I have received hundreds of emails asking why I have not reviewed Guilty Pleasures (GP), the sequel to Guilty.  This time around, I thought I would give the recording a number of listenings and see if the CD could survive repeated listenings.  Or better, to see if I could survive repeated listenings.

Well, it’s Halloween and I’m still alive.  Before I delve into the CD per se, let me answer the most obvious question:

·       Can she still sing?

Well, let’s say Barbra Streisand is one lucky diva.  At 63, she still is recording.  It is not uncommon that seniors of that age can still sing-if they have taken care of their voices.  However, in her case, Barbra spent many of her best years not practicing her singing and it shows.  There are arguably no singers who had more natural talent than she did, but lack of practice affects all great talents.  At this time, it is safe to say she has about half the voice she did in the 1960s.  What was once one of the most resonant voices ever heard (a resonance once referred to by some as her “viola sound”) is now so thin there are phrases in GP where I could swear she sounds exactly like Geri Halliwell (former Spice Girl) or even Britney Spears.

Not only is the resonance not there, but it has been replaced by a shrill sound as she reaches her higher notes (very evident in Above the Law where she tries a string of higher notes in rapid sequence).  Even her lower notes are starting to sound strained, leaving her with about 6 notes in the middle which sound decent.  And heaven help her if she starts to get loud!  On GP, she conveniently avoids those kinds of situations.  Most of GP is sung in a soft, almost whisper-like manner.

It is clear that she can no longer hold her ground against the likes of Celine Dion, Linda Eder, Lee Ann Rimes or Kelly Clarkson.  But as I said before, she is one lucky diva.  We live in the times where Ashlee Simpson is No. 1 on Billboard.  In other words, we live in the times where you don’t have to be a great singer to be successful.  If Ashlee, Lindsey Lohan, JLo, Madonna, etc., can succeed, why can’t Barbra?  Even with her diminished voice, Barbra is better than these ladies.

Barbra is also very fortunate that modern recording techniques can dramatically make a voice sound a lot better (i.e., the same techniques used by lesser singers to sound better).  Still, the engineers can’t make her sound like she did 40 years ago.  I was playing the CD in my car the other day and my passenger (who is Jewish and grew up in New York) couldn’t figure out who the singer was.

Now that that has been said, let’s turn to the second obvious question:

·       Does Barry still have it?

Back in 1980, when the original Guilty was recorded, Barry was at the top of the world (and judging from the photos on the Dual Disc version, a lot prettier than Barbra).  While his looks are gone, I must say he still is a musical genius.  Teamed with new members of his family he has succeeded in creating some beautiful songs for Barbra.   Not only are the songs appealing, the arrangements are stunning.  A little too smooth overall for my taste, but stunning nonetheless. 

It is hard to compare Guilty to GP.  GP doesn’t have the incredible highs that Guilty does (e.g., Woman In Love), but at the same time it doesn’t have the dreadful lows (e.g., Never Give Up).  Of course, Guilty does circles around GP in terms of vocals.  Who can forget the vocal masterpiece that is Make It Like a Memory or What Kind of Fool?

Still, Barry’s magic is evident on each GP song.  From simple ballads like Hideaway to hi-energy disco like Night of My Life, Barry provides the perfect melodies, harmonies and more.  Arguably, Night of My Life is the most successful track on GP (it has actually hit the Top 10 of Billboard’s Club Play/Dance Chart).  It is refreshing to listen to Barbra trying something other than lush, overproduced ballads a la The Movie Album.

Barry can get inventive, and the more he does the better it is.  Two other standout tracks are All the Children, where Barry effectively introduces oriental elements, and Without Your Love which brilliantly combines two song styles.  Barry also revisits Our Love, which he wrote for his brother (the late Andy Gibb).  While it is not reinvented, it is certainly updated and at the same time reminiscent of its predecessor.

While Barbra contributed enormously to the success of Guilty (her voice carried all of the songs—even the bad ones), it is the other way around here.  The few times where she tries to sound like she did before, she drags down the song (e.g., Letting Go.)

In short, Barry has produced a winner.  He has proven that Barbra still has enough of a voice to create good material as long as she is willing to put herself in the hands of a genius and as long as she avoids trying to sing like she did 40 years ago. 

This leads to the next obvious question:

·       If GP is so good, why is it selling so poorly?

Rumor has it that Columbia shipped well over a million copies of GP (some claim the figure was closer to 2 million).  Columbia’s expectations were dashed when GP only managed to sell 101,000 copies in its first week.  What’s worse, the CD has begun to plunge down the charts.  To add to the disappointment, Barbra’s first single (Stranger in a Strange Land) has failed to make any of Billboard’s single charts.

The reasons for this disaster are quite obvious:

1.   Fans get tired of buying bad music.  Many fans have not liked anything she’s done since Higher Ground.  Some have not liked anything since The Broadway Album.  Particularly painful were A Love Like Ours and her worst CD ever, The Movie Album.  You can only take so much before you give up on a singer.

2.   Fans don’t like celebrities that are full of themselves.  Barbra has made it clear she records for herself, not for her fans.  Her attitude is a turn off to today’s audiences who expect their idols to be appreciative of their fans.

3.   Fans don’t like to be preached to.  Even Madonna learned her lesson.  Her anti-war statement, American Life, became her lowest selling cd ever.  Even the Queen of Pop now knows that her fans don’t care about her views.  Her newest CD (to be released on November 15) is called Confessions On the Dance Floor and represents her return to what her fans like most about her.  Barbra, on the other hand, made it clear that she still is making political statements in her music.  The video for Stranger in a Strange Land is clearly an anti-war statement.  Even though many agree with her view, they don’t buy music to satisfy political beliefs.  The news is bad enough; do we have to hear it in our music too?

4.   Fans like to watch videos (i.e., decent ones).  Ironically, the advent of music videos has contributed greatly to the demise of Streisand, a former movie and TV star.  When music videos started, it was assumed Streisand, who had several hit movies and TV specials under her belt would also have hit music videos.  Well, it just didn’t happen.  The vast majority of her videos have her singing into a microphone in a recording studio.  It’s like she doesn’t even bother.  Well, the video for Stranger in a Strange Land received no airplay, adding to the failure of the single.

5.   Streisand was considered a singer’s singer.  In her current state of vocal decline, she no longer fits that description.  Fans tend to get disappointed when they realize she isn’t all that spectacular any more.

Tragically, Barbra is at a point where no singer wants to be.  Her fan base is diminishing due to her vocal decline.  But more importantly, her fan base is severely eroded due to her egocentric attitude and her insistence on shoving her personal views on the public.  Her latest endeavor, GP, was clearly aimed at re-commercializing her by evoking her biggest musical success (Guilty), and it is clearly failing.  She is clearly running out of options.  So, the question is:

·      Can she become popular again in her sunset?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Did you know that in 1980...
A dispute over profits
lead to Barbra's teaming with Barry and not the Bee Gees?

NAVIGATION

The Irreverent Guide to Barbra Streisand wishes to thank the following sources of inspiration for this web page... On second thought, maybe not.

Please note that this site is neither maintained nor supported by Barbra Streisand or her management. Furthermore, The Irreverent Guide to Barbra Streisand is not an official or unofficial newsletter or publication related to or endorsed by Barbra Streisand, Barbra Joan Streisand, Barbara Streisand, Babs or her fan clubs.

Original content and design © 2005. The Irreverent Guide to Barbra Streisand is for entertainment value only; no financial gain or profit is sought nor has been obtained through this web site. What's more, the site is not intended to reflect the political and/or personal views of the author nor web hosting provider. It's for fun, ok?