Heart of Stone (Cher album)

Background

Heart of Stone was released in 1989 and was Cher's second studio album for Geffen Records. As with her previous album Cher (1987), Peter Asher, Jon Bon Jovi, Diane Warren, Guy Roche and Desmond Child performed songwriting and/or producing duties. Bonnie Tyler and Michael Bolton performed background vocals on the song "Emotional Fire", which was an outtake from Bolton's 1987 album The Hunger, as was "Starting Over" (Demo versions of both songs exist in bootleg form, and have surfaced on YouTube). The album was recorded in late 1988/early 1989, during the third year of Cher's relationship with Rob Camilletti, to whom she dedicated the album.

Heart of Stone reached number ten on the United States Billboard 200, number seven on the UK Singles Chart, and topped the charts in Australia, Heart of Stone became Geffen's first international number-one album. It was Cher's first solo album in the United States (Sonny & Cher's debut album Look at Us reached number two and stayed there for eight weeks) to reach the top 10. Further on in her career, she would go on to have five more top ten albums – Believe, Living Proof, The Very Best of Cher, Closer to the Truth and Dancing Queen. The album has sold more than three million copies in the United States, with 964,000 of those units sold since early 1991, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which began counting actual sales that same year.

The original front cover album art is a painting by Octavio Ocampo that features Cher sitting beside a stone heart. However, when examined in its entirety and from a distance, it is clear this is also a painting of a human skull in profile (note the midriff folds in her dress forming the teeth; see infobox picture). The artwork was changed shortly after its release with more conventional studio photos, making copies with the original artwork collector's items.

Cher recorded two other songs for the album, "Don't Come Cryin' to Me" and "Some Guys", but neither made the final cut. A remixed version of "Don't Come Cryin' to Me" was included on the Geffen compilation album If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits. The reissue of that album, per Cher's request, does not include the song. A demo version of "Some Guys" was included on the "If I Could Turn Back Time" 7- and 12-inch singles.

"Heart of Stone" and "If I Could Turn Back Time" were both slightly remixed for single release. The "Heart of Stone" remix is available on CD on the compilation If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits issued by Geffen Records.

"After All" was used as the love theme for the film Chances Are.

The album produced three top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as a top-20 hit with the title track.

Track listing

Personnel

• Cher – vocals
• Alan Pasqua – keyboards (1)
• Guy Roche – keyboards (1), additional keyboards (3)
• Alan St. Jon – keyboards (2, 9)
• Phillip Ashley – keyboards (3, 5, 10), bass (10)
• Robbie Buchanan – keyboards (4, 6, 12), additional keyboards (10)
• Jon Gilutin – keyboards (4, 6, 12)
• Eric Rehl – synthesizers (7)
• John Andrew Schreiner – acoustic piano (8), synthesizers (8), keyboards (11)
• Jim Lang – additional synthesizers (8)
• Steve Lukather – guitars (1), additional guitars (7)
• Gene Black – additional guitars (1)
• Glenn Sciurba – additional guitars (1)
• John McCurry – guitars (2, 5, 7, 9)
• John Putnam – acoustic guitar (2), electric guitar (2)
• Michael Landau – guitars (3–5, 10, 12)
• Waddy Wachtel – guitars (4, 6, 12)
• Andrew Gold – acoustic guitar (4, 6), 12-string guitar (4), backing vocals (4)
• Blues Saraceno – additional guitars (7)
• Michael Thompson – guitars (8, 11)
• Ron Mancuso – guitars (9)
• John Pierce – bass (1, 8, 11)
• Hugh McDonald – bass (2, 7, 9)
• Neil Stubenhaus – bass (3, 5)
• Leland Sklar – bass (4, 6, 12)
• Mark T. Williams – drums (1), tambourine (1)
• Bobby Chouinard – drums (2, 7, 9)
• John Keane – drums (3, 5, 8, 10, 11)
• Carlos Vega – drums (4, 6, 12)
• Michael Fisher – percussion (4, 6)
• Peter Asher – percussion (6)
• Bashiri Johnson – percussion (10)
• Debra Dobkin – percussion (11)
• Dan Higgins – saxophone (6)
• David Campbell – string arrangements and conductor (6, 12)
• Michael Anthony – backing vocals (1)
• Robin Beck – backing vocals (1)
• Desmond Child – backing vocals (1, 2, 9)
• Jimmy Demers – backing vocals (1, 7)
• Jean McClain – backing vocals (1)
• Maria Vidal – backing vocals (1)
• Brenda Russell – backing vocals (2)
• Diane Warren – backing vocals (2)
• Pattie Darcy – backing vocals (3, 5, 10)
• John Fiore – backing vocals (3, 7, 9)
• Myriam Valle – backing vocals (3, 7, 9, 10)
• Peter Blakeley – backing vocals (4)
• Wendy Matthews – backing vocals (4)
• Suzie Benson – backing vocals (5)
• Kyle Gordon – backing vocals (5)
• Wendy Fraser – backing vocals (6)
• Pauline Frenchette – backing vocals (6)
• Stephanie Spruill – backing vocals (6)
• Michael Bolton – backing vocals (7)
• Louis Merlino – backing vocals (7, 9)
• Bonnie Tyler – backing vocals (7)
• Gene Miller – backing vocals (8, 11)
• Jason Scheff – backing vocals (8)
• Jon Lind – backing vocals (8, 11)
• Vicki Sue Robinson – backing vocals (10)
• Peter Cetera – vocals (12)

Production

• Frank Wolf – associate producer (12)
• Debra Shallman – album coordinator
• Melanie F. Williams – album coordinator
• Cathy Woller – production coordination assistant
• Norman Moore – art direction, design
• Gabrielle Raumberger – art direction (alternate cover)
• Kevin Takishita – art direction, logo design (alternate cover)
• Herb Ritts – photography
• Octavio Ocampo – cover painting (alternate cover)

Technical

• John Golden – mastering at K Disc Mastering (Hollywood, California)
• David Donnelly – mastering supervisor
• Frank Wolf – recording (1, 3–6, 10, 12), mixing (1, 4, 6, 12), additional engineer (8, 11)
• Sir Arthur Payson – recording (2, 7, 9), mixing (7, 9)
• Mick Guzauski – mixing (2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11), recording (8, 11)
• Guy Roche – additional engineer (1)
• Bruce Robb – additional engineer (2, 9)
• Terry Christian – additional engineer (3, 5, 10)
• Jay Healy – additional engineer (3, 5, 10)
• Roger Talkov – additional engineer (3, 5, 10)
• Tom Perme – drum technician (6)
• Paul Klingberg – additional engineer (8, 11)
• Ken Allardyce, Stacy Baird, Tom Biener, Charlie Brocco, George Cowan, Bridget Daly, Jeff DeMorris, Ryan Dorn, Ben Fowler, Paula "Max" Garcia, Clark Germaine, Keith Goldstein, Larry Goodwin, Rob Hart, John Herman, Debbie Johnson, Mike Krowiak, Robin Laine, Jay Lean, Tim Leitner, Paul Logus, Mario Luccy, Richard McKernan, Barbara Milne, Joe Pirrera, Charley Pollard, Craig Porteils, Ray Pyle, Duane Seykora, Dary Sulich, Rich Travali and Jeff Welch – assistant engineers

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

References

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