Maps of Music

Sisters of Avalon (1996)

Where the lyrics of Sisters of Avalon take you, and where it was really made.

The title borrows a women's-viewpoint retelling of King Arthur, yet one of the album's recording locations was an old mansion in Tuxedo Park rather than a studio.

Key places

Old mansion in Tuxedo Park (1996)

Recording site Tuxedo Park — The album was recorded in an old mansion in Tuxedo Park, New York. The point is set at the village coordinates, not at the mansion itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Pie Studios, New York (1996)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Pie Studios is credited as a place where the album was recorded. The point is set at the New York city center, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sister's Mobile, Tokyo (1996)

Recording site Tiny Voice Production — Sister's Mobile is credited as a recording location for the album. The point is set at the Tokyo city center. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Sisters of Avalon: fifth studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper
• Released in Japan on October 16, 1996; released in the United States on April 1, 1997 by Sony Music Entertainment
• Thematically addresses complacency and ignorance in popular culture and the discrimination of minorities, gays, and women
• "Love to Hate" and "You Don't Know" target the entertainment industry, media, and their corruption
• "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" concerns the double life of a cross dresser; "Say a Prayer" concerns the AIDS epidemic

Background

• Title refers to Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel The Mists of Avalon, which retells the King Arthur legend from the female characters' point of view
• Sound departs from earlier projects by blending electronica production with guitar, zither, Appalachian dulcimer, slide dulcimer, and omnichord
• Pagan theme highlighted by "Mother", an ode to Gaea
• Many tracks written by Lauper and Jan Pulsford, who had been keyboardist on the Hat Full of Stars tour (1993)
• Lauper described the album as a natural progression from the songs on Hat Full of Stars
• In 1996, after a serious illness the previous year, Lauper was trying to conceive through in vitro fertilization and spent more time at her Connecticut home
• Lauper and Pulsford wrote songs together in a small home studio during this period
• Lauper's representative at the time, Steve Barnett, suggested looking for an old mansion of the kind English bands used to work in

Recording

• Recorded between April and June 1996
• Recording sites credited: Pie Studios (New York) and Sister's Mobile (Tokyo)
• Mixing at Pie Studios and Electric Lady Studios; mastering at Sterling Sound
• The recording was carried out in an old mansion in Tuxedo Park, New York
• Lauper said she was tired of recording in studios, which she called expensive and overrated
• Engineers credited: Cyndi Lauper, Jan Pulsford, Mark Saunders, Matt Gregory
• Cherish Alexander played lead guitar on the title track

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper, born June 22, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, is an American singer, songwriter and actress.
• Known for an eccentric image and a four-octave vocal range; dubbed the "Queen of Quirky Pop".
• Has sold over 50 million records worldwide.
• Debut solo album She's So Unusual (1983) produced four top-five Billboard Hot 100 hits, a first for a female debut artist, and won Best New Artist at the 27th Grammy Awards.
• Won the Tony Award for Best Original Score for Kinky Boots (2013), the first woman to win the category solo.
• Received two Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy, a Tony, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2015).
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2025.
• Has been a prominent LGBTQ rights advocate, founding True Colors United in 2008 to address LGBTQ youth homelessness.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Larry Flick of Billboard wrote that the album plays to Lauper's strengths as a vocalist and her marked maturity as a songwriter, with broad stylistic leanings
• David Grad of Entertainment Weekly called Lauper an intoxicating pop siren
• People noted the album's variety and its cutting commentary, but felt Lauper seemed to be trying too hard despite her bold experimentation
• Tracy Collins of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called it an odd, gutty disc and the closest thing yet to a credible reinvention for Lauper

Reappraisal

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic retrospectively described the album as varied and eclectic
• Erlewine wrote that, while the results are not always successful, the record is the most intriguing and rewarding album Lauper made since True Colors
• The Songwriters' Hall of Fame noted the title track as one of Lauper's key songs in her catalog

Records

• US sales: 56,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan
• US Billboard 200: debuted at number 188 on the chart dated April 19, 1997, and stayed one week
• UK: entered the chart at number 59 and left the following week
• Austria: entered the Austrian Albums chart at a peak of number 45 and stayed three weeks, her first studio album to chart there since True Colors
• Japan: peaked at number 15 on the chart, spent 9 weeks on it, and was certified Gold for shipment of 100,000 copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Lollygagging" is a hidden track in which Lauper and her musicians try to record "Hot Gets a Little Cold", make a musical mistake, and laugh about it.
• Cherish Alexander played lead guitar on the title track.
• Steve Barnett, Lauper's representative at the time, suggested renting an old mansion for the sessions.
• Lauper told Billboard, "I've never been more proud of a group of songs."

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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