Cyndi Lauper's Bring Ya to the Brink is pretty fantastic but if you're one of those first-track-better-be-awesome-or-die folks, you may never know it. "High and Mighty" is a lame, lame opening bit, but the second track, "Into the Nightlife" is so full of sparkly energy, it will make you never think twice again about jumping immediately to track 2. High marks indeed for that one, even though it feels like a total crib on Madonna's "Get Together," it is so much better than even Madonna was able to make happen. In fact, "Echo" and "Lay Me Down" are right up there too, doing what Confessions was up to. Those 3 are definitely sisters, and one may even argue they sound too much alike one another. I'm willing to let it pass; I love them all.

"Rocking Chair" (track 3) and Lyfe (track 5) are a severe hindrance as they cause a good-suck-good-suck pattern with the album; every other one is solid. But that stops by track 6, "Same Ol' Story" (the first single), which glides us to the finish line without any further problems. Indeed, without those 3 awful songs and including the 2 bonus tracks you'll get from Japan and iTunes (superfun "Got Candy" and the superb ballad "Can't Breathe"), it would've been probably the best Cyndi Lauper album ever. However, she falls into the same exact habit she has always had with her albums: some amazing songs and some really awful ones. When she hits, she hits hard; when she misses, she explodes into the stratosphere.

Well, since I've got the international edition, I don't have a problem overlooking those 3 bad spots and saying it's an easy save.

Grade: B- (standard edition), B+ (international edition)

Download This: "Can't Breathe," "Same Ol' Story," "Into the Nightlife," "Echo"