Cher - Heart of Stone - Music & Performance - CD

The lady can rock. There is no question about that, and this album is one of several from her catalog that serve as a testament to that fact. Even the opening single, "If I Could Turn Back Time," has a crunchy texture to it, albeit in a poppy, '80s Starship sort of arrangement. Cher recruited some heavy-hitters for this release, including Steve Lukather (Toto), Desmond Child, and Andrew Gold. Not all of the album is hard-edged rockers -- witness the effective ballad "Just Like Jesse James" -- but all of it has an honesty and gritty edge that separates it from some of the more modern Cher material. When you hear the strength of the vocal performance here, it makes you wonder why the producers choose to tinker with her voice in the late '90s and early 2000s. She certainly doesn't need any help holding a tune. This one seems a bit dated in retrospect, with the sound certainly tied to pop/rock of the late '80s, but the performance and musical integrity, not to mention strong songwriting, really set the album apart as one of Cher's strongest. ~ Gary Hill, All Music Guide