Cher is the tall and skinny womyn singer of special 1970s fame. She was one of the early electronic pop divas.
The most remarkable thing about the album is Cher's strong voice. Since the time of Cher, most divas have had to have a very girly or bedroom voice to make it big. Even so, Cher is no exception to the pop rule: to make it big, a womyn has to sing about loving her boyfriend.
The first 15 songs are what MIM would consider the usual romance stuff, songs about love or losing it. At least Cher does not sing really sick stuff; she just contributes to the oppressive romance culture at an average level.
The last song "A Different Kind of Love Song" is for love for all people. In that song, Cher went in the right direction. It's just that 80% of this album is the usual pop romance culture focusing on anti-social love, a fixation on two people in the world.
Considering that Sonny her long-time love died, we won't criticize her re-issued duets with him in "I got you babe" and "The beat goes on." However, there are only two more worthwhile songs. "Half-breed" is about life as the child of a white and a member of the First Nations. It's about how neither side accepted the half-breed child, a problem that exists globally where cultures mix.
"Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" is also about life as a gypsy, with references to prostitution and rape. There's good material there, based in real life problems.
It's tough to evaluate this music. It won't be our first priority to ban this music, but the romance culture weighs heavily in Cher's work. A few songs will be worth preserving.
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