Sonny & Cher

Fifty songs spread among two CDs, various attributed to Cher, Sonny & Cher, and even "Caesar & Cleo," through which we trace the evolution of this duo from a doo wop-influenced pop team into folk-rock and protest mavens, to the media's reigning early-'70s pop/rock team. The sound is very good, and the range of music is almost dizzying, as the influence of Phil Spector wafts in and out over the recordings, and the duo turns its talents toward just about every sound that was selling at the time. There's a huge amount of good music here, much of it familiar from other collections, including "Sunny," "I Feel Something in the Air," and "All I Really Want to Do" – other notable cuts, apart from such solo Sonny Bono stuff as "The Revolution Kind" and "Laugh at Me," include Cher's renditions of "Alfie" and "Needles and Pins" and her first, failed, "comeback" attempt, "Classified 1A."

Sonny & Cher's third album, and their last success for four years, lacked the unity of their earlier work. By the beginning of 1967, psychedelia was taking hold, but Sonny Bono was at a loss to write or produce music in that mode. Instead, he came up with "The Beat Goes On," a huge hit that sold the album.

It's difficult to complain about the contents of this double-disc set, including 38 songs drawn from Sonny & Cher's second era of success (1971-1974 on Kapp Records), nicely remastered and assembled in impeccably logical fashion. The duo's (and Cher's solo) studio cuts make up the first disc, while the second is comprised of songs from the duo's two live recordings done two years apart in Las Vegas.

The Very Best of Cher is the eighth compilation album by American singer-actress Cher, released on April 1, 2003. The album includes many of Cher's most popular songs, such as "If I Could Turn Back Time", "Believe", "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" and "Take Me Home". It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 albums chart and later reached number four on the issue date of May 17. The Very Best of Cher was released by Warner Bros. Records, MCA, and Geffen Records. The original U.S. edition features 21 tracks, while the various later editions typically feature more songs or different selections. Live! The Farewell Tour is the only live album by Cher. The album was recorded at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, United States on a show from her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. The album was released on limited edition form, with only 200,000 copies available. Packed with 18 hits, the album debuted at a peak of 40 on the Billboard 200. The album was also included in the Special Edition of The Very Best of Cher.