Is it Live? Or is it Memorex? It's neither. It's Overdub-Bra.

If we recall, the Timeless CD was supposed to "taken" from her Millennium Concerts performed in Las Vegas on 12/31/99 and 1/1/00. As I listened to this CD, all that came to mind was the much too frequently debated problem of all "live" recordings: after the artists and studios are done with them, they're hardly "live".

The same is true of Timeless. Although the editing and overdubbing are done brilliantly (ie, they're not as obvious as they were on One Voice), they are still apparent. The most shocking overdub, however, is not Barbra. It is the choir. The Vegas choir was deleted from the recording, and by the magic of the recording studio, replaced by the Sydney Choir that was used three months later in Australia.

Those of you who remember my millennium review (see the Millennium Madness Supplemental Page), remember my displeasure with that concert. The problems I noted there are still evident on this recording: the excessive talking, the lousy script, the songs that are repeated from concert to concert (eg, Happy Days), etc., and above all, the weak voice.

Having been there on 12/31/99, I can assert that many of the vocals on this recording are probably not from New Year's Eve. Although the voice sounds better on this recording (how could it not?), the problems I noted on my concert review are still true on this CD: the shaky vibrato, the pitch bends, the omission of vibrato in many instances, the absence of high notes (ie, notes above High C), the diminished lung power... As put politely by USA Today, "Granted, few of the vocals here match the pristine perfection of Streisand's recordings".

Still, there are a few good performances (basically the same ones noted in my concert review): On a Clear Day, People and Somewhere. In addition, the Something Wonderful/Being Alive Medley works quite well. However, the best part of the CD is not the music but rather its packaging, which is quite elegant and includes 18 photos of the diva. The faithful must be ecstatic.

NAVIGATION

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