The Very Best of Cher [Special Edition]

Disc 1
1	Believe 3:59
2	If I Could Turn Back Time 4:00
3	Heart of Stone 4:11
4	Just Like Jesse James 4:07
5	Save Up All Your Tears 4:00
6	After All (Love Theme from Chances Are) / Peter Cetera 4:05
7	I Found Someone 3:44
8	One by One Junior Vasquez Vocal Edit 4:23
9	Strong Enough 3:43
10	All or Nothing 3:58
11	Song for the Lonely 3:22
12	Take Me Home 3:28
13	The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss) 2:52
14	All I Really Want to Do 2:58
15	Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) 2:44
16	Half-Breed 2:45
17	Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves 2:36
18	Dark Lady 3:28
19	The Beat Goes On / Sonny & Cher 3:29
20	I Got You Babe / Sonny & Cher 3:11
21	A Different Kind of Love Song Rodney Jerkins Main Mix Faster 4:19
Disc 2
1	I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 4:34
2	Song for the Lonely 6:46
3	All or Nothing 3:57
4	I Found Someone 3:35
5	Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) 3:40
6	All I Really Want to Do 2:00
7	Half-Breed 1:33
8	Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves 1:30
9	Dark Lady 1:13
10	Take Me Home 3:48
11	The Way of Love 2:34
12	After All (Love Theme from Chances Are) 3:54
13	Just Like Jesse James 5:38
14	Heart of Stone 4:08
15	The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss) 2:29
16	Strong Enough 3:00
17	If I Could Turn Back Time 6:16
18	Believe 6:49

Barnes & Noble

Long before Madonna was a twinkle in Jean Paul Gaultier's eye, Bob Mackie muse Cher was pop music's reigning fashionista. Musically, the former Cherilyn Sarkisian has evolved with the times, and this comprehensive collection celebrates all of the diva's ever-changing moods -- from her classic duets with former hubby Sonny Bono ("The Beat Goes On," "I Got You Babe") to her millennial dance hits ("Believe," "Strong Enough"). Assembling songs from every decade of Cher's impressive career, The Very Best of Cher outshines her previous anthologies. Starting with Cher's first solo hit, a flower-power, tambourine-tinged cover of Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do," this disc also includes early '70s chart-toppers, such as the dramatic "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" and the defiant "Half-Breed," featuring pre-disco string arrangements and a tribal rhythm straight out of a spaghetti western. Wondering what this California native sounded like as a disco diva? Look no further than the Studio 54 anthem "Take Me Home," drenched in a shower of wah-wah guitar. Although Cher faltered slightly with the saccharine Peter Cetera duet "After All," it pales next to her '80s triumphs as a rock singer on hook-laden, guitar-driven hits such as "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "I Found Someone." Fans who just came on board with Cher's more recent techno phase are rewarded with a frenetic Rodney Jerkins remix of 2002's "A Different Kind of Love Song." Although 2003 finds her staging a farewell tour, this collection is a clear indicator that the beat will indeed go on for Cher. Dave Gil de Rubio

All Music Guide

Since it's a cross-licensed, 21-track collection, it stands to reason that Warner Strategic Marketing's 2003 The Very Best of Cher is finally the Cher collection that gets it right, presenting a fully rounded portrait of her long, winding, multi-label career. It's not, but it's closer than any previous collection, eclipsing Hip-O's 2001 Essential Collection by containing hits from every aspect of her career, from Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe," to her 1999 comeback, "Believe," and beyond to the new, Rodney Jerkins-produced "A Different Kind of Love Song" (yes, it does feature heavy vocoder work). Where other collections emphasized her '70s hits, this focuses on the Geffen work, which may be appropriate since they rarely appeared on hits compilations before this, along with the late-'90s comeback on Warner. This is all pushed toward the front, taking up the first 11 songs, which, frankly, is infuriating sequencing, especially since it bounces between the Geffen album rock, and the post-house, neo-disco of the Warner years. Also, there is simply too much Warner material, given that apart from "Believe," it was entirely too generic, and also didn't have big hits. They nearly knock the collection off-track by providing a dead stretch in the middle of the record before it regains momentum, with 1979's "Take Me Home," and then more or less works its way back to her beginning. This is a bewildering choice in sequencing, and it hurts the general listenablity of the record; even if all periods are represented, and all the big hits are here, the lack of logic leads to a herky-jerky sequencing that is tiring to the ear. That said, this does have all the big hits -- "Believe," "If I Could Turn Back Time," "Just Like Jesse James," "After All," "I Found Someone," "The Shoop Shoop Song," "All I Really Want to Do," "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," "Half-Breed," and "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" among them. And even if the presentation leaves a lot to be desired, it's still nice to have all these in one place. [There is also a special edition that includes the entire 18-song "Farewell Tour" on a second disc.] Stephen Thomas Erlewine