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

NPR is streaming it!

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

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

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.

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.