Taken as a whole, this album is stunning. But the revelation is DISC 2! I have been loving Barbra Streisand for ages. I remember when my mother first introduced me to the sound of her voice as a little girl. I was enthralled with the sheer beauty of it. There is such an unnerving assuredness to her vocals that you just can't be denied. She will always be one of the most superlative stylists when it comes to lyrical interpretation. She is just so marvelous at it that you just forget about how gifted she is with phrasing and just fall and wrap yourself in the lushness of her voice.
Disc 2 allows that pure lushness in her tone to shine. It doesn't have the swell of the orchestra, it is more paired down and her voice as we all know has aged marvelously. As she has aged, and we have as well, you're not only startled by its clarity but also by its richness of tone. When she sings the opening lines of "Here's to Life: No complaints and no regrets/I Still Believe in Chasing dreams and placing bets," you just know its experience she's drawing from.
The album works so well because as a loyal fan, or a newcomer, there is a pacing that builds up a relationship with the listener. A natural intimacy is achieved with DISC 2. Songs such as "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," and "Make Someone Happy," have an immediacy that can't go unacknowledged. Especially with "Make Someone Happy," the woman can still belt that is well known, but here she reigns it in, giving just enough to draw you in closer and closer but not fudging you on the context of the lyric; a lovely rendition.
A beautiful album from a beautiful, gifted legend.
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