Songlist for 'Encore' released, with duet partners!

Here's the first track:
https://youtu.be/X7qzmTGkC7k

The album cover has also been released, photoshopped to make her look about 35 years old.

I prefer fantasy over reality TV - like Fox News. - B.Streisand

This sounds awful, with some extremely cheesy song selections
and highly questionable "partners." I cannot believe the depths that
Streisand has sunk to. But I will reserve judgment until after I hear it -
on YOUTUBE.

Pretty scary that the best song and singer is a man who's been dead for
years.

What are your thoughts on this, PVD?

She, or her record company, is clearly concerned that she can't sell a third Broadway album without help. Partners did well so maybe it's true. Her voice isn't what it was, although she's still great.

On the plus side, the songs are good and I like the At the Ballet track. If the guest stars are up to it, I think it will be good.

"Climb Every Mountain, sung with Jamie Foxx, sounds like a punch line
from SNL. But se shall see.

We already know that Streisand's next CD/video will be a compilation from
this tour. But what's after that, when Streisand will clearly be pushing
77 (!) when another album is due.

I would rather see her Vegas TV special from 1969 restored and properly
released. I get why it wasn't shown in '69, as Streisand was trying to
(and would highly succeed in) "modernizing" her image. And what about
her TV specials that are long out of print?? And other lost recordings??

I never thought Streisand would close her career like Sinatra - with
cheesy duet albums and having to be dragged off stage. My guess is that
she feels she can direct in her 80s, but singing live on stage is a time
in her life that will soon come to an end.

I can't find the track on Youtube. Who is she singing with?

Anne Hathaway. I put a link to it above.

What are your thoughts on this, PVD?


My thoughts?

I have never been a fan of 'duet' albums or recordings; hers or anyone else's. I think that concept was over and done with by 1983. I honestly think she should have stopped the 'duets' after 1980. By then she had partnered with Neil Diamond, Donna Summer and Barry Gibb - and I would say, the best of the best on the pop front who were complimentary to her vocals. These songs became classics for her, and she should have ended there and moved on. The only other duet partner which was of her caliber was Johnny Mathis in 1993, only to marred by over-production, in which the two of them are competing with the music.

So she has continued with these unfortunate duets (the most embarrassing with Celine Dion), and they sell. It was inevitable that with the astonishing success of 'Partners' in 2014, this would be her follow-up.

As for 'Partners', I've listened to it once or twice - and that was more than enough. I've gone back to some of her more recent / old stuff like 'The Movie Album', 'A Love Like Ours', and 'What Matters Most' - appreciating them in a whole new light.

As for 'Encore' - if you notice the song selection, she has certainly 'stretched' the definition of Broadway, as some of the songs are questionable at best (one is from a movie, not B'way). But then again, she did the same thing with 'Back to Broadway' when she recorded the two songs from 'Sunset Blvd' which was almost two years away from making it's B;way debut. Critics put her under fire for it, but she didn't seem to care. It debuted at #1.

I will indeed buy it and add it to my collection. Some questions remain...

Will I listen to it often? Who knows? But I do enjoy (somewhat) the track which has been released ("At The Ballet"), only wish she recorded it decades ago. (BTW, it's been said that's Bradley Cooper speaking out to each of them on the recording.)

Did she do it for artistic reasons, or financial reasons? Probably both, with a strong emphasis on financial - especially where her label is concerned. It will definitely be a cash cow, if not another #1.

So another question remains..... is this a warm-up to GYPSY?


I prefer fantasy over reality TV - like Fox News. - B.Streisand