The Very Best of Cher: Special 2-CD Edition [Special Edition]

Cher | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 26, 2003)
• Original Release Date: August 26, 2003
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Special Edition
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B0000AQS6U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (181 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,194 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Believe

2. If I Could Turn Back Time

3. Heart of Stone

4. Just Like Jesse James

5. Save Up All Your Tears

6. After All (Love Theme from Chances Are)

7. I Found Someone

8. One by One [Junior Vasquez Vocal Edit]

9. Strong Enough

10. All or Nothing

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

2. Song for the Lonely

3. All or Nothing

4. I Found Someone

5. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

6. All I Really Want to Do

7. Half-Breed

8. Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

9. Dark Lady

10. Take Me Home

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Given a five-decade career that's been one long series of critical write-offs and subsequent comeback triumphs, it's tempting to argue that the natural elements are actually earth, wind, fire, water--and Cher. Anchored by her 1998 international mega-success "Believe" (the song that made Cher the oldest woman to score a chart topper) and its equally club-savvy contemporary collaborations with producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawlings, "Song for the Lonely" and "A Different Kind of Love Song," this 21-track anthology is indeed the first to contain all her No. 1 hits, stretching back to her epochal 1965 duet with Sonny Bono on the faux-Dylan "I Got You Babe." And if it shortchanges her Phil Spector-rooted origins and a true perspective on her '60s and '70s career (though kitsch classic chart toppers "Dark Lady," "Half-Breed," and "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" are all here) to focus on her string of '80s and '90s pop successes in service of writers like Diane Warren ("If I Could Turn Back Time") and Desmond Child ("Just Like Jesse James"), it's good to remember that, according to the pop soothsayers, none of them were even supposed to happen, let alone make her an icon for a whole new generation. It's a tribute to sheer, fashion-defying willpower--and as unlikely an argument for the notion of "the singer, not the song" as one is likely to find. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

Special 2-CD edition includes exclusive live CD from the Farewell Tour (18 tracks). Disc One is loaded with 21 tracks including 2 Sonny & Cher tracks and 'After All' (love theme from Chances Are - duet with Peter Cetera). Slipcase. WEA. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Cher Retrospective Available, April 1, 2003

By 

James E. Bagley "Jim Bagley" (Sanatoga, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Very Best Of Cher (Audio CD)

Cher's recorded for a lot of labels over the years. This is the first set to include recordings from all of them. Her 60s Sonny & Cher ATCO phase is represented by I Got You Babe and The Beat Goes On (I would have liked to have seen Baby Don't Go included here too). Her 60s solo hits on Liberty, Bang Bang and All I Really Want To Do are here (omitting the hits Alfie and You Better Sit Down Kids is no big whoop).

In the 70s, Cher recorded for Kapp/MCA. Her trilogy of trash (Gypsies Tramps & Thieves, Half-Breed, and Dark Lady) are here, but not the top 10 Way Of Love (where Cher sounds like a man) or her hits with Sonny (All I Ever Need Is You, A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done). Her lone Casablanca hit from the 70s, the disco fave Take Me Home, is here, hinting at Cher's future as a dance diva.

In the 80s, Cher made a major comeback on Geffen Records singing power ballads like Heart Of Stone, I Found Someone, Just Like Jesse James, and If I Could Turn Back Time and the wedding fave After All with Peter Cetera. The one major recording left off from this era is my theme song: We All Sleep Alone.

Major comeback number two, with Cher as the ultimate dance diva on Warner Brothers, is well-represented by her hits Believe, Strong Enough, Song For The Lonely, and Different Kind Of Love Song (the latter improved in a faster-paced mix).

Even if you have Cher's strong collection If I Could Turn Back Time, you should get this for the added Warner Brothers dance hits and 60s Liberty singles, plus The Beat Goes On. It would take two discs to get all of Cher's hits collected and until someone does, this Rhino set is clearly the best sampler

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best compilation so far, May 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Very Best Of Cher (Audio CD)

There have been several Cher "Greatest Hits" compilations over the years, but this one is the best. While I would have preferred they dropped the 2 songs with Sonny and included a few more of her hits (e.g., "The Way of Love," "Love and Understanding," "We All Sleep Alone," "Living in a House Divided" and "Train of Thought"), and put in the original version of "A Different Kind of Love Song" (far better than the remix version on this CD), I nitpick. This is still a good representation of her songs from the 60's to today. The range of music is pretty amazing, and only Cher can carry it off. She's not technically the best singer, but her voice is distinctive and sounds appropriate for rock, country, pop, and dance. Everyone I know that has listened to this CD has loved it.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living Proof: Cher has always been a contender, April 2, 2003

By 

P. Ambrose (Brooklyn NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Very Best Of Cher (Audio CD)

The latest in an outrageously long line of Cher compilations is being released with the airing of her televised "Farewell Tour" concert. For those who have seen the show (and there are millions of you) - we all know what an amazing barrage of hits the ageless hippie/pop star/chanteuse/rock'n'roller/disco diva avalanches at you as you are swept up in an unabashed tribute to the 40 year spanning career of the superstar, CHER. This CD replicates the gushing and fascinating Kurt Loder notes from the tour program (with a wonderful ending twist) and despite the blonde Living Proof image cover (we all know and love Cher as raven haired gypsy)- this is the definitive Cher CD. Why? It has absolutely no filler (i.e. album cuts, lesser known hits). Cher executive produced this release, so the cuts are what she chose. Higher charting hits ("Love & Understanding", "We All Sleep Alone" etc.) are omitted to include personal faves like "Save Up All Your Tears" - which the songstress has often mentioned is one of her favorite recordings. Two major gripes for this reviewer: "The Way Of Love" tracking at just over 2 minutes could have been crammed on; this is one of her signature tunes. The mention in the liner notes of her '67 top 10 hit "You Better Sit Down Kids" also points out blatant omissions. But - hey - it's a single CD, Babe, so groove to the way it vaults from 2003 through the decades to '65 and believe that Cher, is without a doubt, the Queen of the recording industry.