to release the follow-up to Heartbreak Station. [8] [9] Keifer stated in a 2013 interview, "I am writing for the record, and I don't know what voice I am writing for because I don't know if I am going to have a voice." Keifer also stated, "I really didn't ever get to the point where my voice was fully retrained, back and functioning properly, even while we were recording that record." [9]

Keifer explained that Still Climbing was difficult to record due to the band having to balance Keifer's vocal difficulties with pressure from their label to release new music. During the recording process, Keifer had to adopt a different recording technique and vocal technique from what he had grown accustomed to with the band's first three records: "The first three records, I would go in and sing it down on a few tracks, and Andy [Johns, the band's producer] and I would comp from a couple of tracks. Pretty standard procedure. Just sing the song from top to bottom a few times, then go in and edit from the best stuff. On Still Climbing, I was going in and singing one line over and over and over, and trying to get my pipes to work right and get the sounds that I wanted. It was just a weird record to make. It was not an easy record to make, but a lot of the songs, I really like. And you know, it is what it is." [9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Calgary Herald C [10]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 7/10 [11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Entertainment Weekly B [13]
The Indianapolis Star Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [15]

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music called Still Climbing "a strong comeback." [12] AllMusic deemed it "a gritty record that shows them building upon the bluesy hard rock of Heartbreak Station ." [1]

The Morning Call described the songs as "glossy blues- and pop-oriented heavy metal." [16]

The Hamilton Spectator wrote: "While the music's hot, the messages are not. Keifer has simply run out of things to say aside from the coming-of-youth wisdom of 'The Road's Still Long'." [17]

The Indianapolis Star wrote that the songs "are 90 percent chorus ('Hot & Bothered' and 'Freewheelin') - and not even particularly creative ones at that; they're just repetitive phrases that might manage to come off well with a concert crowd." [14]

Commercial performance and promotion

Still Climbing peaked at No. 178 on the Billboard 200. [4]

In a February 1995 interview for Deseret News, the band's bassist, Eric Brittingham, said that one of the obstacles the band encountered while attempting to promote Still Climbing was the rock industry's shift away from glam metal bands; Brittingham recalled that while the band made plans to release music videos on MTV, MTV contacted the band's marketing director and informed them that "they've stopped playing our style of music." [8]

In 2011, Brittingham stated in an interview that the low sales numbers of the record led to the band being dropped by their label, after which they temporarily disbanded. [18]

Track listing

All songs are written by Tom Keifer, except "The Road's Still Long" by Keifer and Andy Johns, and "Hot & Bothered" by Keifer and Eric Brittingham.

No.TitleLength
1."Bad Attitude Shuffle"5:31
2."All Comes Down"5:04
3."Talk Is Cheap"4:00
4."Hard to Find the Words"5:45
5."Blood from a Stone"4:52
6."Still Climbing"5:22
7."Freewheelin"3:06
8."Through the Rain"5:07
9."Easy Come Easy Go"4:33
10."The Road's Still Long"6:05
11."Hot & Bothered"3:57

Personnel

Cinderella
Additional musicians
Production

Charts

Chart (1994)Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [19] 34
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [20] 29
UK Albums (OCC) [21] 88
US Billboard 200 [22] 178

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinderella (band)</span> American rock band

Cinderella was an American rock band formed in the suburbs of Philadelphia in 1983. The band emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum studio albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation and popularity. Cinderella initially had a glam metal sound throughout the late 1980s before shifting into a more blues rock-based sound during the early to mid 1990s.

<i>Night Songs</i> (Cinderella album) 1986 debut studio album by Cinderella

Night Songs is the debut studio album by American glam metal band Cinderella. It was released on June 9, 1986, by Mercury Records. Mercury issued the album worldwide, while Vertigo Records handled the album's release in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warrant (American band)</span> American glam metal band

Warrant is an American glam metal band formed in 1984 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, that experienced success from 1989 to 1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. The band first came into the national spotlight with their double platinum debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich and one of its singles, "Heaven", which reached No. 1 in Rolling Stone and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band's success continued in the early 1990s with the double platinum album Cherry Pie, which provided the hit song of the same name.

<i>Open Up and Say... Ahh!</i> 1988 studio album by Poison

Open Up and Say... Ahh! is the second studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released on April 27, 1988, through Enigma Records. It proved to be the band's most successful release, and spawned four hit singles: "Nothin' But a Good Time", "Fallen Angel", "Your Mama Don't Dance" and their only number one single to date, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". The album peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Keifer</span> American rock musician

Carl Thomas Keifer is an American musician. He is the lead singer, primary songwriter, and one of the guitarists for the hard rock band Cinderella.

<i>Heartbreak Station</i> 1990 studio album by Cinderella

Heartbreak Station is the third studio album by American rock band Cinderella, released in 1990 through Mercury Records. It reached No.19 in the Billboard 200 US chart on December 21, 1990, and went platinum for shipping a million albums on February 26, 1991.

<i>Cocked & Loaded</i> 1989 studio album by L.A. Guns

Cocked & Loaded is the second studio album by American glam metal band L.A. Guns. Recorded at Hollywood studios One on One, Music Grinder and Conway Recording, it was produced by Duane Baron, John Purdell and Tom Werman, and released on August 22, 1989 by Vertigo Records. The album is the first to feature drummer Steve Riley. "Rip and Tear", "Never Enough", "The Ballad of Jayne", "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Malaria" were released as the album's singles.

<i>Cherry Pie</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Warrant

Cherry Pie is the second studio album by American glam metal band Warrant, released September 11, 1990. The album is the band's best-known and highest-selling release and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard 200. The album featured the top 40 hits "Cherry Pie" and "I Saw Red".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Brittingham</span> American bass guitarist

Eric Brittingham is an American bass guitarist best known for playing in the band Cinderella.

<i>Long Cold Winter</i> 1988 studio album by Cinderella

Long Cold Winter is the second studio album by American glam metal band Cinderella. It was released in July 1988 on Mercury Records.

<i>Desire Walks On</i> 1993 studio album by Heart

Desire Walks On is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Heart, released on November 16, 1993, by Capitol Records. The majority of the album was co-written by lead members Ann and Nancy Wilson. It is Heart's final studio album to feature longtime members Howard Leese, who joined in 1975 and, aside from the Wilson sisters, is the band's longest-serving member, and Denny Carmassi, who had been its drummer since 1982. Layne Staley, lead vocalist of the Seattle grunge band Alice in Chains, sings with the Wilson sisters on the cover of Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells".

<i>Woke Up with a Monster</i> 1994 studio album by Cheap Trick

Woke up with a Monster is the twelfth studio album by Cheap Trick which was released by Warner Bros. Records in 1994. Produced by Ted Templeman, the album peaked at number 123 on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was Cheap Trick's first and only album for Warner Bros., who dropped the band from their roster shortly after its release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobody's Fool (Cinderella song)</span> 1986 single by Cinderella

"Nobody's Fool" is a power ballad by American glam metal band Cinderella, released in 1986 as the lead single from the band's debut album, Night Songs. It charted at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also at number 25 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1987.

Lynam is an American hard rock band from Birmingham, Alabama, United States.

<i>Rocked, Wired & Bluesed: The Greatest Hits</i> 2005 greatest hits album by Cinderella

Rocked, Wired & Bluesed: The Greatest Hits is a compilation album released by American rock band Cinderella in 2005, featuring tracks from their entire catalog.

Tangier was an American, Philadelphia-based hard rock band, which was active between 1984 and 1992.

<i>Monster</i> (Kiss album) 2012 studio album by Kiss

Monster is the twentieth and final studio album by American rock band Kiss, released on October 9, 2012. It was recorded at Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood, California and The Nook in Studio City, Los Angeles. As with 2009's Sonic Boom, Monster was produced by Paul Stanley and Greg Collins, and featured the lineup of Stanley, Gene Simmons (vocals/bass), Eric Singer (drums/vocals), and Tommy Thayer (guitar/vocals).

<i>The Way Life Goes</i> (album) 2013 studio album by Tom Keifer

The Way Life Goes is the debut solo album by Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer. It was released on 30 April 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perfect Stranger (Cheap Trick song)</span> 2006 single by Cheap Trick

"Perfect Stranger" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 2006 as the lead single from their fifteenth studio album Rockford. It was written by Linda Perry, Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson and Bun E. Carlos, and produced by Perry.

Devil City Angels is an American rock supergroup formed by guitarist Tracii Guns, drummer Rikki Rockett (Poison), bassist Eric Brittingham (Cinderella), and vocalist and rhythm guitarist Brandon Gibbs.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Cinderella - Still Climbing review". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Ruhlmann, William. "Cinderella - Artist Biography". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  3. ↑ Philips, William; Cogan, Brian (2009). Encyclopedia of heavy metal music. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 53. ISBN   978-0-313-34800-6.
  4. 1 2 "Cinderella - Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Cinderella Setlist at Empire Rock Club, Philadelphia, PA, USA". Setlist.fm. June 20, 1985. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Cinderella - Talk Is Cheap - Live in Japan 1987". YouTube. August 10, 2009. Archived from the original on January 23, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Cinderella - Freewheelin' (Demo)". YouTube. October 2, 2023. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 "Cinderella Band Is Geared to Go with the Musical Flow". Deseret News . February 24, 1995. Archived from the original on January 21, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Crafton, Crash (December 12, 2014). "Cinderella's Tom Keifer discusses 2015 solo tour plans, a possible Blues album, Cinderella hiatus and Still Climbing!". Legendary Rock Interviews. Archived from the original on January 21, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald : F2. November 13, 1994.
  11. ↑ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 81. ISBN   978-1-894959-62-9.
  12. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2. MUZE. p. 369. ISBN   978-0-19-531373-4.
  13. ↑ Sinclair, Tom. "Still Climbing". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  14. 1 2 Pugh, Dorothy (December 9, 1994). "Cinderella "Still Climbing," Mercury Records". The Indianapolis Star : E7.
  15. ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. p. 237. ISBN   978-0-825672-56-9.
  16. ↑ "Cinderella Facing Long, Hard Climb". The Morning Call . April 21, 1995. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  17. ↑ Krewen, Nick (December 22, 1994). "Cinderella/Still Climbing". The Hamilton Spectator : 4.
  18. ↑ Seastrand, Andrea (August 10, 2011). "Interview with Eric Brittingham from Cinderella: Know What You've Got". The Aquarian. Archived from the original on January 21, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  19. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
  20. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Cinderella – Still Climbing". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Cinderella | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Cinderella Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.