Barbra Streisand's "Encore" Album - First Listen!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:26am

NPR is streaming it!

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/18/490258191/first-listen-barbra-streisand-encore

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:35am

Oh my God, Chris Pine's voice is perfection.

[Jshan05]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:44am

Loving the duet with Melissa McCarthy! While Barbra's voice is definitely a little raspier, she is in fine form on this album. 

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 12:29pm

STREISAND sings SONDHEIM...nothing more need be said!!

[mamaleh]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 12:35pm

What happened to Patrick Wilson's voice?  He's meandering all over the place.  And I did not care at all for Chris Pine's raspiness, almost as though he was trying to imitate an R&B singer.  I thought he sounded much better on "Agony" in the INTO THE WOODS movie.  Baldwin & McCarthy were fun. Hugh Jackman's heartfelt "Any Moment Now" and Seth McFarlane's smooth "Pure Imagination" were the highlights for me. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 12:54pm

Wilson sounded fantastic live. I think it's just the vocal line. It's not usually a duet, right? 

I do find it odd that she'd release her album after her tour? Why not before?

[indytallguy]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 12:59pm

I like Streisand a lot, but really don't feel she is at her best on many of these songs. For me, Loving You was painful.

[DAME]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 1:15pm

RippedMan said: "Wilson sounded fantastic live. I think it's just the vocal line. It's not usually a duet, right? 

I do find it odd that she'd release her album after her tour? Why not before?

 

"

Each concert ticket comes with a copy of the album.. which counts towards sales. 

[John Adams]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 1:24pm

Thanks, Jordan for the link!

I think this must be Barbra Streisand at her most insecure.

I think the arrangements are gorgeous. She and her vocal partners all sound spectacular. In a few cases, they're surprisingly good - especially Melissa McCarthy. With the one exception of At the Ballet, these are songs I will listen to again and again.

Even the minor "ego trips" are good! I loved the very fitting lyric changes to Anything You Can Do (reminded me of how well the changes worked for Putting It Together). For my tastes, those changes emphasize what Streisand fans think might be true about her, and they demonstrate that she can have fun being playful with those images, whether they're true or not. (I especially liked the "soft 's'" line.)

I also enjoyed how many times Streisand sustained notes longer than her partners, rather than cutting off together. For me, that was most evident in her duet with Chris Pine, but she IS Barbra freakin' Streisand! (You go, gurl, 'cause you still got it!)

I just wish she had more faith that her talent is still vibrant, and that each song created on this album was orchestrated, vocally arranged and sung so incredibly well that they are able to convey their own stories. The "acting" and the emotions are already there because all of the talent producing the music is that good.

All those scripted vignettes are limiting to the imagination, and in most cases seem written by a middle school child. I am very grateful for the ONE song that allowed me to use my own imagination, and get lost in the music regarding any kind of storyline: Who Can I Turn To (her virtual duet with Anthony Newley). But then again, how tacky might it have been to invent some kind of 'dialog' with Anthony Newley that was in the same vein as the other scripts? At least she showed restraint regarding where to draw the line.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 2:48pm

Yes!!  The dialogue bits kill it for me. Awful scripts, awful acting. Really embarrassing. Couldn't they have an alternate release with them edited out? Ten or so years back when she released the great Love is the Answer album I thought she had given up some of her excesses--she let the songs speak for themselves, beautifully but faithfully sung, great, not so soupy arrangements, etc.  But I guess that was a fluke.

Updated On: 8/18/16 at 02:48 PM