CHER - LIVING PROOF (2002, WARNER BROS)
Cher - vocals

Background
Seems unbelievable that an Oscar Award winning actress would be reviewed here at the hallowed halls of G-DAZE. Strange but true. However, hardly unexpected considering Cher's musical past and achievements. The formularised 'rock ballad' approach that we saw previously with songs like 'Jesse James' and 'If I Could Turn Back Time' is gone. Instead, Cher brings new meaning to the word 'longevity', and like a chameleon through the ages, has bounced back to surprise us yet again. If her massive dance-oriented hit single from 1998 'Believe' was an indicator of things to come, then 'Living Proof' her brand new album is exactly that. Eagerly awaited, Cher has reinvented herself, after initial reservations that a move away from the hard rock format would not be successful. However, it has proved to be a wise move. Lets face it though, it's hardly original, it is derivative, it has the smell of corporate success spilt all over it, but hell it's catchy and melodic, and bound to appeal to the masses for sure. The dance-oriented genre is so crossover now that many artists straddle the fence. Examples include the fabulous Lara Fabian, Australian Vanessa Amarosi, American heroine Jennifer Paige, and more recently, the resurrected Tiffany with AOR demi-god Tim Feehan in tow. Cher has used those examples, looked at the success of Kylie, Britney, Janet et al, and seen a market to plunder.

The Songs
Opening up with 'A Different Kind Of Love Song', it's infectious dancebeat will go down a treat in Europe. You can put the ring around this track being 'Believe Part II'. 'Body To Body, Heart To Heart' has a lot of rhythmic bounciness you'd associate with someone like Ricky Martin. It's quite clever how they seamlessly integrate Cher's voice with some of the instrumentation. On 'Real Love' for instance, her voices melds to a synth harmonica. 'Love Is A Lonely Place Without You' is a pleasant enough dance flavored piece (most of them are), 'Alive Again' continues the melodic upbeat surge which should have hands and feet gyrating - a fantastic track nonetheless. A change up is 'Rain Rain', a slower piece bordering on hip-hop, though I personally think Cher's voice is not delicate or refined enough for this particular track. One of the more interesting tracks is 'This Is A Song For The Lonely', which is dedicated to the New York Firefighters. It's quite a stirring piece of music actually, and not as melancholy as one would expect considering the enormity of the Sept 11 tragedy.

In Summary
The album is being released in the US very shortly (it's already released down under and in Europe). Cher seems to have found her niche with this style of music and it suits her down to the ground. Though this is light on typical AOR instrumentation (ie: strong guitars and pounding rock drums), the names onboard are enough for the album to get a mention: Diane Warren, Tim Pierce are a couple of examples. Expect this to get the mass media treatment during the early part of 2002. Now all that's needed to complete the picture is a Debbie Gibson revival. Strewth! For what it's worth, very melodic, with some upbeat tracks to soften even the most ardent melodic rocker!

URL: www.cher.com

Track Listing:
01 The Music's No Good without You
02 Alive Again
03 (This Is) A Song For The Lonely
04 A Different Kind Of Love Song
05 Rain Rain
06 Love So High
07 Body To Body Heart To Heart
08 Love Is A Lonely Place Without You
09 Real Love
10 Love One Another
11 You Take It All
12 When The Money's Gone

Related Articles:

Cher - 1991 Love Hurts

Cher - 2002 Living Proof

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