US release date: July 3rd 1991
US album chart peak: #48
UK album chart peak: #1
Buy Love Hurts here (Amazon UK)
It has been a mere 25 years since the 20th album by Cher effortlessly stole the top spot on the UK album charts (and continued to reside there for a whopping six weeks). Love Hurts was the continuation of Cher's pop-rock persona - a genre that was very popular at the time (see also Richard Marx, Heart, Michael Bolton, Alannah Myles et al) and had steered her well through two previous forays into the sound (Heart of Stone and Cher). As I get older, my memory gets more hazy so it's difficult to pinpoint why this album was such a phenomenal success. I suspect it may well be because it came on the back of her chart topping smash from the film Mermaids (It's In His Kiss) - a song tagged on to the UK version of the album yet as out of place here as Vogue was musically on I'm Breathless. It's no matter though - her buoyant, enthusiastic cover of the classic is welcome anywhere and had fair perked up 1990 where pop was once again considered a dirty word. Ultimately, that may be the reason Love Hurts did so darned well in the UK - it satisfied the public's need for solid pop melodies but wrapped them up in a more assertive and driven rock outfit. Listening to the album again 25 years after I first became smitten with it, it is clear that it is full of enduring songs that tackle universal themes of love and regret. It's the type of album that soundtracks your life experience - stirring memories and popping lyrics and hooks into your head as new experiences occur. Like Cher, it's aged extremely well and if you are new to this opus (or haven't checked it out in a while), now is the perfect time. Here's why...
- Cher was (is) cool - I've never been embarrassed by my pop choices but sometimes music snobs have a very different view. Michael Bolton was cranking out his own brand of pop-rock yet critics were mighty sniffy about his music (though I still maintain Time, Love & Tenderness is a jam). Not so with Cher - there was a (rightful) outpouring of love for the album's lead single, Love and Understanding. The infusion of symphonic rock elevated the lyrical (and still relevant) plea for kindness and tolerance. The single went top ten in the UK and had me singing along with air guitar realness all the live long summer...
- Cher does kick-ass b-sides - while the onslaught of digital music and streaming has bought some great benefits, I still bemoan the loss of the hitherto unreleased b-side of physical releases. It gave the person buying it something special that was unlikely to be played on radio or widely available anywhere else. Love & Understanding had Trail Of Broken Hearts as its non-album track flip. I bought the 3" CD single (remember those?) and was equally taken with Trail as I was with Love. It was a symbiotic fit with the thematic and musical vibe of the album and thus I played this as a bonus track of the long player it was never able to be a part of...
- Cher knew how to give visual thrills - the 1989 smash If I Could Turn Back Time remains synonymous with not only it's ridiculously catchy refrain but also the provocative video. Love Hurts second single, Save Up All Your Tears proved the lady hadn't lost her knack of giving great video. She paraded round in lingerie that accentuated her jaw dropping body before she gussied up in her best dominatrix outfit. It was brilliant representation of a woman taking charge and my safe word was MORE PLEASE...
- Cher had great taste - talking of Save Up All Your Tears, it is a good time to mention that Cher and her team did a tremendous song of breathing new life into dormant tunes. This track had already been recorded by Bonnie Tyler and Robin Beck, yet Cher was able to give it a renewed passion and purpose; you really believed in her ability to give life after love a second chance with this kiss-off anthem. Now imagine that there is a Cher demo of Robin Beck's First Time floating around somewhere...
- Cher taught me how to feel - or at least that it was OK to feel. The album's title track and third single, Love Hurts came at a time when I was dealing with my first quasi-adult unrequited love affair - and it was brutal and awful. Love Hurts had a vocal from Cher that was driven by pain and anguish, emotions that I was vividly familiar with. I related, yet multiple listenings was certainly cathartic and helped me deal with something that I thought was insurmountable. Coming from a religion that taught you to 'turn it off' (like a light switch), it was something new and strangely exhilarating to embrace my own feelings.
Top 25 songs of the week:
25 ~ MKTO, Hands Off My Heart
24 ~ DNCE, Cake By The Ocean
23 ~ Sergey Lazarev, You're The Only One
22 ~ Roxette, Some Other Summer
21 ~ Delta Goodrem, Dear Life
20 ~ Summer Set, Wasted
19 ~ Auryn, Footprints
18 ~ Fleur East, Breakfast
17 ~ Jakil, Tongue Tied (NE)
16 ~ Donny Montell, Fly
15 ~ Little Mix, Hair
14 ~ Gwen Stefani, Misery
13 ~ Pet Shop Boys, Twenty Something
12 ~ Eric Saade, Wide Awake
11 ~ MAX, Lights Down Low
10 ~ Christie ft Dreambeats, Wasn't My Fault
09 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, Fire To The Rain
08 ~ DNCE, Toothbrush
07 ~ MKTO, Superstitious
06 ~ Harriet, Broken For You
05 ~ Gravitonas, For The First Time
04 ~ Take That, Cry
03 ~ Justin Timberlake, Can't Stop The Feeling
02 ~ Bright Light ft Elton John, All In The Name
01 ~ Louisa Johnson, Tears (3 weeks)
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