Guilty Pleasures

Her BEST album in years! Both Babs and Barry still got it. Great chemistry together.

I didn't really know any Barbra Streisand songs when I first decided to listen to this album. I don't know why I got it. Maybe it was because I was unfamiliar with Barbra Streisand in general. I knew she was a singer and actress but that was it. Little did I know that this album is actually a sequel to an older Streisand album called "Guilty." I loved this album but didn't realize how great "Guilty" was after I got that album in addition. There are many great songs on "Guilty Pleasures." This is not a trendy album. If you want what was popular in 2005, listen to Kelly Clarkson or Gwen Stefani's albums released in 2005. This album sounds like a continuation of her album "Guilty." Just like "Guilty", this sequel is a combination of Streisand (vocals) and Barry Gibb (vocals, writing and production). When I get married I definately want "Night Of My Life" to be played. It makes you wanna get up and dance! The ballads are beautiful and suit her voice well. She is a good vocalist, nearly perfect. While this may not have been the best selling album of 2005 it's certainly one of the most underrated! It did go gold selling more than 500,000 copies according to this album's wikipedia page. If you are new to Streisand or interested in getting one of her newer albums check this one out. It's worth it.

So the album picks up where "Guilty" left off. So what?? Barbra and Barry can do whatever they want, they don't have to prove relevance any longer and I say bravo!! This is a great album of well produced well performed adult contemporary and it even has Barbra's obligatory political statement in the form of "Stranger In A Strange Land" dedicated to our troops in Iraq. I'm not going to go into great detail about each track because that's been done already but I do want to offer a brief summary. "Night Of My Life" is awesome disco, in fact the song was remixed to an extended version for professional D.J.'s of which I used to be and yes, I have the extended mix and it should be made available here, "All The Children" sounds like a Jewish folk song complete with a rock backbeat, the cover of "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away" complete with Fender Rhodes is amazingly retro. Unlike Barbra's "Movie Album" our Heroine uses her rested full voice and lets it rip. This album like the preceding "Guilty" was pre-recorded and backing vocals provided solely by Barry Gibb, who still "has it."

This is the only Barbra Streisand album I have but I think it's good! I use to not listen to her at all and saw she had a new album out so I got it. My favorite song is the upbeat "Night Of My Life."

This is great pop music by Streisand. Her voice sounds better than it has in many years - and it is miles away from the awful mess that was The Movie Album. Barry Gibb has given her smart, even sexy tunes, and she spins them in her magical way. For the legions of fans that have been waiting for something upbeat, this is it. "Night of My Life" was a dance-club hit, and should have had the same sort of radio airplay that Cher had with "Believe." Don't miss the tender way that she turns the Andy Gibb classic into a shimmering beauty of her own on "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away." Other highlights include the duets "Come Tomorrow", and "Above The Law." And "Letting Go" is simply orchestrated and perfect. This was not the commercial success it should have been, but it will remind you why Streisand is the greatest female singer of our time.

One of her best albums to date. Finally a return to some uptempo songs, she's in fantastic voice... and they both bring out the best in each other! Now if only Itunes would also add the videos she included on this album! Where's all the Streisand video???

The Guilty dream team returns! Of course, this refers to Barbra Streisand and her amazingly multi-talented collaborator Barry Gibb who have just created the refreshing, utterly entertaining Guilty Pleasures.  In Streisand's 61-album catalogue, this new work of pop music is only matched in excellence by Guilty 25 years ago.  Indeed, time has been kind to the creative pairing, Streisand enhancing her virtually ageless vocal prowess through the years, while Gibb has become a recording studio genius and prolific songwriter/producer/arranger for other artists including his brothers Gibb. In fact, he enlisted his sons Ashley and Stephen to join him in writing again for Barbra, inspiring marvelous and diverse performances, from the delightful mid-tempo radio friendly "Above The Law" to the lovely ballad "Letting Go." "Above The Law" grabs one's attention instantly, as Streisand playfully croons "This is me talking to you..." Keep talking, keep talking, Barbra. With Barry Gibb's solo vocals at his best on this track, the pair infuses the catchy melody with endearing vocal interplay (and a counter-melody Barbra created), best appreciated in the accompanying video. Similarly, they enjoy each other's company on the duet "Come Tomorrow," the doo wop style tune with cool horns. Continuing in this mid-tempo romantic style, Barbra admirably covers Andy Gibb's 1978 smash hit "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away," which begins with a gentle electric piano tribute to "What Kind Of Fool" (from Guilty) and soon brightens with the familiar chorus and Barry's signature background vocals. Concluding with Barbra's vocal vamping, this song was worth redoing. Similarly mid-tempo is the slightly disappointing "It's Up To You," the shortest and least interesting song on the album.     Much more worthy are "Hideaway" and "Golden Dawn," both subtly displaying bossa nova influence and a pervasive sense of romance and passion. Barbra flies and soars on "Hideaway," looking (see the video) and sounding pleased with her vocal performance ("I'm falling into you") blended with an indelible melody from start to finish. In an exciting climax, she exclaims, "We are one with the night," amidst overlapping vocals akin to lovers entwined. "Golden Dawn" adds bongos, going more overtly bossa nova (a musical genre about which Barbra recently claimed an affinity) while boasting warm strings within an inspired poetic structure.     If more uptempo music is your preference, this album features the joyous "Night Of My Life," Barbra Streisand's first new dance recording since 1984's "Emotion." Like its predecessor and the danceable "Promises" (from Guilty), this song is already hitting clubs with a 12-inch vinyl single (hopefully a matching CD too). Its swirling mélange of pulsating rhythms and exciting belting vocals offers good ear candy.     In a different musical style comes the album's first single "Stranger In A Strange Land," which finds Barbra voicing an earnest, urgent missive to homesick troops overseas, trying to elevate all of our spirits. Her uncanny vocals are like a mighty call to action, with an unmistakable message that might even placate her conservative critics.    Somewhat more enigmatic, yet suggesting a sociopolitical theme, "All The Children" sports mystical atmospheres and some big Barbra belting with a distinctly Indian flavor. "Freedom is the message in your song" is a lyric supporting the pro-child theme, as the final two minutes ascends with Bollywood musical exhilaration exemplified by overlapping Barbra & Barry vocals, synthesizers, and electric guitar rave-ups and solos. Intense.   In the next breath, Streisand returns to familiar musical territory on the absolutely exquisite "Letting Go" and the dramatic "Without Your Love." The latter song resembles a mini three-act play, reminiscent of the best moving theatrical ballads in Barbra's back catalogue. Gibb's tempo changes are inventive, and the song's guitar, piano, and vivid orchestration champion the strong lyrics. "Letting Go" goes even further but with a unique structure and sparse instrumentation - just piano and quiet strings - supporting Streisand's ever-so-delicate and expressive, heart-wrenching singing. When she phrases, "It's so hard letting go," you experience her penetrating emotion and depth, and this is the case with countless earlier Streisand performances, for she will always epitomize the consummate actress who sings. In the accompanying DVD interview, she happily admits that it's a song she was waiting to record for 20 years. Well worth the wait for Barbra...and especially for us, as is this entire marvelous album.