So I have been having an intense day (musically speaking) enjoying the rush of excitement caused by Cher firing out her dance-meteorite Woman's World to an unsuspecting internet community. There have been many incarnations enjoyed by the singer, with no era being artistically fruitless. Back in the early 80s before kick-starting her first main solo comeback as an actress, rock star, mom and cougar, her musical identity for the rest of the decade was already emerging. An that of straddles the line between Cher's glamourous 60s and 70s past and the biker rock chick mom persona is the I Paralyze album, which is gem after gem and does it without sounding contrived like a lot of the subsequent 80s stuff did. The 60s girl-group pastiche Rudy is nostalgic and glorious, Games is a broody Pointer Sisters style ballad (Slowhand meets Fire), the sleazy country club singer vibe of the title track ("honey you're as real as a dollar bill") is a song she wants to revisit, the after-hours torch ballad When The Love Is Gone is one of her best ever (there wouldn't be a dry eye in the drag club), she makes The Baby's Back On The Street Again something of an ABBA sounding prozzy anthem, the swooning Walk With Me is stunning, The Book of Love is the token comedy bender ("hey ho - the book of love" gets me every time, as does her yelling of "oh stuuuupid cuuupid set me free", they are almost worthy of Prisoner's reckless excess), and Do I Ever Cross Your Mind is so atypically soft and lovely it needs to be heard. You just can't write off any period or any decade.
For a more detailed look at this album, here is my original review from three years ago (I apologize in advance if it is unreadable - sometimes I am just lost in music and obviously in a gay frenzy to capture the enjoyment into words, or something of that nature).
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