Hell Hath No Fury Like Cher Scorned

It's a Woman's World and Warner Brothers better Take It Like a Man as Cher spoke out against her label, getting Closer to the Truth. Billboard reported two days ago:

Cher says her record label "hasn't got a great deal of interest in my CD" and that the "decision makers" at the company "don't seem to care that much."

Cher released her most recent album, "Closer to the Truth," last September on Warner Bros. Records. It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking the diva's highest charting solo album ever.

Cher took to Twitter on Thursday, February 6, to gripe about her label, but noted that "not all" of the folks at the company are unsupportive, adding that "there (are) hard working adorable" people there, too.

Cher has been with Warner Brothers since 1996. Perhaps sensing the discrimination against older artists, especially the female of the species, Cher lashed out on Twitter: 

Just read mean TILAM review. The video had nothing 2 do with me. I was told it would only be shown in gay bars. It’s true WB’s hasn’t got a Great Deal of Interest In My CD. Not ALL,THERE R HARD WORKING ADORABLE PPL.,But Decision Makers Don’t Seem 2CareThat Much. It’s Ok YHSTLOM

YHMSTLOM means You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me in Cher shorthand. And the video in question is not available on the Internet as of yet.

Closer to the Truth, released last September, sold 285,000 copies in the U.S. alone. It is the superstar's 25th studio album. It's possible that the dance-music-friendly tracks are something Warner brass are not all that investing in promoting. "Woman's World" did go to #1 while "Take It Like a Man" stalled at #2, with My Crazy Girlfriend's "Go F***k Yourself" catapulting to the top spot like a slap in the face.

So far, Warner Brothers hasn't issued a comment regarding the diva's accusations nor said a word on its behalf in this matter.

Audio Beaverhausen: Cher's Closer to the Truth

In a recent interview with CBS Morning News, Cher allowed as to how "[m]y gay following kept me alive when no one else came to see me." That is, the 67-year-old pop songbird and all-around icon admitted to entering the true "living legend" phase of her career a'la Judy Garland, say, or Bette Davis!

Cher famously crossed over to disco when she released "Take Me Home," produced by Bob Esty and Paul Jabara,  in 1979. She returned whole-heartedly to the dance-music genre in 1998 with the smash single, "Believe," from the album of the same name that spawned other hits (and pioneered auto-tuning). This was followed by the Living Proof (of what? Cher's eternal fabulousness, I imagine) album, a club-friendly follow-up from which "A Song for the Lonely" was enormously popular worldwide and, released in the wake of 9/11, became an anthem.

Since then, it's been 12 long years for the diva to return with an album, so to call this "long anticipated" is an understatement. There were also Cher numbers from the Burlesque soundtrack album, including "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," in 2011. (Another survivor's anthem if there ever was one which charted internationally with an array of amazing remixes for the dancefloors.)

Wikipedia mentions that Cher is "[r]ecognized for having brought the sense of female autonomy and self-actualization into the entertainment industry" and this is surely very evident on her new album, Closer to the Truth. It opens with her already phenomenal dance and radio hit, "Woman's World" and follows that up with the dance track, "Take It Like a Man," another floor-filler at the waiting.

With a very strong publicity machine behind her this time, Cher has been omnipresent as of late, most recently turning up on tv's Dancing with the Stars. Like Joan Crawford and Madonna, her longevity has depended upon her reinventing her image for the public. If this Cher reincarnation is any Closer to the Truth, it's because, despite her disarming honesty and off-the-cuff remarks to the press, it has previously been remote.

The album is available at Amazon.com on cd format or download. Each track has potent potential for radio/club play. "Lovers Forever" and "Dressed to Kill" seem especially ripe for remixes for the clubs. Hello, I mean, "Mary, I am dressed to kill"? Does this diva know her core audience or what? "Lie to Me" is a sweet and haunting power ballad, reuniting La Diva with her rock roots. "Sirens" and "I Hope You Find It" (a cover of the Miley Cyrus song) are both lovely and inspiring non-dance tracks as well.

Closer to the Truth is just a wonderful, expertly produced and balanced album. It currently has a four and 1/2 star rating from the public on Amazon.com (out of 5), so you don't have to just take my word, even though I kindly suggest that you always should.

Cher's unique, unmistakeable throaty contralto rules supreme on this effort. Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters) sings back-up on "Take It Like a Man." Pink is a back-up girl on "I Walk Alone." Babies, Cher sings alone! Let me know if you can even hear anyone else in the mix!