The idea of '80s superstar Cyndi Lauper releasing a straight dance record might sound dubious, but this is no opportunistic vanity project. Lauper has kept busy since her "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" heyday (see 2005's better than it had to be The Body Acoustic), and so Bring Ya To The Brink has no rust on it. That's not to say it doesn't have a certain rave-retro sound, with Day-Glo synths and White-Man's-Overbite drum machine beats. But there is also sleek, modern production, and Lauper's gift for delivering fun, celebratory hooks serves her well in this forum (good luck resisting the chorus of "Into the Nightlife," for one example). Her brassy demeanor comes through too, another attribute that seems tailor-made for the dance floor. The f-bomb in "Same Old Story" sounds bold and empowering in the best disco tradition, while "Lay Me Down" has a street-of-broken-dreams grit under its swanky rhythms. Lauper doesn't do anything ground-breaking here in the slightest, but like fellow '80s refugee Madonna, her personality and ability to convincingly play DJ allows her to stay relevant well past the sell-by date of most pop stars. --Matthew Cooke