相信 (1998)

Believe is the twenty-second studio album by American singer and actress Cher, released on October 22, 1998, by WEA and Warner Bros. Records. Following the commercial disappointment of her previous studio album It's a Man's World (1995), her record company encouraged her to record a dance-oriented album, in order to move into a more mainstream sound. Cher started working on the album in the spring of 1998 with British producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling at the Dreamhouse Studios in London. The album was dedicated to her former husband Sonny Bono, who had died earlier that year.

"Believe", along with "Strong Enough", represents a complete musical departure from her previous works, consisting of Eurodisco-oriented styles, while its lyrical topics include freedom, individualism and relationships. The album features some of the new technology of the time, like the usage of Auto-Tune, which would eventually become known as the "Cher effect". Upon release, the album received mixed reviews from music critics, who commended Cher's vocal performance, while others criticized the high amount of Auto-Tune and its overall production. In 2000, Believe was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Commercially, Believe proved to be extremely successful, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of four million copies across the United States. The album topped the charts in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal, and Quebec, as well as in the top ten in France, Spain, United Kingdom, and several other international territories. As of 2023, Believe has sold over 11 million copies worldwide.

Four singles were released from the album. The first single, "Believe", topped the charts in a total of 21 countries, including the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed at number one for four weeks. "Strong Enough" was released as the second single from the album; it peaked at numbers 57 and 5 in the US and UK, respectively. "All or Nothing" and "Dov'è l'amore" were released as the third and fourth singles respectively, both becoming moderately successful. In support of Believe, Cher embarked on her fourth concert tour, Do You Believe?, which became one of the highest-grossing tours ever for a female artist at that time. In celebration of the album's twenty-fifth anniversary a deluxe edition was released on November 3, 2023.

Background

After Cher's previous rock-inflected album It's a Man's World (1995) received a lukewarm response, Warner Music UK head Rob Dickins suggested that Cher record a dance album to better connect with her gay audience. Initially, Cher expressed reluctance, stating that she no longer found dance music appealing, as she felt it lacked "real songs". However, interest in Cher's potential as a dance artist had already been growing. A remix of her 1996 single "One by One" by New York City DJ Junior Vasquez had found success in the club scene and highlighted a demand for Cher in the genre. DMA magazine's Dean Ferguson observed that the remix left fans "starving for a dance mix from Cher", prompting Warner to push for a dance-oriented album.

Around this time, Dickins came across songwriter Brian Higgins at Warner's London office and asked him to pitch songs for the project. Three days later, a tape with sixteen of Higgins's songs arrived. Reflecting on the demo, Dickins recalled, "The ninth song was 'Believe.' I thought: 'Cher could do this chorus, especially the lyrics, with her private life the way it is. She's gone through all these things.'" When Dickins asked the songwriter to complete "Believe", the result was a "terrible" song that still needed extensive work.

Cher began working on Believe in the summer of 1998 in London, meeting with producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling, who had previously worked with Dickins; additional producers included Todd Terry ("Taxi Taxi") and Junior Vasquez, who had originally worked on "Dov'è l'amore", but when he sent back his version from New York, it was rejected by Dickins, who decided instead to give the production of the track to Taylor and Rawling as well. Cher also worked with long-time collaborator Diane Warren (who wrote "Takin' Back My Heart") and covered two songs: "The Power" (Amy Grant) and "Love Is the Groove" (Betsy Cook). Furthermore, she decided to include a remix of her 1988 single "We All Sleep Alone" from her 1987 Cher album.

The "Believe" single was originally written only by Brian Higgins, Matt Gray, Stuart McLennen and Tim Powell, and circulated at Warner Bros. as an unwanted demo for months. Mark Taylor said, "Everyone loved the chorus but not the rest of the song; As we were already writing other songs for Cher, Rob asked us if we could sort it out. Two of our writers, Steve Torch and Paul Barry, got involved and eventually came up with a complete song that Rob and Cher were happy with."