Cher is back with her first studio album in over ten years, ‘Closer To The Truth”.
After over 50 years in the industry, Cher knows exactly what her audience (the gays) want from her and she delivers it in spades. There are plenty of up-tempo ‘rising above’ numbers to go around.
‘Take It Like A Man’ is a particular highlight, all synth and attitude. Sadly, the rest of the up-tempos seem to merge into one catchy but repetitious mess.
She varies things up with the P!nk-written, faux-country ‘I Walk Alone’, but even that blends in seamlessly with the tracks that precede it.
We should note that all of the up tempos run back to back, making their lack of individuality glaringly obvious. The songs are similar both lyrically and sonically, and the production is more 1995 than 2013.
Thankfully though, Cher does chuck in a few ballads at the end to provide some kind of balance. She even ditches the auto tune she has used for years to show that she can still belt out with the best of them.
Amongst the ballads only ‘I Hope You Find It’ and ‘Lie To Me’ stand out… ‘I Hope You Find It’ is the closest Cher comes to achieving a ‘moment’ (think ‘Wrecking Ball’ but more mature – an especially apt comparison considering Miley sang it first for ‘The Last Song’). For those who are wondering, Cher’s version is much much better, as it should be.
Strangely, Burlesque’s ‘You Haven’t Seen The Last Of Me’ makes a comeback on the deluxe edition. It seems a bit strange to include it here; perhaps it’s a subtle diss implying that no one heard it the first time around?
Ultimately, ‘Closer To The Truth’s main issues are that it is badly structured and that it could have been released weeks after 2002’s ‘Living Proof’ rather than 11 years.
Cher’s biggest hit may be ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ but in this day and age that should not be her philosophy to making albums.
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