BARBRA STREISAND NEW CD 2011

[karl]

That's It Emotion, I also like 'Til I Loved You

[mariana44]

"Til I loved you" was another one of my favourite Barbra cds-I loved the title duet with Don Johnson

[john]

I don't have many of her songs, but there are 2 particular songs I like of hers, both duets, "I Finally Found Someone" with Bryan Adams from the film The Mirror Has Two Faces, and "Tell Him" with Celine Dion.

[paul jh]

I agree with everyone preferring her 60s and 70s recordings. I adore that live recording of Sweet Inspiration/Where You Lead. And People was one of my favourite songs when I was a little kid and it remains a favourite. I also liked the Wet album and still love No More Tears (Enough Is Enough). Niagara is beautiful and I think she did one of the best versions of Come In From The Rain.

I saw a community theatre production of Company on Friday night. It was terrible, so I had to find my copy of The Broadway Album and hear the proper way to sing Being Alive and The Ladies Who Lunch. That album has some great stuff on it; perhaps it's a bit dated, but I still love it.

[mariana44]

Hi Paul-good to see you-I guess you have had a busy time lately--there is a lot to catch up on, that's for sure.

[jon]

I'm not a huge Streisand fan but I remember listening to a few of her albums several years ago which have stuck in the memory: 1967's "Simply Streisand" contains songs like "More Than You Know" and "The Nearness of You" and I like her rendition of these, and I have a clear memory of listening to the "Wet" album when it came out in 1979: I particularly remember "Come Rain Or Come Shine" and "Splish Splash" on this album. I used to have them on tape but haven't heard them for years. I remember also once reading that Johnny Mathis was a major influence on her singing style, which can be clearly detected, especially in her earlier albums.

[Terence Lee]

Barbra loved Joni James when she was growing up. That's one singer I am not familiar with as I only have a double album Ti Voglio Bene / Je T'Aime on 1 CD. I found her voice pleasant but not especially distinctive.

[karl]

Joni James goes way back, I remember when I was a child someone gave us a 78 by her, I had never heard of her and have never heard of her since but her
name stuck in my mind.

[Terence Lee]

Gosh, Joni James was already singing when the 78s were around?
Sepia Records in UK has remastered and released many classic recordings from 78s on CD complete with rare pics and extensive liner notes. They use Cedar to remove the scratches and still retain the brilliance of the recordings. I have many of their CDs.

[mariana44]

I have received my new cd of Barbra Streisand--after my first one arrived smashed !! Unusual for Amazon, but they replaced it for me.

My verdict on the cd--I think there were some much nicer songs from the Bermans that could have been included, and that goes for the 2nd cd, with Bergman songs previously recorded by Barbra, with some other really lovely songs that could also have been on there but were not.

I guess my favourite track is "Nice and Easy", although I do not think it is a typical Bergman song, and in fact I only realised recently that they had written it.

My least favourite was "Windmills of your mind"--purely because I really do not like that song.

But something I did notice was that her voice seemed very strained at times---it was not a good sound, and I have never heard her sing like that before--I know she is a perfectionist, so I am surprised that she let those tracks out--but it just goes to show--in the end, no matter who you are, or how rich you are--your age will catch up on you !!

On the whole--yes, i like it--but it could have been better, with a few different song choices.

[Terence Lee]

I couldn't agree with you more Mariana. When Barbra scaled the high notes in The Same Hello The Same Goodbye, my friend squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. He remarked that this song really shows that her voice has aged and perhaps the song was arranged in the wrong key for her. But I told him that it could not be transposed down anymore as the low notes were already perhaps the lowest she could touch. Then I played him another song Something New In My Life and he says that he's surprised Barbra does not overdub the imperfect high raspy notes we heard since she has a reputation for being a perfectionist. This is from a guy who can sing the Yentl songbook from the 1st song to the last A Piece Of Sky.

I don't know how your copy sounds like Mariana but in my locally-pressed copy, I thought the sound engineer added too much reverb to make her voice sound richer. So it's like she's singing in a cave!

The track I loved most is the title track What Matters Most.

[Eman]

Thanks for the reviews all. I'm going to have to pick up a copy this afternoon after work. Terrence, I understand about how local pressing plants can make something sound really bad. They used to do it all the time when I lived in the Philippines and I bought the locally pressed lps. UGH worse was the cassettes, so I opted and shelled out a little more $$$ and bought the "imported" U.S or U.K versions if and when available.

[mariana44]

Thanks Terence for your comments--I am glad it is not just me !!

The title track is a lovely song--it is still quite new for me, so I need to get used to it.

I had the feeling that her age is now against her at certain times--over times she sounded great-depending a lot on the song, I guess.

Looking forward to your comments Eman.

[Eman]

Ok, here's my take on Babs' new cd. I stopped off after work to pick it up for my Mum and she was quite delighted. So we put it on the stereo and I will be honest, yeeeechhhhhh... You all were right you could hear her make some clunker notes and her range isn't the same. My Mum the life long Babs fan said, it was good for what it is but she should just quit while she's ahead, but it was a valiant effort on her part to put something out that was of quality. I really didn't care too much for her song choices either, however it was a refreshing change from all the current female singers who are just out to do their "vocal gymnastics". With that said, I would just give the cd a grade of "C" for effort.

[mariana44]

Well, well-looks like we all have the same opinion here--we cannot all be wrong !!