Bring Ya to the Brink

Bring Ya to the Brink
Studio album by Cyndi Lauper
Released May 27, 2008
(See release history)
Recorded 2008
Genre Pop rock, dance-pop, electronic, house
Length 49:36
Label Epic
Producer Cyndi Lauper (also exec.)
Peer Åström, Axwell, Basement Jaxx, Johan Bobäck, Digital Dog, Dragonette, DJ Emz, Kleerup, Richard Morel, The Scumfrog, William Wittman
Cyndi Lauper chronology

The Body Acoustic
(2005)
Bring Ya to the Brink
(2008)
Memphis Blues
(2010)
Singles from Bring Ya to the Brink
  1. "Set Your Heart"
    Released: 2008 (Japan only)
  2. "Same Ol' Story"
    Released: May 6, 2008
  3. "Into the Nightlife"
    Released: September 22, 2008
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Billboard (favorable)[2]
Blender [3]
Digital Spy [4]
Entertainment Weekly B[5]
The New York Times (mixed)[6]
NOW (favorable)[7]
The Observer (positive)[8]
PopMatters (7/10)[9]
Rolling Stone [10]
Slant Magazine [11]
O Globo (positive)[12]

Bring Ya to the Brink is Cyndi Lauper's ninth studio album and was released on May 27, 2008 in the United States, with a worldwide tour later that summer. The album is a dance-oriented collection featuring collaborations with Basement Jaxx, Richard Morel, Max Martin and Kleerup, amongst others. Regarded as Lauper's strongest set of original material in recent years, the Songwriters Hall of Fame has regarded the album track 'High and Mighty' as one of Lauper's key songs, and the album received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album in 2009.[13] The song "Set Your Heart" was released as a promo-only single in Japan in early 2008 and "Same Ol' Story" was the first official single released worldwide on May 6, 2008. "Into the Nightlife" was released as the album's second official single.[14]

The album has sold 33,000 copies only in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[33]

Album information

Lauper visited England and Sweden during early 2007 where she wrote songs with dance artists such as The Scumfrog, Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Dragonette, Kleerup and Axwell.[15] She also wrote and produced four of the album's tracks with Washington DC DJ Richard Morel.[16] Art direction on the album was credited to Cyndi Lauper, Sheri Lee & Meghan Foley, with photography by Stefanie Schneider.[17][18]

Tour and Promotion

To support the album, Lauper toured the world in 2008. She embarked on the Bring Ya to the Brink World Tour in support of the album in countries outside of the United States: The show ventured to Australia in the spring of 2008 and Japan, Europe and South America in the fall of 2008. In the United States she toured in the summer with the True Colors 2008 tour to support the album there.

The album listed at No. 7 on the Attitude Magazine's top ten albums of 2008[19] and also came in at No. 8 on Amazon's Best Pop albums of 2008.[20]

"Echo" was featured in the Gossip Girl episode "Bonfire of the Vanity", in which Lauper had a cameo at Blair Waldorf's 18th birthday party celebration. "High and Mighty" was in an episode of Ugly Betty.

Lauper performed "Into the Nightlife" live on The Graham Norton Show,[21] in series 4 episode 2, first broadcast on October 9, 2008.[22]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "High and Mighty"  Cyndi Lauper, Jesse HoukLauper, Scumfrog 4:43
2. "Into the Nightlife"  Lauper, Peer Åström, Johan Bobäck, Max MartinLauper, Åström, Bobäck 4:00
3. "Rocking Chair"  Lauper, Felix Buxton, Simon RatcliffeLauper, Basement Jaxx 3:39
4. "Echo"  Lauper, Åström, Bobäck, William WittmanLauper, Åström, Bobäck 3:55
5. "Lyfe"  Lauper, Roger Fife, Melissa Greene, Sammy MerendinoLauper, DJ Emz 3:38
6. "Same Ol' Story"  Lauper, Richard MorelLauper, Morel 5:54
7. "Raging Storm"  Lauper, MorelLauper, Morel 5:23
8. "Lay Me Down"  Lauper, Andreas KleerupLauper, Kleerup 3:28
9. "Give It Up"  Lauper, Steve Cornish, Nicholas MaceLauper, Digital Dog 3:23
10. "Set Your Heart"  Lauper, Morel, Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden, John WhiteheadLauper, Morel 3:42
11. "Grab a Hold"  Lauper, Dan Kurtz, Martina SorbaraLauper, Dragonette 3:27
12. "Rain on Me"  Lauper, Paul Chou, Axel Hedfors, Alexander KronlundLauper, Axwell 4:24

Sample credits

Singles

Floor Remixes

A remix album, Floor Remixes, was released February 18, 2009 as a limited edition CD/DVD set and a regular edition in Japan.

A single called "Girls Just Wanna Set Your Heart" was released in Japan on January 21, 2009. It is a mashup of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Set Your Heart", mixed by Richard Morel.

Accolades

Year Recipient Award Result
2009 "Bring Ya to the Brink" Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated

Chart performance

Chart (2008) Peak
Position
Austrian Albums Chart[25] 48
French Albums Chart[26] 129
Japanese Albums Chart[27] 11
U.S. Billboard 200[28] 41

Release history

RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
JapanMay 14, 2008Sony Music JapanCD with bonus tracksEICP 968[29]
United States
UK
May 27, 2008Epic RecordsCD706592[30]
Paid download
ArgentinaSony BMGCD706592[31]
FinlandMay 28, 2008
South KoreaJune 3, 2008Sony BMG Music Entertainment KoreaCDSB10444C[32]
AustraliaJune 7, 2008EpicCD88697065922[33]
Paid download
IndonesiaAugust 15, 2008Sony BMG CD
Cassette

Notes

  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Cyndi Lauper: Bring Ya to the Brink > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  2. Taylor, Chuck (2008). "Bring Ya to the Brink". News & Reviews. Billboard.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2008.
  3. Blender review
  4. Levine, Nick (July 19, 2008). "Cyndi Lauper: 'Brink Ya To The Brink'". Digital Spy. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  5. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (June 13, 2008). "Bring Ya to the Brink (2008): Cyndi Lauper". Entertainment Weekly (Time) (#998). ISSN 1049-0434. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  6. Chinen, Nate (May 26, 2008). Parales, Jon, ed. "Critics’ Choice: New CDs". The New York Times. Cyndi Lauper: "Bring Ya to the Brink". ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  7. Davies, Evan (May 29, 2008). "Cyndi Lauper: Bring Ya To The Brink". NOW 27 (39). ISSN 0712-1326. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  8. Hoggard, Liz (August 10, 2008). "Pop review: Cyndi Lauper, Bring Ya To The Brink". The Observer (London: Guardian Media Group). ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  9. Wikane, Christian John (June 5, 2008). "Cyndi Lauper: Bring Ya to the Brink". PopMatters. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  10. Ganz, Caryn (May 29, 2008). "Cyndi Lauper: Bring Ya to the Brink". Rolling Stone (Straight Arrow). ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  11. Keefe, Jonathan (May 25, 2008). "Cyndi Lauper: Bring Ya to the Brink". Slant Magazine. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  12. Zamora, William (June 1, 2008). "Cyndi Lauper surpreende com CD 'Bring ya to the brink'" [Cyndi Lauper surprises with 'Bring ya to the brink' CD]. O Globo (in Portuguese) (Rio de Janeiro). OCLC 24111258. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  13. http://www.songhall.org/news/entry/songwriters_hall_of_fame_2014_nominees_for_induction_announced
  14. Be in the "Into the Nightlife" Video!. Cyndi Lauper Source (May 14, 2008). Retrieved May 15, 2008.
  15. Gamboa, Glenn (May 28, 2008). Her music has the rights stuff. Newsday. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  16. Browne, Sally (February 13, 2008). Artist Review: Cyndi Lauper. The Sunday Times. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  17. "Interview: Cyndi Lauper Brings Us to the Brink + Tells Us What's in her Head". Sony Music. July 25, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
  18. Liss, Sarah (June 2, 2008). "She's Still Unusual: Q & A with Cyndi Lauper". CBC News. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  19. "Top 10 Albums of 2008". Attitude (United Kingdom: Vitality Publishing). Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  20. "Best Pop Music of 2008". Amazon.com. 8. Bring Ya to the Brink, Lauper, Cyndi. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  21. "Cyndi Performs "Into The Night Life"". San Francisco: Signatures Network, Inc. Retrieved February 12, 2009. Cyndi performs live on the Graham Norton Show, Oct. 9, 2008.
  22. "The Graham Norton Show, Series 4, Episode 2". BBC Two Programmes. BBC. Retrieved February 12, 2009. Graham is joined by legendary comic Jennifer Saunders and 80s icon Cyndi Lauper
  23. Sony Music Online Japan. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
  24. "Bring Ya to the Brink -Special Edition- [w/ DVD, Limited Release]". cdjapan.co.jp. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  25. "Bring Ya to the Brink Austrian Charting". Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  26. "Bring Ya to the Brink French Charting". Les charts. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  27. Japan - Top Albums Chart (May 26, 2008). Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  28. Hasty, Katie (June 4, 2008) Usher Scores Second Best Sales Debut of '08. Billboard. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  29. Bring Ya to the Brink > Overview Allmusic. Retrieved May 14, 2008.
  30. Cyndi Lauper – Bring Ya to the Brink at Discogs
  31. Sony BMG Argentina News. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  32. "Cyndi Lauper "Bring Ya To The Brink"" (in Korean). maniadb.com.
  33. Bring Ya To The Brink Oceania. Cyndi Lauper UK. Retrieved June 2, 2008.

External links