Cinderella, Long Cold Winter.

Long Cold Winter is the second  by American  band . It was released in July 1988 on .

The record reached No. 10 in the US and became double-platinum for shipping two million copies in the US by the end of the year, just as their debut album  had done earlier. It was later certified triple platinum. The album features four singles, which all charted on the . "", the band's highest-charting single, reached No. 12, "" reached No. 36, "" reached No. 20, and "" hit No. 51, more than a year after the release of the album.

Reception[] Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRating5/108.5/10

The album received mixed-to-positive reviews. Music critics remarked the shift of the band's musical style from the clichéd glam metal of their debut to more blues-oriented compositions, but they did not agree in the evaluation of the songs' quality. Contemporary reviewers criticized the album for being "too bluesy" and too derivative of other more famous bands' influences. Only  reviewer considered Long Cold Winter "a surprisingly strong rock'n'roll album, rough, unpolished, powerful, but still melodious", and praised Keifer's vocals and the level of songwriting.

Modern reviews are similarly polarized. Steve Huey of  reviewed Long Cold Winter as "a transition album for Cinderella, mixing pop-metal tunes with better hooks than those on Night Songs with a newfound penchant for gritty blues-rock à la  or ", and further explained his rating by saying "[not] all of the songs are memorable, but most of them are". Canadian journalist  was harsher in his judgement and wrote that Cinderella strived to be "a next Stones or Aerosmith, not realizing that such talents are both rare and natural, and that without the gift and conviction, [their] attempt reeks of imitation and crass commercialism." 22 years after its release,  re-evaluated the album for the British magazine , praised the band for their change of musical style and called Long Cold Winter "a minor classic." In 2019,  of  also praised the album and wrote that "in retrospect Long Cold Winter ranks with any blues-rock of the Eighties".

Track listing[]

All music is composed by  except "If You Don't Like It" by Keifer and .

Side oneNo.TitleLength1."Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin' Apart at the Seams"5:192.""3:553.""5:564.""3:515."Second Wind"3:59 Side twoNo.TitleLength6."Long Cold Winter"5:247."If You Don't Like It"4:108.""4:569."Fire and Ice"3:2210."Take Me Back"3:17Total length:43:51