By the year 2000, Cyndi Lauper had cultivated an extremely successful music career spanning nearly two decades, but that doesn't mean that she is exempt from the machinations of record labels, and 'Shine' is the perfect example, showing that no-one is safe, no matter how big they are. 'Shine' was to have been the eighth studio album by the American singer, and was all set for release in 2001 on Edel Records, but before it came out the label folded, and all future releases were cancelled. When this was announced, leaked tracks from promo discs quickly started to circulate on the internet, and by 2002 Lauper realized there was no point in trying to release the record in a widespread fashion. Two EPs were released instead, one of which was also called 'Shine', while the other was called 'Shine Remixes', and although the 'Shine EP' sold over 41,000 copies in the United States, that was well below her normal sales. The album would have expanded on the sound Lauper developed with her 1997 release 'Sisters Of Avalon', which was mostly pop songs, although it flirted with electronica and new wave, while incorporating traditional instruments like sitars and fiddles. The songs are not lyrically linked, and explore themes ranging from the Madonna/Whore Complex to celebrity life, and the track 'It's Hard To Be Me' was penned about Anna Nicole Smith, who unsuccessfully attempted to buy it as the theme song to her TV reality show. The album did make a belated appearance when it was released exclusively in Japan in 2004, so unless you are prepared to hunt out a Japanese copy then you are unlikely to be able to hear it, and to save you the trouble of having to do that, here it is.
Track listing
01 Shine
02 It's Hard To Be Me
03 Madonna Whore
04 Wide Open
05 Rather Be With You
06 Who Let In The Rain?
07 Comfort You
08 Eventually
09 Valentino
10 This Kind Of Love
11 Higher Plane
12 Water's Edge
13 I Miss My Baby
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