Shine
Studio album / Extended play by
Cyndi Lauper
ReleasedMay 2002 (EP)
May 3, 2004 (LP in Japan)[1]
Recorded1999/2000
Genre
Length54:47
Label
Producer
  • Cyndi Lauper
  • William Wittman
Cyndi Lauper chronology
Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life
(1998) 		Shine
(2002) 		The Essential Cyndi Lauper
(2003)
Singles from Shine
  1. "Shine"
    Released: 2002

Shine is the eighth studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper, released exclusively in Japan in 2004.[1] The album was ready for release in 2001 but Edel Records, the label it was recorded with, folded. The leaked tracks from a demonstration disc quickly circulated on the Internet and by 2002 Lauper realized there was no point in trying to release it in a widespread fashion. Two EPs were released instead: One was also called "Shine" and the other was called "Shine Remixes".[2] The "Shine EP" has sold 41,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[3]

The album expands on the sound Lauper developed with her 1997 album Sisters of Avalon. Mostly pop songs, it flirts 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.

The track "It's Hard to be Me" was penned about Anna Nicole Smith; Smith attempted to buy it as the theme song to her reality show but Lauper declined. In 2010, Lauper did allow the independently produced television pilot Hard to Be Me to use the track for its theme song.[4] She then subsequently used it as the theme song to her own reality show Cyndi Lauper: Still So Unusual.

Track listing

Demonstration Cassette (2001) (Contains Demo Versions)[5]
  1. "Higher Plane"
  2. "Water's Edge"
  3. "Rather Be with You"
  4. "Wide Open"
  5. "Comfort You"
  6. "This Kind of Love"
  7. "Higher Plane" (Eddie X Mix)
EP version (2002)
  1. "Shine" (Edit) - 3:44
  2. "It's Hard to Be Me" - 3:52
  3. "Madonna Whore" - 3:38
  4. "Water's Edge" - 5:22
  5. "Shine" (Illicit Mix) - 4:33


Shine LP version (2004) track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Shine"
4:33
2."It's Hard to Be Me"
  • Lauper
  • Rob Hyman
  • Wittman
3:52
3."Madonna Whore"
  • Lauper
  • Wittman
3:38
4."Wide Open"
  • Lauper
  • Jan Pulsford
3:48
5."Rather Be with You"
  • Lauper
  • Doc Fleming
  • Marcello Nines
3:24
6."Who Let in the Rain"
  • Lauper
  • Alley Willis
4:32
7."Comfort You"
  • Lauper
  • Pulsford
4:11
8."Eventually"
5:28
9."Valentino"
  • Lauper, Pulsford
5:10
10."This Kind of Love"
  • Lauper
  • Nines
3:53
11."Higher Plane" (Misspelled on CD as "Higher Place")
  • Lauper
  • Pulsford
4:13
12."Water's Edge"
  • Lauper
  • Hyman
5:22
13."I Miss My Baby"
  • Lauper
  • Pulsford
3:22
Total length:55:36

Chart performance

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Japanese Albums 120
US Top Independent Albums (Billboard)[6] 42

Release history

Country Date Format Label Catalog
United States 16 July 2002 CD (EP Version) Oglio Records OGL 82015-2[7]
Japan 21 April 2004 CD (Album Version) Epic EICP 358[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Shine". Amazon.
  2. ^ "Shine Remix Ep". Amazon.
  3. ^ Barth, Keith. "Ask Billboard | Billboard.com". billboard.com. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  4. ^ "Filmmaker with Wausau roots brings TV pilot back to central Wisconsin". Wausau Daily Herald. Retrieved 2010-11-09.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Cyndi Lauper – Shine (2001, Cassette)". Discogs.
  6. ^ "Wonder, Bennett Guest On Lauper Set". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2014. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  7. ^ "Cyndi Lauper – Shine (2002, CD)". Discogs.
  8. ^ "Cyndi Lauper – Shine (2004, CD)". Discogs.
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