''Shine'' is the eighth studio album by American singer

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

, released exclusively in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 2004. 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". The "Shine EP" has sold 41,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album expands on the sound Lauper developed with her 1997 album ''

Sisters of Avalon ''Sisters of Avalon'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper. It was released in Japan on October 15, 1996 and worldwide on April 1, 1997, by Sony Music Entertainment. Thematically the album expounded on the issue of complacency ...

''. Mostly

pop songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

, it flirts with

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

and new wave while incorporating traditional instruments like

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

s and

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

s. The songs are not lyrically linked, and explore themes ranging from the

Madonna–Whore Complex In psychoanalytic literature, a Madonna–whore complex, also called a Madonna–mistress complex, is the inability to maintain sexual arousal within a committed, loving relationship. First identified by Sigmund Freud, under the rubric of ''psychic ...

to celebrity life. The track "It's Hard to be Me" was penned about

Anna Nicole Smith Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the title of 1993 ...

; 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 ''Hard to Be Me'' is an independently produced comedy-drama television pilot created by and starring Edward Robert Bach. The show follows second-year art student Kevin Hamilton (Bach) and his vlog in which he tells the story of his week through ...

'' to use the track for its theme song. 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) #"Higher Plane" #"Water's Edge" #"Rather Be with You" #"Wide Open" #"Comfort You" #"This Kind of Love" #"Higher Plane" (Eddie X Mix) ;EP version (2002) #"Shine" (Edit) - 3:44 #"It's Hard to Be Me" - 3:52 #"Madonna Whore" - 3:38 #"Water's Edge" - 5:22 #"Shine" ( Illicit Mix) - 4:33

Chart performance

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shine (Cyndi Lauper Album) Cyndi Lauper albums 2003 albums Epic Records albums