It's a Man's World (Cher album)

It's a Man's World is the twenty-first studio album by American singer Cher released on November 6, 1995 by WEA, a label of Warner Music UK. This is also the start of her second stint with Warner Music Group. With an adjusted track list, the album was released in the United States on June 25, 1996 by Reprise Records. As of 1997, the album has sold 700,000 copies worldwide. In the UK the album peaked at number 10 and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling more than 100,000 copies.

It's a Man's World
Studio album by Cher
Released	November 6, 1995 (Europe) June 25, 1996 (North America)
Recorded	1995
Genre	R&B pop[1]
Length	63:31 (Europe) 49:23 (North America)
Label	WEA (Europe) Reprise (North America)
Producer	Craig Kostich (exec.) Trevor Horn Stephen Lipson Christopher Neil Greg Penny
Cher chronology
Greatest Hits: 1965–1992 (1992) It's a Man's World (1995) Believe (1998)
Singles from It's a Man's World
"Walking in Memphis" Released: October 13, 1995 "One by One" Released: January 5, 1996 (Europe) June 4, 1996 (North America) "Not Enough Love in the World" Released: April 12, 1996 "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" Released: August 1996 "Paradise Is Here" Released: December 3, 1996

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	C[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

Album information

It's a Man's World found Cher singing 'unconventional' songs in a style more associated with the Deep South, rather than her more familiar pop and rock roots. The album also stands out for Cher stretching her vocals to head register for such songs as "One by One" and "The Gunman", getting out of her comfort zone of her trademark husky contralto.

Cher signed with Warner Music UK in 1994 and recorded It's a Man's World in London in 1995. That same year the album was released all over Europe with "Walking in Memphis" as its lead off single. In the same year, it was certified gold in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry.[5]

The original album release included fourteen songs, except for the United States edition in 1996, the track list included eleven songs, removing "I Wouldn't Treat a Dog (The Way You Treated Me)", "Don't Come Around Tonite" and "Shape of Things to Come". Although, "I Wouldn't Treat a Dog (The Way You Treated Me)" would be released in the United States as the official b-side to "One By One". The American release was also reviewed by critics as a "mid-'90s R&B/pop phenomenon" due to five songs being remixed to evoke a contemporary R&B feel. The new versions of those songs: "Not Enough Love in the World", "Paradise Is Here", "Angels Running", "What About the Moonlight" and "One by One" were labeled as album versions in the United States. Their new sound carried R&B influences, while their original versions were influenced by Southern rock and blues. Both the original album and the United States edition were released in Australia.

Singles

Five singles were released to promote the album. A cover of Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" served as the lead single off the album in Europe, Australia and Canada. In Europe, the single was a notable hit and charted higher than the original version. It peaked at #11 in the UK and reached the top 20 in several European countries; however it failed to gain notable attention elsewhere. A music video for the song portrayed Cher walking around Memphis dressed as Elvis Presley and singing in a bus. "One by One", co-written by Cher, met more success being released as a second single and the first single in the United States, not only by peaking inside the top 10 in the UK and across Europe but also charting at #52 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #22 in Canada. Three music videos were released to promote the song worldwide, all following a story of an unhappy couple trying to get over their struggles and showing scenes of Cher singing. Two covers, Don Henley's "Not Enough Love in the World" and Frankie Valli's "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore", were released as next singles off the album, both meeting notable chart positions in the UK and Scotland. The final single in the US was a cover of Tina Turner's "Paradise Is Here" which was remixed and in that form reached #11 on the US Dance Club Songs chart. No music videos were released to promote the three latter singles.

Commercial performance

It's a Man's World was successful in Europe. It debuted #28 on the UK Albums Chart on the week of 12 November 1995. The album rose to its peak position of #10 during its thirteenth week on the chart following the commercial success of "One by One". The album spent a total of 22 weeks on the chart, sold over 100,000 copies in the UK and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. It proved to be successful in other European countries peaking inside the top 20 in several of them and #8 in Austria. The album failed to gain notable attention elsewhere peaking #64 on the US Billboard 200 with only 9,000 copies sold in its first week [6] and #46 in Canada. According to Nielsen SoundScan, It's A Man's World sold 194,000 copies in the US and over 700,000 copies worldwide as of 1997.[7][8]

Critical reception

Upon release, the album received generally favorable responses from international music critics. AllMusic's Jose F. Promis praised the album for its "torchy ballads, Western-themed epics, and R&B influences" and described it as "one of the singer's finest, as well as one of her most overlooked and underappreciated [works to date]". He also stated that the album's European mix is better. Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C and appreciated "Walking In Memphis", stating that the song "must be heard to be believed". The Rolling Stone Album Guide rated It's a Man's World two and a half out of five stars.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Walking in Memphis"	Marc Cohn	Christopher Neil	4:00
2.	"Not Enough Love in the World"	Don Henley Danny Kortchmar Benmont Tench	Stephen Lipson	4:25
3.	"One by One"	Anthony Griffiths Cher^[b]	Lipson	5:06
4.	"I Wouldn't Treat a Dog (The Way You Treated Me)"	Daniel Walsh Steve Barri Michael Price Michael Omartian	Greg Penny Neil^[a] Simon Hurrell^[a]	3:38
5.	"Angels Running"	Patty Larkin	Neil	4:42
6.	"Paradise Is Here"	Paul Brady	Lipson	5:06
7.	"I'm Blowin' Away"	Eric Kaz	Lipson	4:05
8.	"Don't Come Around Tonite"	Maia Sharp Mark Addison	Neil	4:38
9.	"What About the Moonlight"	Kathleen York Michael Dorian	Neil	4:20
10.	"The Same Mistake"	Marc Jordan John Capek	Penny Neil^[a] Hurrell^[a]	4:30
11.	"The Gunman"	Paddy McAloon Cher^[b]	Trevor Horn	5:14
12.	"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore"	Bob Gaudio Bob Crewe	Horn	5:16
13.	"Shape of Things to Come"	Horn Lol Creme	Horn	4:08
14.	"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"	James Brown Betty Jean Newsome	Lipson	4:40

North American version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"One by One"	Griffiths Cher^[b]	Lipson Sam Ward^[a]	4:12
2.	"Not Enough Love in the World"	Henley Kortchmar Tench	Lipson Ward^[a]	4:25
3.	"Angels Running"	Larkin	Neil Daniel Abraham^[c]	4:35
4.	"What About the Moonlight"	York Dorian	Neil Ward^[a]	4:18
5.	"Paradise Is Here"	Brady	Lipson Ward^[a]	4:40
6.	"The Same Mistake"	Jordan	Penny Neil^[a] Hurrell^[a]	4:25
7.	"I'm Blowin' Away"	Kaz	Lipson	4:05
8.	"Walking in Memphis"	Cohn	Neil	4:00
9.	"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore"	Gaudio Crewe	Horn	5:13
10.	"The Gunman"	McAloon Cher^[b]	Horn	5:08
11.	"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"	Brown Newsome	Lipson	4:40

Notes

• ^a signifies a remixer
• ^b Cher is credited as composer only in the US edition
• ^c signifies an additional producer

Personnel

• Cher – main vocals
• Anne Dudley – string arrangements

Original versions

• Tracks 1, 5, 8, 9 produced by Christopher Neil
• Tracks 2, 3, 6, 7, 14 produced by Stephen Lipson
• Tracks 4, 10 produced by Greg Penny
• Tracks 11, 12, 13 produced by Trevor Horn

American remixes

• Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5 remixed by Sam Ward
• Track 3 remixed by Daniel Abraham
• "The Gunman" edited by the original song producer, Trevor Horn

Design

• David Scheinmann – photography

Production

• Craig Kostich – executive producer
• Steve Fitzmaurice – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1995–96) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 8 Canadian Albums (RPM)[10] 46 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 91 European Albums (Top 100)[12] 35 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 74 Scottish Albums (OCC)[14] 18 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] 18 UK Albums (OCC)[16] 10 US Billboard 200[17] 64

Year-end charts Chart (1996) Position UK Albums (OCC)[18] 84

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Gold	100,000^^
United States	—	194,000[20]
Summaries
Worldwide	N/A	700,000[21]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. It's a Man's World at AllMusic
2. It's a Man's World at AllMusic
3. Farber, Jim (1996-07-19). "It's a Man's World Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
4. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 158. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone cher album guide.
5. "British album certifications – Cher – It's a Man's World". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Type It's a Man's World in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
6. "Ask Billboard: 'Very Best' Sells Very Well". Billboard. 2003-06-25. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
7. Who's Selling Where. Billboard. 109. Nielsen N.V. 22 February 1997. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
8. "Billboard Magazine issue February 22, 1997". Billboard. 2003-06-25. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
9. "Austriancharts.at – Cher – It's a Man's World" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
10. "RPM 100 Albums". RPM. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
11. "Dutchcharts.nl – Cher – It's a Man's World" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
12. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
13. "Cher - Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
14. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
15. "Swedishcharts.com – Cher – It's a Man's World". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
16. "Cher | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
17. "Cher Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
18. "The Top 200 Artist Albums Of 1996". Retrieved November 6, 2015.
19. "British album certifications – Cher – It's a Man's World". British Phonographic Industry. November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type It's a Man's World in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
20. "Ask Billboard". Billboard. June 25, 2003. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
21. "Billboard Magazine issue February 22, 1997". Billboard. 2003-06-25. Retrieved 2012-03-11.

External links

• Cher at IMDb