It was amusing when Cher told Vh1's "Behind the Music" that, before she and Sonny reignited their careers via their hit variety TV show, they were relegated to clubs singing bad cover songs and Son had to wear a tuxedo. Here they're pictured in all their mid-'70's celebrity glory on the enclosed booklet, and Sonny's in a tux! Worse, many of the songs in their live repertoire are mediocre cover songs ("Once in a Lifetime", "More Today than Yesterday", etc.), stuff they should've left behind. Still, the performances (from 1971 and 1973 shows) are fairly priceless, with scripted but still funny put-downs between the couple and Bono obviously in charge. The bonus tracks are odds-n-ends, some of which are worth noting: two versions of their much-maligned Vietnam song "Classified 1A"--Cher's lead vocal and later Sonny's (but where is Cher's B-side from this single, "Don't Put It On Me"?); the haunting "Real People", sung in a rapturously low-key; "Our Last Show", a little-heard Sonny solo track that touches deeply on the past. "Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer" is edited from the LP version (a disappointment), and there are too many tracks from Cher's "Dark Lady" (and not even the best ones, by the way), but this 2-disc package still has much to offer and a very nice booklet with photos and gossip. A-
