The album begins with "Bad Seamtress Blues-Fallin Apart at the Seams". Like most of the album and songs by the band, it really kicks up the blues factor. Jeff LaBar kicks in with some devious slide guitar that continues for the early portion of the song. Electrics come in soon, and take the song into the 80s. The cheesy chorus harmonies are standard hair metal, but the song is quite raw when compared to slicker contemporaries like Poison and Winger. Tom Keifer's vocals do sound worse at slower speeds, but don't annoy by this point of the album. Not a bad song. Next is the fairly big hit, "Gypsy Road" is a live staple played by the band at almost every concert they play. Basically "blues by numbers", the song feels like Aerosmith-lite. Not as bad as other Aerosmith copycats such as "Faster Pussycat", but still somewhat lame and plastic compared to the real deal. Next.
"The Last Mile" is a fairly standard rocker, somewhat reminiscent of Bon Jovi, who of course had discovered the band in the first place. The song moves in the same musical direction that Bon Jovi were heading during the 1980s. The light and fluffy "cowboy hair metal" was quickly becoming standard for bands like Cinderella, Poison, and of course, Bon Jovi themselves. I have never really appreciated this shift to the western motifs, and I don't think it works for Cinderella. Not a big fan of this song. "Second Wind" is a fairly obvious send-up of Aerosmith, with a tad more heaviness in the chorus riff. The guitars feel subdued and icy, I would have liked more "balls" to the sounds, akin to Guns and Roses at the same time. Not a bad song, just not a big fan of the production. The title track comes next, "Long Cold Winter" is a very slow bluesy number about loneliness and regret. As a showcase for Jeff LaBar, the song really kicks. However, the vocals of Keifer grate and annoy at such slow speeds, and I started to realize that why his voice is such an acquired musical taste. Pretty good musically and lyrically, but if you don't like grating vocals, stay far away.
"If You Don't Like It" is pretty standard sounding 80s rock. The standard anti-authority vocals about young rebellion are met with generic Vinnie Vincent-esque "shred-lite" guitars. By 1988, a million song in this musical and lyrical vein had already been written, much better I might add. A boring and generic song, skip it. "Coming Home" is another lonesome, acoustic-country ballad. This rollicking belly-ache of a song makes you stomp your feet, and shows that Cinderella were basically a bar band that made it to the big time. A good song. Next is "Fire and Ice", and it really shows Cinderella at its sleaziest. Very contemporary sounding, the song almost sounds like it was written by "Dokken", very sleazy and very 80s. But, a pretty good song and easily the most head-banging on the album. The album closes with "Take Me Back", a less than memorable song, with fairly generic lyrics and structure. Not one of my favorites, despite very strong guitar from LaBar.
"Long Cold Winter" is easily the best Cinderella album, and a pretty good example of half-decent hair metal. If you are going to pick an album by this fairly seminal band, this is the one to get.
Rating-6.5/10
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