Critical Reception
Reception for the song was mostly positive. Don McLeese of Chicago Sun-Times said that the song was the one that "showed her impressive range to best advantage." The Philadelphia Inquirer said that she had a "strong voice" in the song. However, another Philadelphia Inquirer review said that the song was "a not terribly good version of Jules Shear's terribly good ." Richard Harrington of The Washington Post believed that it was her most reflective song. Kevin East of Sensible Sound said that the song was "a heavy, melancholy tune." Leslie Gray Streeter of the Palm Beach Post said that the song was "lovely" and "delicate." Even Shear himself was a fan of Lauper's version, saying "The Cyndi Lauper thing where she did 'All Through the Night,' that was great because she did it so differently than the way I did. I liked that, too." However, the St. Petersburg Times did not like the song, saying that it was a "pedestrian filler number" on the album.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that the song was a part of the side that he calls the very best of the album. He also says that the side is "so strong that it makes the remaining tracks — all enjoyable, but rather pedestrian — charming by their association with songs so brilliantly alive", and that it was "astonishing it is consistency." Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone said that Lauper "does an almost tasteful reading" of the song. Sal Cinquemani of Slant magazine said that the song emerged as one of "the greatest pop masterpieces of the '80s."
The song was later re-recorded by Lauper, for her album The Body Acoustic, an album in which she recorded acoustic versions of her favorite songs. This version included vocals by Shaggy. Charles Andrews of Audio/Video Revolution said of this version, "Acoustic guitar strumming continues into "All Through the Night" and then – whoa! – who's that toaster? It's Shaggy, ducking in and out with his own rapid-fire lyric take, an inspired bit of casting that turns the romantic ballad on its head." The song is also one of her more popular songs that she performs in live concerts.
Read more about this topic: All Through The Night (Cyndi Lauper Song)
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