When people
used to say the '80's had more taste than the '70's, I'd always point out in the
'70's Cher was a joke and in the '80's she was taken seriously.
So much for taste.
But,
you got to give Cher this, she is quite a chameleon.
Everytime
you write off her career, she completely reinvents herself. She's
gone from Wall of Sound backup singer to half of a goofy hippie duo to
television personality to disco diva to Oscar winning actress to lite metal
belter to infomercial queen.
Sure, most of the
phases were kind of embarrassing, but she kept popping up like a weeble.
Her latest
incarnation is flirting with current dance beats and musical technologies, and
surprise!, it works pretty well. The terrific
first single, "One By One" has Cher mining a
previously unexplored and very supple falsetto.
The
rest of the album is made up of covers, with eccentric choices like Marc Cohn's
"Walking In Memphis" and James Brown's title track building an impressive head
of steam. You still can't count her out.
