The Music's No Good Without You

"The Music's No Good Without You"
Single by Cher
from the album Living Proof
B-side	"A Different Kind of Love Song"
Released	November 5, 2001 (2001-11-05)
Recorded	2001
Genre	Disco dance-pop
Length	4:42
Label	Warner Bros WEA
Songwriter(s)	Cher James Thomas Mark Taylor Paul Barry
Producer(s)	Mark Taylor James Thomas Jeff Taylor
Cher singles chronology
"Più che puoi" (2001) "The Music's No Good Without You" (2001) "Song for the Lonely" (2002)
Licensed audio
"The Music's No Good Without You" on YouTube

"The Music's No Good Without You" is a song recorded by American singer Cher for her twenty-fourth studio album, Living Proof. It was released in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2001, by WEA, while in the United States, it was released in 2002. The song reached the top 20 in many countries worldwide, expanding Cher's chart success into five decades.

Background and composition

After releasing her album Believe in 1998 and achieving significant success with its singles, particularly the lead single "Believe", Cher released her compilation, The Greatest Hits in 1999, and later released Not.com.mercial, in 2000, her first album not sold in stores but exclusively online.^[1] Later, in 2001, Cher reunited with the UK-rooted production team of Taylor and Brian Rawlings, who helmed the single "Believe" and much of the ensuing album. Cher also collaborated with Rick Nowels, British musician/producer Chicane, and Norwegian team Stargate. Cher described the album, titled Living Proof, as "a record with a notably positive lyrical tone." She further added, "[...] This had subconsciously become an album filled with love and warmth. It was a pleasant surprise, and it's certainly an appropriate time to put some positive energy out into the world."^[2]

"The Music's No Good Without You" was released as the album's first British single on November 5, 2001.^[3] The single was also released as a double A-side single, along with "A Different Kind of Love Song", on August 13, 2002.^[4] "The Music's No Good Without You" was written by Cher, James Thomas, Mark Taylor and Paul Barry, while production was done by Taylor, with co-production by Thomas and Jeff Taylor.^[5] The song is drenched in hypnotic synth lines and computer-savvy vocal effects.^[2]

Critical reception

The song received mostly mixed reviews from music critics. Kerry L. Smith of AllMusic gave a negative review, writing that, "the lingering sense of loss and longing echoing through on tracks like 'The Music's No Good Without You' suggest that maybe Cher isn't the only one left still waiting for something truly magical to happen on this record."^[6] Tony Peregrin of PopMatters called it one of the album's imperfections, "where Cher’s voice has been manipulated to such an extent she sounds like the embodiment of a haunted extra-terrestrial, whatever that is."^[7]

Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine was more favorable, writing that, "Cher's voice is virtually unrecognizable on the French techno thumper that would have made a brave lead single here in the U.S. as well."^[8]

Chart performance

The song became a top-10 hit in Canada, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, while elsewhere, it became either a top-20 or top-40 hit. With a peak of number eight on the UK Singles Chart, Cher became the only female recording artist to have top 10 hits in every decade, beginning in the 1960s (her first top-10 hit was "All I Really Want to Do" in 1965). It was Cher's 12th consecutive and 33rd overall top-40 single in the UK and the last single released until "I Hope You Find It" in 2013.

In the United States, the album Living Proof was not released until February 2002, and its lead single was "Song for the Lonely". By the time "The Music's No Good Without You", along with "A Different Kind of Love Song", was released as a single in the United States, Cher was already on tour, which led to a lack of promotion. "The Music's No Good Without You" was exclusively released as a club single in the US only; the song peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Music video

Cher in the music video for "The Music's No Good Without You".

The accompanying music video for "The Music's No Good Without You" was directed by Nigel Dick, who had previously directed Cher's music videos for "Believe" and "Strong Enough". It was filmed on October 7–8, 2001, on an elaborate sound stage with a "spaced out" design at Nikken Building, in Irvine, California.^[9][10] The director commented, "Cher is about the only other person I know who knows anything about Gormenghast – and that was my model for this video".^[9] The video follows the concept of the lyrics of the song. In the music video Cher is an outer space queen who is sad because her lover has left her. Throughout the whole video she writes a letter claiming that she knows he doesn't need her anymore. In the end she places the letter in an empty bottle and sends it floating into space. It appears that this had not been the first letter that she had sent to him because there are dozens of bottles floating in space.

A remix video was made for "The Music's No Good Without You". The remix video was the entitled Almighty Edit and the remix used for the video was the radio edit of the Almighty mix. The video was officially released by Warner Bros. as a promo only.

In 2001 the video for "The Music's No Good Without You" was commercially released in the UK on a box set which included the video in PAL format. In the box set the song and three promotional pictures were also included.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2001–2002) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[11] 23 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 24 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] 28 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[14] 31 Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[15] 5 Denmark Airplay (Tracklisten)[16] 12 Denmark (Tracklisten)[17] 14 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[18] 21 Europe (European Radio Top 50)[19] 1 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[20] 19 France (SNEP)[21] 45 Germany (GfK)[22] 27 Ireland (IRMA)[23] 25 Italy (FIMI)[24] 4 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[25] 21 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[26] 25 Norway (VG-lista)[27] 20 Portugal (AFP)[28] 6 Romania (Romanian Top 100)[29] 5 Russia Airplay (Music & Media)[30] 12 Scotland (OCC)[31] 8 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[32] 8 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 13 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 22 UK Club Chart (Music Week)[35] 11 UK Singles (OCC)[36] 8 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[37] 19

Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[38] 125 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[39] 182 UK Singles (OCC)[40] 178 Chart (2002) Position Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[41] 150

References

1. Promis, Jose F. "Not.Com.mercial - Cher | Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
2. "Cher Offers 'Living Proof'". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
3. "Reviews – For Records Released on November 5, 2001" (PDF). Music Week. October 27, 2001. p. 25. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
4. "iTunes - A Different Kind of Love Song / The Music's No Good Without You (Maxi-Single) by Cher". iTunes. August 13, 2002. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
5. Living Proof (inlay cover). Cher. Warner Bros. Records. 2001. p. 3.
6. Smith, Kerry L. "Living Proof - Cher | Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
7. Peregrin, Tony (February 25, 2002). "Cher: Living Proof | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
8. Cinquemani, Sal (January 21, 2002). "Cher: Living Proof | Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
9. "PRODUCTIONS 2001". NigelDick.com. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
10. Roseberry, Tony (October 10, 2001). "NEW VIDEO OUT OF THIS WORLD". Cher.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2001. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
11. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
12. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
13. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
14. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
15. "Cher Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
16. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You" (in Danish). Tracklisten. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
17. "danskehitlister". danskehitlister.dk. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
18. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 47. November 24, 2001. p. 63. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
19. "Eurochart Hot 100 Single" (PDF). Music and Media. Vol. 19, no. 52. December 22, 2001. p. 32. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
20. "Cher: The Music's No Good Without You" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
21. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
22. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
23. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Music's No Good Without You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
24. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 49. December 8, 2001. p. 72. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
25. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 50, 2001" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
26. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
27. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You". VG-lista. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
28. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 20, no. 5. January 26, 2002. p. 29. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
29. "Arhiva romanian top 100". SC Vento Consultanta. Archived from the original on May 14, 2005. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
30. "Major Market Airplay – Russia" (PDF). Music & Media. January 19, 2002. p. 31. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
31. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
32. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
33. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You". Singles Top 100. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
34. "Cher – The Music's No Good Without You". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
35. "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental insert). December 8, 2001. p. 17. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
36. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
37. "Cher Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
38. "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2001". Jam!. Archived from the original on July 26, 2002. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
39. "Jaarlijsten 2001" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
40. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2001" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
41. "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2002 (Part 2)". Jam!. January 14, 2003. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004.

External links

• Official Cher site
• Warner official site
• Cher at IMDb