Barbra Streisand


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Barbra Streisand
Guilty Pleasures [DualDisc]
Release Date: 2005 09 20
Label: Columbia
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Guilty Pleasures isn't simply the belated sequel to Guilty, Barbra Steisand's 1980 collaboration with Barry Gibb. It's the best mainstream pop album she's made since that multi-platinum, chart-topping hit. Of course, the competition isn't exactly stiff -- her pop albums since then have been deliberately safe, overly calculated adult contemporary affairs that only made records of standards like 1985's The Broadway Album shine all the brighter -- and it, like its predecessor, is a bit of an anomaly in Streisand's catalog, since it shares more musical similarities with Barry Gibb's work than Barbra's own, yet there's no denying that this is the most satisfying straight-up pop album she's cut since Guilty. In fact, apart from the crystal-clear, overly clean digital production that immediately pegs it as a 2005 release, Guilty Pleasures could be taken as a bunch of outtakes from the 1980 album. Gibb, who wrote (along with a handful of other collaborators) and produced (along with John Merchant) the entire album, along with playing guitar and providing backup vocals, not only doesn't attempt to update his signature sound, but proudly sticks to unfashionable pop styles like the early-'80s anthemic soft rock of "Stranger in a Strange Land," the mellow Latin-tinged "Hideaway," and the disco of "Night of My Life." Yet instead of sounding like the work of a duo stuck in the past, Guilty Pleasures sounds as if Gibb has constructed a set of 11 songs that play to his strengths as a pop craftsman and Streisand's strengths as an interpreter. This may be firmly within both of their comfort zones, but despite the record's decidedly low-key vibe, neither Barry nor Barbra sound lazy, nor do they sound like they have something to prove, as if they're consciously trying to live up to the standard their first collaboration set. They sound relaxed and quietly assured, which makes this album far more charming than it might initially appear to be. Not everything works -- some of the ballads toward the end of the record are a little too hazy and samey to catch hold -- but most of the album holds its own with Guilty, which means this is not only a pleasant surprise, but one of Barbra's best straight-up mainstream pop records, and an album that surely lives up to its title. [Guilty Pleasures was also released as a DualDisc, containing the entire album on CD on one side and a DVD on the other side. The DVD does not contain 5.1 Surround mixes -- the album is only presented in PCM stereo -- but it has an exclusive interview with Barbra and Barry, plus music videos for "Stranger in a Strange Land," "Hideaway," "Above the Law," and "Letting Go."] Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks:
TitleComposerTime
1Come TomorrowGibb, Gibb, Gibb5:01
2Stranger in a Strange LandGibb, Gibb, Gibb4:50
3HideawayGibb, Gibb4:14
4It's Up to YouGibb, Gibb3:32
5Night of My LifeGibb, Gibb3:59
6Above the LawGibb, Gibb, Streisand, Gibb4:27
7Without Your LoveGibb, Gibb3:48
8All the ChildrenGibb, Gibb, Gibb5:14
9Golden DawnGibb, Gibb, Gibb4:40
10(Our Love) Don't Throw It All AwayGibb, Weaver4:01
11Letting GoGibb, Bitzer3:53
12Come Tomorrow [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb, Gibb
13Stranger in a Strange Land [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb, Gibb
14Hideaway [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb
15It's Up to You [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb
16Night of My Life [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb
17Above the Law [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb, Streisand, Gibb
18Without Your Love [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb
19All the Children [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb, Gibb
20Golden Dawn [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Gibb, Gibb
21(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away [PCM Stereo]Weaver, Gibb
22Letting Go [PCM Stereo]Gibb, Bitzer
23Above the Law [DVD]Streisand, Gibb, Gibb, Gibb
24Hideaway [DVD]Gibb, Gibb
25Stranger in a Strange Land [DVD]Gibb, Gibb, Gibb
26Letting Go [DVD]Bitzer, Gibb
27Bonus Material [DVD][*]







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