1979 Cher – Prisoner

Prisoner (initially planned to be released under the title Mirror Image) was Cher’s second album of 1979, and was released nine months after Take Me Home.

This was the last album of Cher’s to date to be produced by Bob Esty, with Esty and Michelle Aller contributing several of the songs. Compared to the disco style of Take Me Home, Prisoner featured a relatively New Wave sound. Prisoner also marked the first time that Cher released an album which featured songs that were written exclusively for her.

The producer wanted to take advantage of Cher’s image and the media obsession with her. On the front cover of the album, she appears to be completely naked, with long hair draped to cover her breasts. She is wrapped in chains and wearing a wide metal collar. Her wrists and ankles are tightly shackled with wide metal bands. The cover spurred controversy among some women’s rights groups for her perceived “sex slave” image.

Originally the album was planned to be titled “Mirror Image,” pointing out Cher’s known brave-side and her newly found ‘wild disco’ side. Since Cher wasn’t really into the album (she wanted to “rock out”) she kept on refusing songs on one hand and adding songs on the other hand. “Boys & Girls”, a more rock-based song was added by Cher. Since there was nothing left from the album’s original plan, the title was changed into “Prisoner” before release.

Prisoner has been released on CD together with the first Casablanca Records album Take me Home, in a CD entitled, The Casablanca Years. This CD unites all the tracks from both albums, merging them onto one single CD.