Love Is The Answer

by

Barbra Streisand

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Taken as a whole, this album is stunning. But the revelation is DISC 2! I have been loving Barbra Streisand for ages. I remember when my mother first introduced me to the sound of her voice as a little girl. I was enthralled with the sheer beauty of it. There is such an unnerving assuredness to her vocals that you just can't be denied. She will always be one of the most superlative stylists when it comes to lyrical interpretation. She is just so marvelous at it that you just forget about how gifted she is with phrasing and just fall and wrap yourself in the lushness of her voice.

Disc 2 allows that pure lushness in her tone to shine. It doesn't have the swell of the orchestra, it is more paired down and her voice as we all know has aged marvelously. As she has aged, and we have as well, you're not only startled by its clarity but also by its richness of tone. When she sings the opening lines of "Here's to Life: No complaints and no regrets/I Still Believe in Chasing dreams and placing bets," you just know its experience she's drawing from.

The album works so well because as a loyal fan, or a newcomer, there is a pacing that builds up a relationship with the listener. A natural intimacy is achieved with DISC 2. Songs such as "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," and "Make Someone Happy," have an immediacy that can't go unacknowledged. Especially with "Make Someone Happy," the woman can still belt that is well known, but here she reigns it in, giving just enough to draw you in closer and closer but not fudging you on the context of the lyric; a lovely rendition.

A beautiful album from a beautiful, gifted legend.

Barbra Streisand has always been vibrant. The key word is "has". She could take any song and make you feel like you were hearing it for the first time and no matter how old the song was, it didn't sound dated. Lately, she's fallen into a creative coma and has been busy taking the easy way out creatively (at least with her music. I accept that her personal life may be another story).

Perhaps there are too many people around her willing to acquiesce to any suggestion. Perhaps recording albums is extremely low on her priority list. Perhaps it is her musical advisor, Jay Landers, who writes those redundant, verbose novels of appreciation in all her liner notes of the past 10+ years (and as the guy who got her to sing "Coming In and Out of My Life" back in 1981, he should never be allowed near her again!). Perhaps an idyllic life on the west coast has anesthetized her to her previous ability to express emotion (make your next album in NYC!). Anyway, this is the album Edie Gorme always wanted to make, and that is NOT a compliment. Although after hearing Diana Krall's latest CD, "Quiet Nights", we should not be surprised. That one is also a turgid, tepid affair lacking a pulse. Just read the reviews on that!

To be fair, there are moments when just the sound of her voice can "almost" over come the lethargic backgrounds, but c'mon Barbra, PLEASE rejuvenate! And do your vocal exercises! (A couple hours a day in exchange for millions of dollars is a small sacrifice, don't you think?) A little hoarseness for effect is GREAT, but the cracking in "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is downright blasphemous! Who the hell approved that?!?

If you want to hear Barbra be Barbra -- on a jazz album -- pair her with The Bad Plus (or at least Jamie Cullum), load her up on Geritol, and let her rip! Now THAT would be an album for the ages!

She is my favorite singer of all time, and at her best she is unparalleled, but it hurts to lose her to mediocrity!