October 13, 2000 – Cher's last album, 1998's multi-platinum selling, dance-oriented Believe, shot the Oscar-winning actress and legendary singer/performer back to the top of the charts around the world. Never one to do the expected, however, Cher's November 8, 2000 Internet-only release, Not.Comm.ercial reveals a collection of personal songs that offer fans "a specific look into my personality that [they] wouldn't otherwise be afforded," explains Cher. Not.Comm.ercial marks the first time the multi-faceted artist has written and recorded her own material. Also on the album is a previously unreleased song written by late ex-husband Sonny Bono and sung by Cher.

Not to be confused with this Internet-only release, the sultry songstress will soon be working on an "official" follow-up to Believe, which will be released via Cher's longtime label, Warner Bros. Records in March of 2001. Meanwhile, she reveals another side of her musical persona via the autobiographical Not.Comm.ercial, which she co-produced with songwriter Bruce Roberts. Cher recently told the Los Angeles Times that " Not.Comm.ercial" is "very un-Cher like," and calls the CD's songs "dark. I don't have any expectations. I did it for myself," she explains. "It's so personal. I'm just sharing it with other people who might be interested and don't really care what reviewers think." In fact, Cher is putting a warning label on the CD, as the subject matter is darker and the language more colorful that her "commercial" albums.

As such, the songs, ranging from a poignant ode to Kurt Cobain ("The Fall") to "With or Without You," a simple soulful ballad with Cher's distinctive timbre, to "Sisters of Mercy," a musical exorcism reminiscent of "Ode to Billy Joe," are an emotional collection. "The songs have stories behind them," explains Cher. "I wrote 'Fit to Fly' for my grandfather, who is a WW2 veteran, while 'Running' is about me. I've bolted from almost all of my relationships in one way or another. If you listen to the lyrics ('It's hard to hit a moving target...if they can't catch you, they can't hurt you'), they're so specific." "Sisters of Mercy" is about Cher as an infant and her brief time in a Catholic orphanage. "It wasn't as therapeutic for me as it was for my mother," Cher admits of the song. "I listened to the story she told me and wrote it, and when my mother heard the song, she was crying, but I think it was good for her." Cher's personal favorite on the album is "The Fall" -- "I didn't know Kurt Cobain, but after he committed suicide, I got up one morning and just wrote it," she notes. (Sample lyrics: "The good news, if there's any/that you ever lived at all/But our country kills its heroes/we just raise them for...The Fall.")

The original seeds of Not.Comm.ercial were sown in 1994, when music mogul Miles Copeland invited Cher to his castle in France, where varying groups of songwriters gather to create and collaborate. "It was just a great experience," Cher recalls. "I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've always written poetry, and it never really occurred to me to put poetry to music." During her stay in France, Cher worked with songwriter Bruce Roberts, who also produced the album, and Pat Mac Donald of the band Timbuk 3, penning some 10 songs in five days (seven of which are featured on the CD). Back in the States, Cher spent a week with David Letterman's band recording the tracks. Two songs were then added, the only tunes on Not.Comm.ercial from outside writers. Cher pal Shirley Eikhard (Bonnie Raitt's "Something To Talk About") contributed "Born With the Hunger," while Sonny Bono penned "Classified 1A," a Vietnam War protest song written in the 1970s, which was deemed "too controversial" at the time.