| The Body Acoustic | ||||
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| Released | November 8, 2005 (2005-11-08) | |||
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| Length | 52:15 | |||
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| Cyndi Lauper chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Body Acoustic | ||||
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The Body Acoustic is the ninth studio album released by American singerCyndi Lauper in 2005. It consists of ten previously released songs which have been re-recorded and re-arrangedacoustically, as well as two new songs. The album title is a play onWalt Whitman's poemI Sing the Body Electric, with the wordbody in this case referring to Lauper's body of work as a recording artist. The album features a number of guest artists, includingAdam Lazzara,Shaggy,Sarah McLachlan,Jeff Beck,Vivian Green,Ani DiFranco, andPuffy AmiYumi.
ADualDisc edition of the album was released which contained the entire album in enhanced stereo, four new videos directed by Lauper herself as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the album. The original pressing of the album became the only album from Cyndi Lauper to becopy-protected using Sony's controversialXCP technology.[1]
The album was produced by Rick Chertoff, who worked with the singer on her debut album,She's So Unusual, from 1983, and William Wittman, who produced herAt Last album.[2][3] The twelve songs selected for the record are essentially Lauper's biggest hits, such as "All Through the Night", "Time After Time" and her signature song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", all of which are revamped with acoustic jams and sounds ofdulcimer played by Lauper herself.[4] Many artists featured in the records, including:Shaggy,Ani DiFranco,Adam Lazzara fromTaking Back Sunday,Jeff Beck,Puffy AmiYumi,Sarah McLachlan andVivian Green.[2] In an interview withBay Area's reporter, the singer said that she had a "wish list" with the artists she always wanted to work with, many of them said yes to the invitation to work on the album.[5]
In an interview with theBrazilian newspaperExtra, the singer said that the album was a special project, with the intervention of the record company and that she does not consider it as a "career album".[6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [7] |
| Robert Christgau |  [9] |
| Rolling Stone | [8] |
The album received good reviews frommusic critics. Thom Jurek fromAllMusic website gave the album three and a half stars out of five and wrote that while the idea of guest songs and acoustic versions might seem like a skewed idea, the album comes across as "entirely new, full of adventure, courage, polish and soul".[7] Barry Waters from theRolling Stone magazine gave the album three stars out of five and noted that " continued progression into quieter material may have left her mainstream rock fans behind years ago, but it has clearly improved her chops."[8] Music criticRobert Christgau gave the album a "Choice Cut" for the song "Money Changes Everything",[9] with that kind of rating he implies that the song "is a good song on an album that's not worth your time or money".
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Money Changes Everything" (featuringAdam Lazzara) | Tom Gray | She's So Unusual | 5:14 |
| 2. | "All Through the Night" (featuringShaggy) | Jules Shear | She's So Unusual | 4:40 |
| 3. | "Time After Time" (featuringSarah McLachlan) | She's So Unusual | 4:17 | |
| 4. | "She Bop" |
| She's So Unusual | 4:16 |
| 5. | "Above the Clouds" (featuringJeff Beck) |
| Previously unreleased | 3:57 |
| 6. | "I'll Be Your River" (featuringVivian Green) |
| Previously unreleased | 4:47 |
| 7. | "Sisters of Avalon" (featuringAni DiFranco & Vivian Green) |
| Sisters of Avalon | 5:27 |
| 8. | "Shine" |
| Shine | 3:32 |
| 9. | "True Colors" | True Colors | 4:09 | |
| 10. | "Water's Edge" (featuring Sarah McLachlan) |
| Shine | 4:49 |
| 11. | "Fearless" | Lauper | Sisters of Avalon | 4:07 |
| 12. | "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (featuringPuffy AmiYumi) |
| She's So Unusual | 2:59 |
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] | 175 |
| Austrian Albums Chart[11] | 60 |
| Canadian Album Charts (Nielsen BDS)[12] | 62 |
| Colombia Albums Chart[citation needed] | 47 |
| French Albums Chart[13] | 190 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[14] | 40 |
| Japanese Albums Chart[citation needed] | 42 |
| Scottish Albums Chart[15] | 61 |
| Swiss Albums Chart[16] | 86 |
| UK Albums Chart[17] | 55 |
| USBillboard 200[18] | 112 |
| Studio albums | |
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| Related articles | |
