Dancing Queen Reviews

In one of her many hilarious moments of self-awareness, Cher proclaimed herself the Lazarus of pop music onstage during her set at the 1999 Divas Live show. It was right before she performed “Believe,” but it could just as easily reflect her seemingly inexhaustible ability to disappear and reappear in the zeitgeist at will. Cher’s been in full grand diva performative mode since Believe, check her limited film and TV roles where she’s essentially playing grandiose versions of her public persona, and her small supporting part in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is no different.

All of that brings us to this moment, and album. Cher, as she tells it, had so much fun during her time making Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again that she thought it would be a lark to record an album of ABBA covers. The results are a mixed bag, somewhere between karaoke and inspired overhauls bound to be worshipped by the cadre of gay men who remain eternally loyal (hi!) and probably no one else. (Hey, not a bad thing. It just means she’s a smart businesswoman playing to her audience.)

As these things go, Dancing Queen ain’t half bad. Sure, some of it sounds exactly like what you think Cher fronting ABBA would sound like, but the part that dares to be different is better. She amps up the club-ready sound on “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight),” finds that “SOS” and “Waterloo” can handle harder/more modern sounds and not gain a pound, and turns “One of Us” away from its island groove into a stunning string-laden ballad. It’s a moment that produces absolute chills and a potent reminder of what a strong singer she can be with the right material.

While the reinventions are typically solid, a few of the straight choices are quite fetching. “The Winner Takes It All” doesn’t need much to be effective. Really, all it needs is a solid and committed vocal to delivering the tortured lyrics with depth and meaning, and Cher takes to the part like the legend she is. Same goes for “Fernando,” where Cher adopts the narrator’s point-of-view so completely you’re entirely sold on the image of Cher romancing a Mexican revolutionary and reminiscing about the experience.

Still, that can’t account for the flagrantly dull or curious choices like a version of “The Name of the Game” that just falls flat, a “Chiquitita” that bogs down the second half of an album already overburdened with ballads, and a stiff-jointed “Mamma Mia.” Call me crazy, but I’d love to hear Cher (and her Auto-Tune) unleashed on “Lay All Your Love on Me,” or a solo “Super Trouper” after watching her sing the hell out of it with the rest of the film’s ensemble during the closing credits. What Dancing Queen really needed was more mid-tempo or disco-ready songs to balance out the balladry, and ABBA has plenty of choices to fill out those ranks.

Could Dancing Queen have been better? Sure, but it’s Cher doing ABBA with a sense of fun, alternating between tongue firmly lodged in cheek and tear-stained resolve in the face of heartache. Frankly, I welcome the pleasing audio of the gay men’s celestial goddess bringing her sequins and glitter to the Swedish quartet’s sleek, strong pop.

DOWNLOAD: “Fernando”