Bring Ya to the Brink
Studio album by Cyndi Lauper
Released	May 27, 2008 (2008-05-27)
Recorded	2008
Genre	Dance-pop
Length	49:36
Label	Epic
Producer	Cyndi Lauper 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) True Colors: The Best of Cyndi Lauper (2009)
Floor Remixes cover
Singles from Bring Ya to the Brink
"Set Your Heart" Released: 2008 (Japan only) "Same Ol' Story" Released: May 6, 2008 "Into the Nightlife" Released: September 22, 2008

Bring Ya to the Brink is American singerCyndi Lauper's tenth studio album, released on May 14, 2008 inJapan, and 13 days later worldwide.^[1][2] The album is a collection ofdance-oriented songs and features collaborations withBasement Jaxx,Richard Morel,Max Martin andKleerup, among others. Regarded as one of the singer's best works at the time it was released, theSongwriters Hall of Fame has regarded the album track "High and Mighty" as one of Lauper's key songs.^[3] The album received a nomination forBest Dance/Electronica Album at the51st Annual Grammy Awards.^[4] The song "Set Your Heart" was released as a promotional single in Japan in early 2008, while "Same Ol' Story" was the first official single released on May 6, 2008. "Into the Nightlife" was released as the second single.^[5]

The album is Lauper's last release to date of original material in addition to being her last forEpic Records, her label since her 1983 debut solo albumShe's So Unusual. The album debuted at #41 on theBillboard 200, with 12,000 copies sold.^[6] Aremix album, titledFloor Remixes, was released exclusively in Japan on February 18, 2009, in a CD-only edition and a limited edition that featured a CD and a DVD,^[7] it reached the position of #102 on theOricon charts.^[8] To promote the remix album, a mashup of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Set Your Heart" was made by Richard Morel.

Lauper visitedEngland andSweden during early 2007 where she wrote songs withdance artists such asThe Scumfrog,Basement Jaxx,Digital Dog,Dragonette,Kleerup andAxwell.^[9] She also wrote and produced four of the album's tracks withWashington DCDJRichard Morel.^[10] Art direction on the album was credited to Cyndi Lauper, Sheri Lee & Meghan Foley, with photography byStefanie Schneider.^[11][12] In interview with Brazilian newspaperExtra the singer revealed: "On this record, I worked with many producers who make dance music... Anyway, dance music is pop. And I makepop music. By the way, I always had dance songs on my records. I just decided to get into the dance community a little more this time, doing something more innovative."^[13]

Bring Ya to the Brink is adance-pop^[14][15] record with influences spanningEurodisco,soul, pop,^[16]deep house,electro andnu-disco.^[15]

"Set Your Heart" was released as a promo-only single in Japan, where it received considerable airplay. Peaking at No. 11 on theBillboardJapan Hot 100 Singles.^[17] The first single of the album was "Same Ol' Story", it was released worldwide on May 6, 2008.^[18] It topped theU.S.BillboardHot Dance Club Play and stayed on the chart for several weeks.^[19][20] The second single of the album was "Into the Nightlife", it was released on August 8, 2008.^[18] Themusic video for the song was partly filmed at Splash Bar inNew York City on May 20, 2008.^[21] Fans were invited to come be extras in the video.^[21] It was a huge club hit in the U.S. topping theBillboard Hot Dance Club Play and peaking at No. 5 on theBillboardHot Dance Airplay.^[22] Dance radio stationEnergy 92.7FM inSan Francisco announced that "Echo" would be the third single, but no release eventuated. The song itself was promoted in June 2012 byWWE when Lauper returned to the company for a special appearance. According to the Brazilian newspaperO Globo, the song thrilled and was one of the favorites from the audience at the concert the singer did in Brazil, in 2008.^[23]

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 toAustralia in the spring of 2008 andJapan,Europe andSouth 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^[24] and also came in at No. 8 on Amazon's Best Pop albums of 2008.^[25] "Echo" was featured in theGossip Girl episode "Bonfire of the Vanity", in which Lauper had a cameo atBlair Waldorf's 18th birthday party celebration. "High and Mighty" was in an episode ofUgly Betty. Lauper performed "Into the Nightlife" live onThe Graham Norton Show,^[26] in series 4 episode 2, first broadcast on October 9, 2008.^[27]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100[28]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[29]
Billboard	(favorable)[30]
Blender	[31]
Entertainment Weekly	B[32]
The New York Times	(mixed)[33]
NOW	(favorable)[34]
The Observer	(positive)[16]
PopMatters	(7/10)[35]
Rolling Stone	[36]
Slant Magazine	[14]

The album received favorable reviews frommusic critics.Stephen Thomas Erlewine fromAllMusic gave the album three and a half stars out of five and pointed out that it is difficult to define the singer's career, because she changes her style constantly, sometimes sounding retro, sometimes modern, or mixing the two, like inBring Ya to the Brink.^[29] Chuck Taylor fromBillboard gave a favorable review to the record and noted that while it exploits the artificiality of the dancefloor, its lyrics carry a strong message that won't always be noticed by the public.^[30] Barry Walters fromBlender gave the album three and a half stars out of five and said that with the social messages of the songs, Lauper has never sounded more relevant since her first albumShe's So Unusual.^[31] Simon Vozick-Levinson fromEntertainment Weekly magazine gave the album a B rating and praised the singer's finally returning to the dance floor world.^[32]The New York Times gave a mixed review, describing the record as "a stubbornly fluorescent record, long on thudding downbeats and short on nuance or grace".^[33] Evan Davies fromToronto'sNOW newspaper gave the record three (NNN) out of five and wrote that while there are clear references to the work of artists likeDaft Punk andKylie Minogue, "Lauper’s personality, always her greatest asset, manages to come through on the bulk ofBrink" and that although there are a few songs that just fill the record, it "is fun and catchy".^[34] Liz Hoggard ofThe Observer praised the album and said "this is the albumMadonna should have made instead ofHard Candy".^[16] Caryn Ganz fromRolling Stone magazine gave it three stars out of five and wrote that the album never comes close to "a full serotonin burst" like Madonna's 2005 albumConfessions on a Dance Floor, but "it brings Lauper's credit to once again innovate her repertoire."^[36]Slant Magazine gave the album three and a half stars out of five and pointed out that although the album isn't mainstream enough to bring a triumphant comeback in Lauper's career, it recaptures the singer's artistic relevance and stands out as a superior alternative toHard Candy, by Madonna.^[14]

Bring Ya to the Brink debuted at No. 41 with 12,000 sold, became the singer's first U.S. pop album since 1996'sSisters of Avalon.^[37] By August 22, 2008 it has sold 33,000 in the U.S. according toNielsen SoundScan.^[38]

• Cyndi Lauper – vocals, production^[41]
• Martina Sorbara – backing vocals (track 11)
• Axwell – all instruments and drum programming except as listed below
• Knox Chandler – guitars (tracks 6, 7, 10, 11)
• Richard Morel – guitars, keyboards (tracks 6, 7, 10)
• Stephen Gaboury – keyboards (tracks 5, 11)
• Dan Kurtz – keyboards (track 11)
• Roger Fife – synthesizers (track 5)
• William Wittman – guitar, electric bass, synth bass (track 11)
• Dave Finnell – trumpet (tracks 6, 7, 10)
• Craig Considine – trombone (tracks 6, 7, 10)
• Sammy Merendino – drums (track 5)

Sample credits

• "Set Your Heart" contains an interpolation ofHarold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "Where Are All My Friends", written by Victor Carstarphen,Gene McFadden, andJohn Whitehead.^[41]

• Telegraph.co.uk^{[dead link]} review ofBring Ya to the Brink.

• Cyndi Lauper albums
• 2008 albums
• Epic Records albums

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