The Eseential Cyndi lauper
Ms. lauper had the look, the style, and the pipes to be a major force in the 1980's. At the time, I thought she was going to outdo Madonna, but she was not as driven and her career sputterred, even though she still has a loyal fan base to this day. If you like Cyndi, this is the best collection to have.

Absolutely Essential
This is a great collection of Cyndi's music. I was going to buy She's So Unusual but this album had all the great songs from that CD along with a couple of extra great songs from other albums and singles. Cyndi's music is fantastic and plays well even today (although I am biased as I grew up listening to She's So Unusual, watching her videos, and loving The Goonies). You won't regret buying this CD ... guaranteed!

Oh the memories...
What's not to love. I owned it in the 80's and wanted a little blast from the past.

Yes!
if you like Cindy lauper you have to get this Just because it has THE GOONIES ARE GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't stop messing with the Danger Zone
Cyndi Lauper is one of those eighties singers whose talent was modest but personality was overwhelming. It was what made "She's So Unusual" so brilliant; Cyndi was so totally outside the mold that everything on it quaked with the stellar portrayal of the artist as a young woman. From the classic anthem "Girls Just Wanna have Fun" to the emotional bulls-eye of "Time After Time," Cyndi and all her friends established the pattern that would follow for the rest of her career. Cyndi found songs to match her one-of-a-kind voice and would deliver them with style.

That she had a knack for plucking gems from obscurity also helped. The Brains' apocryphal "Money Changes Everything" is one such example, ditto for "True Colors's" rocking "Change of Heart." She was such a colorful fusion of styles and personality that the singles on this "Essential" collection still often sound buoyant and alive even now. It was around the time of "A Night to Remember" and "Hatful Of Stars" that Cyndi's efforts to sound serious got the better of her. On "Twelve Deadly Cyns and Then Some," Cyndi wisely chose to include "Sally's Pigeons" (co-written with Mary Chapin Carpenter, of all people), where the emotional heft matched the ambition, where the title track here didn't.

That ambition also lead to Cyndi's activism. "True Colors" has become something of a gay anthem, a call to recognize yourself as the person you are. It became the Nom De'Tour of Cyndi's summer 2007 tour for the Human Rights Campaign (along with Debbie Harry and Erasure, among others), and her tireless work on behalf of the Matthew Sheppard Foundation and other causes. Her timeless music couples with her work for the future.

Her attempt to broaden the style works OK on "Sisters of Avalon" and "Unhook The Stars," but I would have happily traded them (or "When You Were Mine") in for "What's Going On." All is forgiven however, by finally finding "The Goonies R Good Enough" on a proper US Cyndi Lauper CD. A quickie knock-off to a Steven Spielberg screaming kids movie, it is all the things great about Cyndi's hits; melodic, energetic and sing-along-quirky. It makes "The Essential Cyndi Lauper" the best single disc collection of Cyndi you can get without shelling out for pricey double-disc imports.