Hat Full of Stars is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released in 1993. The album was released 4 years after the singer's third studio album, A Night to Remember, which received unfavorable reviews and had low sales compared to the singer's previous releases. Hat Full of Stars received favorable reviews but was poorly received by the public, receiving gold certifications in Japan and France only.
Production and composition
Hat Full of Stars deviated from Lauper's pop-rock sound of previous projects and delved heavily into alternative music. It also furthered her growing penchant for writing topical songs about social issues. The album was recorded at the Hit Factory, Sigma Sound, Messina Sound, Right Track, The Enchanted Cottage, The Ranch, and World Famous Orbit Sound. It was co-produced by dance-music artist Junior Vasquez and is highly typical of his work of the time; as such, many of the songs are held together by synthetic loops and percussion. Lyrics address issues like abortion ("Sally's Pigeons"), racism ("A Part Hate"), spousal abuse ("Product of Misery" and "Broken Glass") and incest ("Lies").
The track "Product of Misery" was inspired by a teacher of Lauper's, Bob Barrell, who described the masses of struggling people as a 'product of misery' and that misery begets misery unless the chain is broken.
The song "A Part Hate" was conceived as an anti-apartheid song and was originally written for Lauper's second album True Colors but was not included because her label felt it would make the album too political; it already had a cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and the title track included.
Lauper has commented that she wishes that her vocals on the project had been sharper. She worked with a vocal coach to sharpen her vocals for her next studio album Sisters of Avalon, and mentions this in the liner notes. The album cover was inspired by a photograph of the actress Mary Pickford, taken by photographer Nelson Evans.
Critical reception
The album received mostly favorable reviews from music critics. Holly George-Warren from Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars and wrote that the album is Lauper's "most ambitious". She praised Lauper's vocals ("her multioctave voice has never sounded better, hitting highs, lows and everything in between") and the musical arrangement for its "imaginative" combination of rootsy instrumentation and R&B staples, underpinned by dance-music mainstays. People magazine gave the album a favorable review in which it was said that the real strength of the album "is the way Lauper lets her feelings and opinions, dark as some of them are, emerge naturally" the review ended claiming that the "wacky energy that made Lauper perfect for the go-go ’80s is pretty much gone-gone, but Hat’s clear-eyed pop rock provides ’90s nourishment for body and soul." Tom Sinclair from Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B and wrote that it brings a diversity of rhythms and vocals to reach varied tastes he conclude that old fans of Lauper "probably won’t be disappointed by Hat Full of Stars" but he was skeptical about the record being able to garner a new audience for the singer.
Billboard magazine gave the album a positive review, stating that it marked a "metamorphosis" for Lauper from "fun-loving, she-bopping squealer" to a "mature artiste with admirable depth". The review highlighted the song "Who Let in the Rain" as reminiscent of Cyndi's 1984 hit "Time After Time". Other tracks noted as highlights were "A Part Hate", "Lies", which recalled "early Siouxsie & the Banshees", "Feels Like Christmas" and "Like I Used To", described as a "hybrid of Madonna-style pop and vintage Motown".
In negative reviews, Mike DeGaggne from AllMusic wrote that the singer "sounds much more appealing and enjoyable as an effervescent pop singer wading through simplistic and feel-good material rather than trying to befriend mildly opinionated pieces, which is what happens throughout most of Hat Full of Stars." Robert Christgau rated the album as a record that "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."
Commercial performance
The album was a commercial disappointment in the United States and despite some positive critical reviews it stalled at No. 112 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. As of 2003 the album has sold 119,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.