Friday, June 12, 2009

Black Rose - Black Rose (1980)



Black Rose was a band which featured Cher on vocals and her then boyfriend Les Dudek on guitar and vocals. Their only release was this 1980 album for Casablanca Records. If you read about this album and were expecting an album similar to "Allman & Woman - Two The Hard Way", then you're in for a surprise. Not sure it'll be a pleasant one, though. This album has none of the flash of the Les Dudek albums. Instead it's a Power Pop exercise on which Cher gets to rock out some. It's not bad, just not terribly good either. I prefer the soulful sounds of her album with Gregg anytime. But since I'm a sucker for Les Dudek, I just had to complete my collection. So, are there any good Les Dudek songs on here? Hmm, sort of. Actually, he only gets to sing lead vocals on one track, a duet called "You Know It". I like that song, and it would fit nicely as a bonus track on his "Gypsy Ride" album. So, for that you should get this. Tricky move to start an album with a song entitled "Never Should've Started". For completists only..

11 comments:

  1. Thank you so much!!!

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  2. Glad some appreciate this post. But tell me, does anyone actually enjoy this album? I mean, besides "You Know It", I think this is completely forgettable...

    Peach out,
    Harley

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  3. Skydogg said...
    Glad some appreciate this post. But tell me, does anyone actually enjoy this album? I mean, besides "You Know It", I think this is completely forgettable...

    so is a femi-nazi like Cher.

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  4. Hey SkyDog...
    Thanks much for posting this album.
    Yar...Cher's extremely forgettable, although she does sing her skinny butt off on a few tunes (Never Should've Started, 88 Degrees)...but it's the Les Dudek performance I really dig on this album.
    Not many were making such nice, melodic use of the vibrato...Les is worth the price of admission here.
    Thanks again!

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  5. link is dead
    please repost

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  6. Still working, Robert. Click on last word of each post.

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  7. This is great �� always loved Cher and with Les I'm in!

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