{"id":1759,"date":"2013-09-29T15:06:37","date_gmt":"2013-09-29T15:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/reviews-of-new-cher-album\/"},"modified":"2023-02-20T08:25:18","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T15:25:18","slug":"reviews-of-new-cher-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherscholar.com\/cherblog\/2013\/09\/reviews-of-new-cher-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviews of New Cher Album"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\"Targetcover\"<\/a>What a daunting task. Approaching my first Cher album on a blog post. The ritual of listening to a new Cher album and reading the liner notes is one of my favorite Cher things to do. But how many times do you need to listen to a new album before reviewing it? My friend asked me that last week and I didn't have an answer.<\/p>\n

As it is, I've listened to it about six or seven times. And a few days ago I went online to read the reviews, which stretch the gamut from perfect to flawed-but-okay. <\/p>\n

Cher Zombies who love dance mostly love it entirely. Cher Zombies who yearn for country, rock or torch seem to like it well enough. And some Cher fans feel even a bad Cher song is a good Cher song. I kinda feel this way to some degree although I like to categorize. I'm a sorter by nature and so within the parameter of even a bad Cher song being a good Cher song, some Cher songs are surely better than others. <\/p>\n

First I'll summarize my reaction to some music reviews out there:<\/p>\n


\nAllmusic:<\/strong> After half a decade [I think he means "century"]<\/em> in the music industry, it's amazing that
\nCher is still making records in 2013. That
\nCloser to the Truth is any good at all is even more shocking…the
\nalbum has a fully modern sound, a large portion of the songs…are hooky and fun, and
\nher voice, aided by technology or not, still carries a lot of weight and power…the whole batch of songs
\npacks a big, glittery punch. Cher sounds
\nabsolutely in her element with these songs and her thundering vocals fit
\nperfectly in the mix. After a campy, banjo-led romp that sounds like someone
\ntried to fuse Mumford & Sons with the Scissor Sisters ("I Walk
\nAlone"), the second half heads deep into some heavy adult contemporary
\nsounds. The final four songs are stripped down a little, built on acoustic
\nguitars and strings, and played for maximum drama with Cher
\nemoting for all she's worth, only a little more quietly. These songs aren't as
\nsuccessful, thanks to the somewhat syrupy melodies and clich\u00e9d lyrics, but also
\nbecause Cher's vocals sound a little worn and
\nfrayed around the edges. It's not terrible by any stretch, but the first half
\nof the album is so much fun that this half suffers in comparison. An entire
\nalbum of disco ball-shattering dance songs may have been too much and worn out
\nits welcome. Too bad Cher and her team didn't
\ngive it a shot, though. Maybe sometime in the next 50 years…."<\/p>\n

My response:<\/em> The songs are fun and her voice carries power. Interesting comment about Mumford & Sons. However, I disagree that the second half is not as successful. Some of my favorite songs are in the second half. I do agree that the lyrics in the album are, overall, clich\u00e9d and not as strong as her last three albums or the Stuck On You<\/em> song "Human." I don't believe her voice is frayed about the edges. In fact, I think she's stronger around the edges than ever. She's paying much more attention to the small, ends and fades and sounds great. I did not want a full album of dance tracks and I don't know anybody who did.<\/p>\n

New York Daily News<\/strong>: <\/em>\u201cSurrender to me!\u201d commands Cher
\non her first album in 12 years. And who are we to disobey? When it comes to Cher, resistance has always been futile. Her work is
\nbeyond good and evil, or, more to the point, beyond any simple distinctions
\nbetween sincerity and camp. The first half of the new CD finds Cher throwing herself into gauchely dated dance music
\nwith irresistible passion. The latter sees her gorging with delight on the most
\nbloated of ballads. It\u2019s at once tacky and enthralling, full of
\ncrazed, \u201980s echo, kitschy passion and a sense of overstatement that\u2019s too
\nfurious to be denied. And then there\u2019s Cher\u2019s
\nvoice…it retains its
\nbizarre allure. Cher\u2019s vibrato may sound like
\nsomeone getting whiplash, and her phrasing can, at times, mimic a horse\u2019s
\nwhinny, but it\u2019s informed by a Mae West swagger, and an ability to belt that
\ncan rivet. It\u2019s utterly distinct and brimming with character…The disco songs,
\nwhile danceworthy, miss the clubby genius of \u201cBelieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

My response<\/em>: I agree these songs are very commanding and aggressive which does make this album her most campy. I do feel the dance tracks sound dated (although this reviewer loves that), but I don't feel the ballads are all bloated. "Sirens" and "My Favorite Scars" are anything but bloated. They harken back to "Young and Pretty" from Black Rose without the belting. She does infuse an element of Mae West in everything she does, however. I see this more clearly after watching about 15 episodes of Sadie Thompson vamping on Sonny & Cher shows. Her voice does brim with character but I agree in that I don't believe this set lives up to the "clubby genius" of either Believe <\/em>or Son of Believe.
<\/em><\/p>\n

Boston.com<\/strong>: …she sounds more
\nconvincing than J-Lo or Madonna reporting from \u201cthe club\u201d on the
\nOakenfold-fueled single \u201cWoman\u2019s World\u201d that opens her new album. While \u201cCloser
\nto the Truth\u201d is smartly frontloaded with a heap of glossy South Beach bangers
\n\u2013 including the fiery, heavenly heave of \u201cTake It Like A Man,\u201d the noir throb
\nof \u201cDressed to Kill,\u201d and \u201cRed,\u201d which hits you like a rum punch to the face \u2014
\nthe second wind of her twenty-sixth album, presumably designed for the drive
\nhome from the club, seems to insist that she\u2019s more than a remix ingredient or
\nAuto-tune fodder. <\/p>\n

My response<\/em>: I do think these dance songs are South Beach bangers and fun, good ones at that. And that's all they are. I like the idea of the second half being designed to get you home at 3 in the morning. She is more than a remix ingredient. Well said.<\/p>\n

GPhilly<\/strong><\/em>:  Cher\u2019s success has come from (and in many cases, despite)
\nher doing whatever the hell she wants. So in Closer to the Truth<\/em> I was looking
\nfor something brave, something new, something out of the box, here in the
\nlatter stages of her storied career. What I got was, well, not that. Closer to
\nthe Truth<\/em>? More like Recycled from the Nineties.  The \u201ctruth\u201d is that the best song on the CD is the one that
\nisn\u2019t on it, the unreleased but leaked \u201cThe Greatest Thing,\u201d a duet with Lady
\nGaga that had gays foaming at the mouth when this summit of the titans was
\nannounced…While those who have heard (and illegally downloaded)
\nthe track may agree it\u2019s not, well, the greatest thing, it\u2019s certainly better
\nthan most of Closer to the Truth<\/em>. \u201cThe Greatest Thing,\u201d produced by RedOne,
\nboasts an impossibly catchy hook and vocals by two of the biggest divas in the
\nuniverse, and would no doubt have rocketed to the top of the charts and radio
\nairplay even if it is, as one online commenter noted, something that sounds
\nlike a Disney princess anthem. I have to admit: I\u2019ve been listening to it for
\nweeks.<\/p>\n

Which makes what did make it onto Closer to the Truth<\/em> that
\nmuch more frustrating. In fairness…she sounds fucking amazing. But the first
\nsingle, \u201cWoman\u2019s World,\u201d is a good foreshadowing of the CD\u2019s entire content:
\nloud, brash, and, frankly, dull. We\u2019ve heard this all before: In \u201cSong for the
\nLonely,\u201d in \u201cStrong Enough,\u201d in \u201cIf I Could Turn Back Time.\u201d They\u2019ve all begun
\nto blend together. In 1998 "Believe" was a breakout, a departure at the time (and
\na long-overdue gift to her gay fan base), and possibly the best album of her
\ncareer. (Though I personally anoint 1995\u2019s forgotten It\u2019s a Man\u2019s World, a
\nhaunting, gorgeous collection of cover ballads, for this honor.) But in
\nrecycling "Believe" yet again some 15 years later, Cher
\nis binge-drinking at the Fountain of Youth. As with her film career, she\u2019s
\nmissed a golden opportunity to get it right, to do something unexpected or
\nsurprising.<\/p>\n

At its heart Closer to the Truth<\/em> is a dance album and not a
\nterrible one, just a disappointing one. \u201cWoman\u2019s World\u201d will no doubt become a
\nstaple of sloppy bachelorette parties, and the equally grooving \u201cTake It Like a
\nMan\u201d …is an overt wink to the gay
\nboys who have kept Cher afloat for decades, even if the whole song sounds like
\nshe\u2019s trapped in that plexiglass booth she stood in for the \u201cBelieve\u201d video. If
\nthere is one glaring flaw with the up-tempo numbers on Truth<\/em>, it\u2019s the ghastly
\noverdubbing, trickery, and steroidal Vocoder use that at times makes Cher sound like an alien. What was novel and unique on
\n\u201cBelieve\u201d now just sounds tired and so 1998.<\/p>\n

The CD\u2019s clunkers are on its first half: the forgettable
\n\u201cLovers Forever,\u201d which Cher co-wrote (I\u2019ve listened to it five times now and
\nstill can\u2019t recall the melody); and \u201cRed,\u201d which features \u2014 wait for it \u2014 Cher seemingly rapping (\u2019nuff said). \u201cMy Love\u201d is a
\nvanilla effort (and made me pine for the exquisite, swelling, similarly titled
\n\u201cThe Way of Love,\u201d from Gypsies); \u201cI Walk Alone,\u201d co-written by Pink, at least
\nhad a slightly different sound, akin to Philip Phillips\u2019 \u201cHome,\u201d as if someone
\nshould be clogging to it. The one track worthy of your \u201cmusic to listen to on
\nthe StairMaster\u201d collection is the can\u2019t-get-it-out-of-your-head \u201cDressed to
\nKill,\u201d which is also, at under three minutes, the shortest song on the entire
\nalbum. Every time I listen to it I picture a montage of Sharon Stone in Basic
\nInstinct. (I am either imaginative, or just old.) This should be the second
\nsingle released, which only guarantees it won\u2019t be, just as Cher screwed up
\nreleasing the coyote-wailing that was \u201cStrong Enough\u201d as the second single off
\nof "Believe" instead of the impossibly addictive \u201cTaxi Taxi.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is ironic, then, that the best numbers on Closer to the
\nTruth<\/em> are not the high-octane dance tunes, but rather the ballads tucked away
\nin the back. The 9\/11 ode \u201cSirens\u201d is Cher\u2019s voice as its gentle, haunting,
\nvulnerable best, a chill-inducing throwback to \u201cGeronimo\u2019s Cadillac\u201d (1975) and
\n\u201cHeart of Stone\u201d (1989), two other plaintive and affecting songs overlooked in
\nthe Cher canon. \u201cFavorite Scars,\u201d a seemingly autobiographical nod to the
\nsinger\u2019s tabloid love life, carries a slight honky-tonk beat that\u2019s as
\neffective as it is surprising. \u201cI Hope You Find It\u201d (a cover of Miley Cyrus, no
\nless) has the feel of a song that starts over the closing credits of a movie,
\nand features Cher\u2019s too-rarely-heard falsetto, piercing right to the heart. And
\n\u201cLie to Me\u201d carries echoes of Bonnie Raitt\u2019s \u201cI Can\u2019t Make You Love Me (If You
\nDon\u2019t).\u201d (The deluxe edition contains three bonus tracks: the Diane
\nWarren\u2013penned \u201cYou Haven\u2019t Seen the Last of Me\u201d from Burlesque; the
\nTimbaland-produced \u201cI Don\u2019t Have to Sleep to Dream\u201d; and \u201cPride,\u201d a dance-y,
\nblatant play for anthem status at every Gay Pride celebration from here to
\nSydney.)<\/p>\n

Closer to the Truth<\/em> isn\u2019t the worst solo album Cher has ever put out (an honor that goes to 1991\u2019s
\nappalling Love Hurts<\/em>), but it\u2019s hardly the wildly new, breakout sound she\u2019s
\nbeen huckstering on Twitter for the last two years, either. I can\u2019t help but wonder
\nwhat the album could have been with the finished Gaga duet (or any duet, really
\n\u2014 how cool would Cher and Robin Thicke have
\nbeen? Or Cher and Michael Bubl\u00e9? Or Adam
\nLevine?), or more songs that had better hooks, innovative melodies, or clever
\nlyrics. As she has her entire career, Cher seems to promise her hardcore fans
\nthe things they crave (starring in a TV remake of Mame<\/em>, singing the great
\nstandards, as she teased with her snippet of \u201cSmoke Gets In Your Eyes\u201d in the
\n1999 film Tea With Mussolini<\/em>), then wanders off the reservation and does
\nexactly what she wants. Which may explain why we gays worship her so devoutly
\nand forgive her so often. Because even when she\u2019s disappointing us she\u2019s
\nrefusing to compromise, refusing to be anything than who she is. Refusing to
\napologize. And bringing us all, perhaps, a little closer to the truth.<\/p>\n

My response<\/em>: Although this is long and negative, it's a tour-de-force review. He knows his Cher songs. He references "Geronimo's Cadillac" for sh*ts sake. And as I quote these interviewers, it's interesting to see which ones defend the first half and which ones defend the second half. I, in fact, agree with his effusive comments about "Sirens" but don't think Cher was anywhere near performing a rap anywhere on this album. And could you really say Love Hurts <\/em>was her worst album? Over Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer<\/em>, the album made when the rails were coming off the Sonny & Cher train? Anyhow, albeit harsh, he's right about certain points regarding the lyrics and the quality of the dance half. Although I like the dance songs better than he does. He wanted something a lot of Cher fans do want and his summary was good at telling us why we don't always get it.<\/p>\n

That's a Good Blog<\/em><\/strong>: NO ONE CAN JUDGE CHER!!! I
\nwould like to start this review with that simple statement FACT. Cher is a living legend, a diva, a goddess and an American
\ntreasure. Cher is the leading cause of gay
\nfreak-outs in the world…Cher has managed to once again put together a great album full of
\nup-to-date music with that special Cher twist…This Cher album is in its
\nhighest gear on club bangers like first single…the album stand out
\n"Take It Like a Man"…and the anthemic "My
\nLove."  Cher
\nenlists Pink's songwriting talents on stomper "I Walk Alone," which comes with
\nnot only beats but banjo! Cher and a banjo.
\nEnough said. Of course, it wouldn't be a Cher album without some good old
\nfashioned emoting, so our lady does not disappoint with ballads…Guys, c'mon. This is Cher. CHER! Get out there and listen to this album or I will
\nremove your face. She's been in it to win it for all of her 67 years and you
\nowe her.<\/p>\n

My response<\/em>: That was hilarious. I agree with everything here, as well! So frustrating for me to be so conflicted about this album. Except I don't quite think "My Love" lives up to "anthemic." The extended cut "Pride" is anthemic. Believe me, I know my anthemics. Listen to me or I will remove your face!<\/p>\n

Slant: <\/em><\/strong>Cher's influence on pop
\nmusic has never been as quantifiable as it has been in the last 15 years\u2014a fact
\nthat's especially remarkable when you consider that the 67-year-old hasn't even
\nput out an album in over a decade. The pervasive (mis)use of Auto-Tune to
\ncreate a robotic, Vocorder-style vocal effect over the last several years can
\nbe directly attributed to the massive success of Cher's late-'90s hit
\n"Believe," the sound of which was emulated by Madonna and Kanye West,
\nand even formed the signature styles of artists like T-Pain and Ke$ha. So it's
\nwith some disappointment, but not much surprise, to discover that the singer's
\n26th studio album, Closer to the Truth<\/em>, not only perpetuates this exhausted
\n(and exhausting) formula, but fails to attempt to reinvent it in even the most
\nminute ways.<\/p>\n

Living Proof<\/em>, the follow-up to Believe, played as a sort of
\npisstake of what had become known as "the Cher effect," with the
\nsinger's voice rendered nearly unrecognizable on tracks like "The Music's
\nNo Good Without You," and the rest of the album unabashedly stocked with
\nclub fare that, even if it failed to reprise the pop success of "Believe,"
\nfurther bolstered her late-career bona fides among many in the gay community.
\nCloser to the Truth<\/em> similarly eschews attempts to tweak the template, and the
\nresult is a collection of dance songs that sound incredibly dated\u2014particularly
\nthe lead single, "Woman's World"… There's admittedly an allure to the '80s synths and swirling disco
\nstrings of "Lovers Forever," which was reportedly intended for the
\n1994 film Interview with the Vampire<\/em>, and the banjo-infused stomper "I
\nWalk Alone" feels somewhat modern, but with EDM all the rage now, the
\nalbum is largely a wasted opportunity to once again update the icon's sound.<\/p>\n

It's the ballad-heavy back half of Closer to the Truth,
\nhowever, that prevents the album from even reaching guilty-pleasure status. The
\nsoundtrack to Burlesque<\/em> aside, Cher hasn't
\nindulged in this kind of MOR pap since the mid '90s (smartly, the closest thing
\nto a slow jam on her last album was the brisk, drum n' bass-inflected "You
\nTake It All"). If there's any redeeming element to be found among this
\nseries of not-very-powerful power ballads, which includes a cover of a Miley
\nCyrus song, it's the intriguing choice to end an album titled Closer to the
\nTruth with the Pink-penned "Lie to Me," an acoustic, string-laden
\ntrack in which Cher proclaims that "truth
\nis overrated."<\/p>\n

My response<\/em>: Well, if you can't get into "When the Money's Gone," we have nothing left to talk about. I find it fascinating how each critic finds at least one song to love and it's always a different song! Which says something about the elusiveness of the album. This guy loves<\/em> "Lovers Forever" and hates the ballads! WTF?<\/p>\n

The Duke Chronicle<\/strong><\/em>: Cher devotees will not be
\ndisappointed; her famed deep contralto voice and signature dance-pop style are
\npresent in full force, but anyone looking for originality should certainly look
\nmuch further. Cher may please, but she does
\nnot surprise.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s first two tracks, 'Women\u2019s World' and 'Take it
\nLike a Man,' are catchy, heavily auto-tuned pieces perfectly suited for a dance
\nfloor or a girls' night out. The lyrical meanings are relatively arbitrary; to
\nsome extent, they are simply words set to a beat… <\/p>\n

Still, although the album leads with its most single-worthy
\nmaterial, the following ten tracks are significantly slower and mellower.
\nWhether you\u2019ll actually feel anything from listening to these songs is
\ndebatable. The ballads are silly at best. Cher\u2019s
\nvoice can\u2019t seem to carry the sadness she attempts to convey. Instead it comes
\noff with an almost screaming rocker vibe who takes periodic rests from her loud
\nyelling to get significantly quieter, as if to say, \u201cThis is a really sad part
\nnow.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while Miley and Gaga may still have to prove themselves,
\nCher is well past that point. \u201cCloser to the
\nTruth\u201d is her 26th studio album and, by now, listeners know what they\u2019re
\ngetting when they purchase a Cher album.
\nYou\u2019ll get what you paid for.<\/p>\n

Yet there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just when you
\nthink you\u2019ve finished the CD and feel a little bit of despair at buying yet
\nanother Cher album, you\u2019ll find three bonus
\ntracks at the end of the album. Here is the new material we\u2019ve been looking
\nfor! It isn't unexpected or imaginative, but it is the sassy and brassy Cher we\u2019ve come to know and love. In 'I Don\u2019t Have to
\nSleep to Dream,' she describes a perfect love with a background full of
\nelectronic beats and lacking her usually incredibly strong auto tune. When Cher sings \u201cSo I got my eyes closed \/ hands up, dancing
\nby myself \/ oh I never felt nothing better,\u201d you might just feel the same.<\/p>\n

My response<\/em>: I don't get this  review at all. So wishy-washy.<\/p>\n

Newsday<\/em><\/strong>:  …does
\neverything right. As the first single "Woman's World" shows, the
\n67-year-old can still handle herself on the dance floor. The way she powers her
\nway through the  P!nk-penned "Lie to Me" shows her vocals are as
\nstrong as ever. However, what she does best here is pick songs that suit her
\nand the theme of indestructibility she embodies. When she promises, "I
\nwill always be the one to carry you home," in the gorgeous rock ballad
\n"Sirens," based on the recovery after 9\/11, you believe her. Cher doesn't just survive here, she thrives.<\/p>\n

My response<\/em>: If they loved the album so much and it "does everything right," why did they only give it a B+ ?<\/p>\n

Montreal Gazette: …<\/em><\/strong>[This album] brings coy double-entendres like "Take It
\nLike A Man," a shimmering dancefloor swooner and a bunch of club pounders.
\nTaylor Swift has a \u2018Red,\u2019 so Cher is having
\none, and when she covers a song from Miley Cyrus cinema bomb ("I Hope You Find
\nIt"), we have entered a strange land. There\u2019s scary banjo-stomp-disco in "I Walk
\nAlone," and with "Sirens," the weepers have floated in. Fear the Weepers. There
\nare 13 different songwriters on the first four tracks. So yeah, it\u2019s kind of
\nlike a miracle, and kind of sad and kind of heroic that it even exists.  **1\/2<\/p>\n

My response<\/strong>: Again, I agree with this last line. With 13 songwriters on four tracks, the lyrics should be better and that's sad…and yet there is something redeeming about the fact. And it is oddly miraculous-feeling. Sometimes I wonder if there's not something subliminal working here.<\/p>\n

MIMO:  <\/strong>It must be the week for music icons in their \u201860s to release
\nlandmark new records. Not only did we see 66-year-old Elton John release the
\nremarkably defining record The Diving Board this week, but 67-year-old Cher is out with Closer To the Truth, her first record in
\nnearly 12 years.  I gotta be honest: I was impressed with Elton John, but I
\nwas flabbergasted by Cher.<\/p>\n

Seriously. While all this news is swirling around about
\nCher\u2019s recent unflattering comments regarding Miley Cyrus\u2019 VMA performance, and
\nhow yesterday\u2019s provocateur is criticizing today\u2019s would-be vixen, I\u2019m sitting
\nhere going, \u201cForget Miley\u2026have you heard Cher\u2019s record???\u201d<\/p>\n

When Cher told Reuters concerning the album, \u201cThis is my
\nbest effort ever\u2026I\u2019m singing better than ever,\u201d my knee-jerk reaction was,
\nYeah, right\u2014no one sings better in their 60s than they did in their earlier
\nyears. But it turns out she is not delusional; Cher
\nknows when she\u2019s singing well. And she\u2019s absolutely right: this is some of the
\nbest vocal work she\u2019s done\u2014at the very least, it stands up against her best
\nfrom previous years. And at 67, that isn\u2019t merely impressive\u2014it\u2019s unheard of.<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m not gonna say there hasn\u2019t been some doctoring-up
\nin the studio here and there. This is a woman who has never been afraid of
\nimproving her looks artificially, so it follows that she wouldn\u2019t be above a
\nlittle post-production audio improvements, as well. (Let\u2019s not forget that it
\nwas Cher\u2019s single \u201cBelieve\u201d that essentially
\nbrought auto-tune into vogue as an effect in the electro-pop vein.) But there\u2019s
\na difference between using a studio magic to mask poor talent and using it to
\nenhance actual talent\u2014and it\u2019s easy to detect that in Cher\u2019s
\ncase, she\u2019s doing the latter. In the numerous moments on the album where her
\nvocals are unaffected, you can tell her voice is in top form. Only in a few
\nspots toward the end of the track list can we hear a bit of a rasp, and in
\nthose spots it simply adds character to the song.<\/p>\n

…The opening track and lead single \u201cWoman\u2019s World\u201d and follow-up track
\n\u201cTake It Like a Man\u201d are both certainly hit material, with \u201cRed\u201d and \u201cI Walk
\nAlone\u201d also being close contenders. When the beats stop, Cher\u2019s
\nvocal range really becomes evident on ballads like \u201cSirens\u201d and \u201cI Hope You
\nFind It\u201d (which, ironically, was first sung by Miley Cyrus). Really, though,
\nyou could insert almost any song title into these examples; you\u2019ll be hard
\npressed to find a cut on this record that doesn\u2019t have some measure of hit
\nquality.<\/p>\n

The thing I find most remarkable about this album is how
\neffortlessly Cher seems to carry it off. This
\ndoesn\u2019t sound like an aging woman trying to prove her continued viability in
\nthe music market; this simply sounds like timeless Cher,
\nputting out an album that hits the same mark of excellence as anything she\u2019s
\ndone before. If you ask me, the real news story here isn\u2019t Cher\u2019s
\ndiss of Miley Cyrus; it\u2019s the fact that she\u2019s made a record in her 60s that
\noutclasses anything Miley has ever done, or probably ever will do. If Closer To
\nthe Truth doesn\u2019t net Cher another Grammy, it
\nwill be nothing short of robbery. 4.5 \/ 5 stars<\/p>\n

My response<\/strong>: This is probably the most positive review. I don't quite get there with this album or at least for the same reasons the reviewer does.<\/p>\n

Rolling Stone (Drake's Progress): <\/em><\/strong>In many ways like Van Morrison\u2014she is a mammal, has two legs
\nand two arms and has been making music since the \u201860s\u2014Cher is simply too great
\nto ever cast aspersions on, which I wouldn\u2019t do even if I had any! This new
\nrecord\u2014her first studio set in over 10 years\u2014is fine, good, excellent pop music
\nthat proves 1) She has never lost her innate ability to sing, 2) Nearly anyone
\nat any age can make an upbeat and accessible pop record and 3) When you record
\nsongs with titles like \u201cWoman\u2019s World,\u201d \u201cDressed To Kill\u201d and \u201cTake It Like A
\nMan,\u201d you\u2019re sort of playing to your audience, no? I like it fine, am proud of
\nher for being an upstanding diva-type that remains surprisingly listenable,
\nand\u2014I\u2019m embarrassed to say–never knew that she was a blonde! Like many of her
\nbiggest fans, I was always into her music and never knew what she actually
\nlooked like!<\/p>\n

My response<\/em>: This reviewer escapes into his glib witticisms without saying anything. After reading these kinds of prefaces, starting out a review claiming Cher is un-reviewable at this point, I'm not sure what to think. It's like throwing up your hands on even trying to review Cher product. Is it a compliment or a slam? She is<\/em> beyond these little reviews (and always has been), but they feel like back-handed compliments still.<\/p>\n

Mr. Cher Scholar<\/strong>: I told Mr. Cher Scholar that the album reviews were all over the place and he had this to say after he got to work in Santa Fe:<\/p>\n

Listened to the Cher album on
\nthe way up and I really like it. It's no Sgt. Pepper's, Dark Side of the Moon<\/em>, or
\nAvalon<\/em>, but after 50 years in the music business, what else can Cher do
\nexcept a really well-sung, enjoyable album. I'd much rather hear Cher
\ndoing good original songs that hear her singing "standards" with Tony
\nBennett. If I hear one more aging rock star say, "I've always wanted to
\ndo this; these are the songs I grew up with…" before singing "You Made
\nMe Love You," I'm going to cut my ears off. <\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
The
\nsongs don't reveal any hidden side of Cher or plumb the emotional well,
\nbut what do people want from Cher? Honesty? You want honesty, read her
\ntweets, the place where she's more open and honest than any artist in
\nthe world. After watching the Sonny and Cher Show over the past few
\nweeks, I've also seen Sonny and Cher sing every possible genre of song
\nimaginable. What could possibly be interesting to her at this point in
\nher career? And yet, here is a well-made album of originals. <\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Overall,
\nmy review is two-thumbs up and one finger way up to the hacks who have
\ntried to emulate her and the pseudo-reviewers who have trashed her.<\/div>\n

Cher Scholar<\/strong>: Okay, here's my take. <\/p>\n

First off, I love the cover art. I wish we had photos of Cher outside again, yes, and I prefer her as a raven-haired goddess…but all that said, I appreciate the consistency of the artwork (unlike the plethora of outfits paraded past us for Living Proof<\/em> packaging). It feels soft and coherent and I dig it. The Target Deluxe version is a cardboard foldout and has extra photos. Her liner note thank yous are lovely…especially the shout-out to Joe DeCarlo. She's feelin her history and it gives her cred. I also like that she appreciates her personal assistant and calls her The Great Wall of Jen. Leonard Engleman is still doing her face to perfection. But Serena is the new hair wrangler.I do want to mention how small the booklet print is. I started following Cher before I could read; now I'm too old to read her liner notes. We've come a tragic full circle.<\/p>\n

As for the music, I didn't love these dance songs immediately…as much as I loved the tracks from Believe<\/em> or Living Proof. <\/em>I wasn't as into them lyrically or texturally. However, they all make me extremely happy and I instinctually want to dance to them (the dogs will tell you!). Even "Woman's World" has grown on me over time. <\/p>\n

Take It Like a Man: <\/strong>I love the first verse and the ups and downs we go on. I can live without the auto-tune at this point. And at times here, it feels clumsy. But I bounce to this thing, I really do. And I love the strong assertiveness as a tonal thread that runs through this album.What I absolutely love about this song is the final, rocking, kick-ass fade out. Almost perfection. The vagueness of the lyric doesn't even bother me, I'm completely caught up in the "How does it feel\/when we do it better!" Cher sounds great.<\/p>\n

My Love: <\/strong>You had me at hello in falsetto. Actually, the aggressive songs are all counterbalanced by lyrics about Cher's enticements of comfort and shelter. I like the ethereal vocal parts, more than the belting, but at least the belting here is tempered by softness. The dance arrangement doesn't really impress me until the bridge. And this album is nothing if not a strong album of bridges. They're mostly all anthemic and full of feeling. I'm just thinking this now but remember all the liner notes where Sonny claims Cher does nothing if not make you "feel." Well, I never really felt what he was driving at…until this album. This album does evoke a mood of feeling.<\/p>\n

Dressed to Kill: <\/strong>The auto-tune works here for me, especially the descending end of the chorus. Because we're being campy. I love the line "dancing in the dark with my hands around your heart." This is another aggressive dance track. There's also a theme of blood in this album with "blood will spill" pulsing through the chorus. Lovely piano interlude. One of the strongest dance tracks. It feels very 1980s with the synthesizers…but that all works. Please make this video a parade of Cher outfits through time.<\/p>\n

Red: <\/strong>The belting of this one tires me out but I love the sassy way she sings the verses. This is Cher at her best around the edges. And no, this is not a rap. Ask Snoop Dog, Coolio or even Vanilla Ice, for Chrissakes. The pileup of color metaphors are weak and this would have been a forward-thinking smash somewhere in the 1980s but I'll keep it for the excellent verses.<\/p>\n

Lovers Forever: <\/strong>I always appreciate Cher-penned material and although this one feels like 1980s synth-filler, I much prefer this filler to Diane Warren filler every day and twice on Sunday. Mostly, I like the lyrics to this (at least we have a hint of narrative cohesion) and feel this song trips when they tried to turn it into a dance song. It's running too fast for itself. Maybe this would work as a torch song. "How many mortals who have drained their souls for less" is really one of the best lines of the album. This being a vampire song intended for Interview with a Vampire<\/em>, we continue the blood theme.<\/p>\n

I Walk Alone: <\/strong>This songs works for me. I love the chorus, which is nothing like Cher has ever done (and she's done freakin everything!) And no, this isn't a rap either. The only weak point of this song for me is the "But for now I gotta walk alone" lines which don't completely follow for me logically after the "Turn, Turn, Turn" awesomeness that precedes it. It's like it wants to be two different songs. But hey, that's a trifle in the face of the rest working. With "Gonna love you until I bleed," we are given more blood. <\/p>\n

Sirens: <\/strong>Of course I am in love with this. Of course I think it's near perfect, especially Cher's flowing vocal, her quiet enunciation and care and the sublime way she sings "perfect blue" and "too much to lose." I almost wish the ballads had been interspersed with the dance tracks. Then critics wouldn't be able to cut the album in half like a sandwich or say it's "frontloaded." They'd get lost in the soup. The song evokes a very strong mood, much more intimate than we've come to expect. Love it. For me, this is the surprising track on the album. I would have love to hear the rhythm section pumped up here with bass and drums. The guitar is chilling. Love the wailing end…she's so on it.<\/em> One of my top three songs of the set. "I will always be the one to carry you home" give us more gestures of comfort and shelter.<\/p>\n

Favorite Scars: <\/strong>This is another one of my top three. Truly a modern arrangement here. A great vocal, a great message but simple. This felt truly original. And it's my third song I've discovered this year about riptides (with "Riptide" by Vance Joy and "Rip Tide" by Sick Puppies). Perfecto.<\/p>\n

I Hope You Find It: <\/strong>Me and my friend's boyfriend are the only ones I know of who want to read these lyrics as parental. Except for the line "am I supposed to hang around and wait forever." Anyhow, this is a strong ballad and I love the lyric video. It seems to move a step toward being country without plunging in. Very country-lite. Maybe if these tiny country songs on this album do well, she'll move in that direction. A very conservative vocal. I blame the vocal coach for teaching Cher how to sing with a net. This song is a perfect amount of belting. I don't love the big belting note but most people love that about Cher so who am I to be harping on Cher belting?<\/p>\n

Lie to Me:<\/strong> Took me a few listens to even notice Cher sings the word f*ck in the first line. This song is too studied and conservative for me. But it's interesting in its depressing-ness. Interesting soft choice for the end of the basic album versions.<\/p>\n

Bonus tracks:<\/p>\n

I Don't Have to Sleep to Dream: <\/strong>I have friends who love, love, love this but it feels like silly, 1980s-retread to me. The lyric is a roller coaster..but for toddlers. By the way, the lyric sheet trying to type out the OhoohOhs is completely unnecessary. There's no need to include anything but the words. Songs like this made me feel like this album was not really intended for the likes of me, long-time listener, Cher fan born in 1969. Like maybe the target audience for this album are Miley Cyrus fans and young turks in high school right now. But honestly, I prefer the candy of "Skin Deep" to this. <\/p>\n

Pride: <\/strong>I resisted the pop-high-school-candy-ness of this song as long as I could but it consumed me like an alien monster and now I'm bursting with it. This song feels almost cynically calculated to serve the gay male audience (just like "Take it Like a Man" and "Dressed to Kill") but as I am for the most part a gay man in a woman's body, I'm a sucker for this sort of anthemic, Snoopy-dance.This is now one of my top three.<\/p>\n

Will You Wait For Me<\/strong>: Why is this a bonus track? Again, more ballads like this, more slow-tempos interspersed with the throbbing dance tracks would have sorted out the balance of the album better. This song serves more country-lite intimacy that is promising. She couldn't lose with a whole album of tracks like this.<\/p>\n

Compared to the beautiful lyrics of "Taxi, Taxi," "Love is In the Groove," "When the Money's Gone" and "You Take it All," I was disappointed here on a lyric level. On the other hand, there is quite a bit here to love and I can see myself gravitating to this album often and affectionately.<\/p>\n

I agree with these words from the New York Daily News<\/em>: "If that doesn\u2019t add up to Cher\u2019s
\nprime, it pays to remember that bourgeois notions of \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad\u201d don\u2019t
\napply to her. At root, the new disc pleases by this sole measure: It\u2019s deeply,
\nmadly Cher."<\/p>\n

Again, we're given the caveat that Cher is beyond judgement. But notions of good and bad are not in fact bourgeois–but elitist. Although Cher is beyond iconic now, she is essentially a "sanger"(as Cee Lo Green would say), a singer of the people, a glamorous, defiant soldier. These kinds of judgements are meaningless at some point. We judge only for ourselves. The real rubric is the Billboard chart.<\/p>\n

My billboard-watching friend sent me this email yesterday:<\/p>\n

It looks like we underestimated the old girl. After the first four days of sales (representing 85% of music retailers), Soundscan reports that Cher's is the number 3
\nalbum in the U.S. (trailing only Drake and Kings of Leon: both
\n20-something artists….(all five guys were but pimply teens
\nwithout record deals when Cher last charted, with Living Proof<\/em>). She
\nis expected to hold her own for the final three days of the tracking
\nweek. There is a chance she may slide down to #4, if Elton John gains a
\nlittle steam (he's currently #4). Not too shabby for a couple of
\nsenior citizens, neither of whom have had a Top 40 hit in 14+ years.
\n [Which also means, essentially, that no one under the age of eighteen
\nhas ever experienced Cher (or Elton) on the radio with anything but
\nsongs released before said listeners were born–yikes!  That's how long
\nago "Believe" <\/em>was–hard to believe!]<\/div>\n
If she stays put at #3 she sets new personal bests for her 48 year career<\/strong> on the Billboard charts:<\/div>\n
–highest debut of her entire <\/span>career<\/div>\n
–highest charting position of her solo<\/span> career (Look at Us<\/em> climbed as high as #2)<\/div>\n
She's neck in neck with Babs, who bests her by one year in terms of the longevity record for Top Ten Albums:<\/div>\n
The Barbra Streisand Album<\/em> (1963) – What Matters Most<\/em> (2012) = 49 years<\/div>\n
Look At Us<\/em> (1965) – Closer to the Truth<\/em> (2013) = 48 years<\/div>\n
For
\nthis particular chart record, Paul McCartney is tied with Babs for the
\nsame exact time span, but will likely pull ahead when his new album New <\/em>comes
\nout in three weeks.<\/div>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.billboard.com\/articles\/columns\/chart-beat\/5740613\/kings-of-leon-cher-and-elton-john-heading-for-top-five-on<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

I take credit for part of this with the five copies I purchased.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Cher scholar Dishy found more international stuff for us to buy up:<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>\"Cdsingle\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The CD single for "I Hope You Find It"<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/I-Hope-You-Find-Woman\/dp\/B00F4IEAXQ\/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1380457264&sr=1-5&keywords=Cher<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\"Lowdown\"<\/a>A new interview CD:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/The-Lowdown-2CD-Cher\/dp\/B0075668R6\/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_h__8<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\"Chercompnew\"<\/a>A new compilation CD<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Album-Cher\/dp\/B003WL7E3U\/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_h__4<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Album-Cher\/dp\/B003WL7E3U\/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_h__4<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What a daunting task. Approaching my first Cher album on a blog post. The ritual of listening to a new Cher album and reading the liner notes is one of my favorite Cher things to do. But how many times do you need to listen to a new album before reviewing it? 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