Love hurts follows the same formula as the Cher and Heart of stone albums that had rejuvenated Cher's pop career in the late 1980s. The result, however, is particularly formulaic, with Cher's vocals sounding largely uninspired and the production and backing musicians content to be obvious. The moderate hit singles Love and understanding and Save up all your tears are pleasantly melodic; apart from those tracks, though, only a surprising cover of the obscure Kiss song, A world without heroes, is really worth seeking out. Love hurts didn't sell nearly as well as its predecessors, and has all the markings of a woman going through the motions. Not surprisingly, Cher retired the "metal babe" persona after this album and would wait five years before releasing another disc. (Joseph McCombs)
In 1975 Nazareth had an unexpected hit with their power ballad reinterpretation of the Everly Brothers classic Love hurts (Bryant).

1 Save up all your tears (Warren/Child) 2 Love hurts (Bryant) 3 Love and understanding (D. Warren) 4 Fires of Eden (M. Goldenberg) 5 I'll never stop loving you (S. Shifrin, D. Cassidy, J. Wetton) 6 One small step (B. Mann, W. Waldman, B. Parker) 7 A world without heroes (P. Stanley, G. Simmons, L. Reed, B. Ezrin) 8 Could've been you (A. Roman, B. Halligan) 9 When love calls your name (J. Scott, T. Snow) 10 When lovers become strangers (D. Warren) 11 Who you gonna believe (S. Fontano, J. Marquez) 12 The shoop shoop song (It's in his kiss) (R. Clark) Musicians: Cher: vocals Steve Lukather: guitars, producer (2) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) Lisa Dal Bello: vocals (bckgr) Andrew Gold: guitars, vocals (bckgr) Michael Thompson: guitars Connie Scott: vocals Josh Sklair: guitar Robbie Buchanan: piano Joanie Bye: vocals (bckgr) Luis Conte: percussion Laura Creamer: vocals (bckgr) Mickey Curry: drums Kenny Edwards: vocals (bckgr) Mike Fisher: percussion, tambourine David Garfield: keyboards Steve George: vocals (bckgr) John Kalodner: producer Larry Klein: bass Marc LaFrance: vocals (bckgr) Michael Landau: guitar Richard Marx: vocals (bckgr) Jean McClain: vocals (bckgr) Hugh McDonald: bass Jim McGillveray: percussion Paul Mirkovich: vocals (bckgr) Gunnar Nelson: vocals (bckgr) Richard Page: vocals (bckgr) David Paich: keyboards Jeff Porcaro: drums Mike Porcaro: bass Guy Roche: synthesizer, producer Bob Rock: producer Glenn Sciurba: guitar Keith Scott: guitar David Steele: vocals (bckgr) Joe Turano: vocals (bckgr) Myriam Naomi Valle: vocals (bckgr) Carlos Vega: drums Diane Warren: vocals (bckgr), producer John Webster: keyboards Richie Zito: guitar, keyboards, producer Randy "The Emperor" Jackson: bass Mark Williams: drums Prisoner Take me home I paralyze Cher Heart of stone

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