Album Review: CHRISTMAS Is A Time To CHER!

Heigh Ho, dear lovely rainbow tribe, welcome back to Bobby’s CD sandbox where we offer our broken-down breakdowns of new music releases. So, strap in and get ready, as Bobby goes on the record ABOUT the record.

This week’s album entry in the BobbyFiles comes from the one, the only… our lord and savior, Cher, whose CHER CHRISTMAS has landed with the loud, clanging jingle of buffalo on the rooftop, seeing that her first cut took the first spot on Billboard’s song charts where “She joins The Rolling Stones with at least one new No. 1 on a Billboard songs chart in each of the last seven decades.” AMAZING right, dear Bobby readers?!  Kicking off the album in the #1 cut is said #1 hit, DJ PLAY A CHRISTMAS SONG. It is unfathomable to think that she’s done this for SEVEN decades, but here it is. Opening with soft tones sung into her well-worn autotuner, she quickly opens it up to her famous natural vocals - just like we knew she would. She moves the first chorus off the autotuner, and the instruments join full force, and it is all completely danceable. In fact, this ditty is FOR the dance floor, and Mr. & Mrs. Clause never had it so good. Cher does this thing where her vocals sound lyrical, along with being uptempo and fully Rock & Roll, which is a part of her magic - plus her range is terrific.
 

The trajectory of this one song’s success is remarkable… On October 6, 2023, Cher released this single as the lead-in single to the album, and on the week ending October 21, 2023, DJ entered the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart at No. 3, reaching the No. 1 position six weeks later, on the week ending December 2, 2023 - as in, just last week. On the week ending November 18, 2023, the song entered the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart at No. 22, attaining the No. 1 position three weeks later on the week ending December 9, 2023 - as in, just this week. Now, for the rest of this FABOO collection, CHRISTMAS also features guest appearances by Darlene Love, Michael Bublé, Tyga, Cyndi Lauper, and Stevie Wonder. Speaking of guests, a particular favorite song for this rainbow writer is ANGELS IN THE SNOW… Where’s Her Background Singers!?  She’s here… and it’s Cyndi Lauper. Only Cher could conscript Cyndi as her background singer, and, together, they are simply marvelous. Taking on the 1967 Stevie Wonder hit WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS TO ME, who else could our queen sing with but the R&B king himself? Cher is one of the longest-reigning mothers of rock, and, here, she belts it out like she always has, her voice still ringing out with all the power she has always had, plus she has Stevie Wonder with her. This song ROCKS like no other version. They are great partners and his harmonica adds just the right touch!
 

Amongst all the pop music icons mentioned above, there is a classic crooner. Cut #6 is Michael Buble’s HOME, written by Bublé with Alan Chang and Amy Foster-Gillies, and this song was a number-one single in the US, as well as Bublé’s home of Canada. HOME was a “pop” experiment for Michael that paid off big time, and while one might think that joining our queen for a duet might not work, Cher’s timeless sound mixes wonderfully with Bublé’s in a gorgeous ballad that lifts them both into this song’s words and world. They wail and match each other perfectly in ways you would not expect, really shaking the rafters.

The last song we want to touch on is the album’s title song, because, really, how much more gilding of this lily can Little Bobby do… CHRISTMAS (BABY, PLEASE COME HOME) (WITH Darlene Love) is, as far as we are concerned, the most important track here because of this… 
 

Some 60 years ago (give or take) a very young Cher sang backup for Darlene’s hit version of this song by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector. Now, along with all the holiday joy this album will bring you, there is a strong message, too. Here these ladies are, and they are the ages that they are (Bobby will not be so indelicate as to mention numbers! If you want to know… go Google yourself), and at a time when even talented ladies might be considered past their sell-by dates, here they are, demonstrating their power, vitality and RELEVANCE in their industry, still. So much for sell-by dates, my angels, and the message here is: you’re not late, you’re not past it, your light is relevant and these goddesses are leading the way to the T-O-P ... Merry Christmas!  Now go out and buy, stream, and enjoy CHER CHRISTMAS because this is the definition of Bobby’s… 

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows - Put this one in your collection/stream today.

You Can Pick Up The CD OR The Vinyl In The Amazon: HERE

OR

Stream It In Your Spotifies: HERE

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