there has been something missing from this blog, look you see. quite a few who know me, and are aware of my proclivities and idiosyncratic ways, might well have wondered why (a) there was no day of release post for the new Barbara Streisand album, released on 2 November 2018, (b) it didn't feature in my best..... nonsense towards the end of 2018 and (c) why there has been no mention of it, at all, until now.
well, simple, really. my (considerably) better half requested of me to make the ultimate sacrifice. this involved me not purchasing the new Barbs album and waiting for a bit, so that she may have something that it would be known i would want, wish for and appreciate for all that Christmas business. an impossible situation, but i agreed to it. guilt has hung upon my shoulders ever since, of course - without my purchase of it at the time the album "only" reached number 6 in the UK album chart.
so, anyway, i have it now, as in Walls by Barbra (Barbs) Streisand. and yes it is good. and yes this is a post on the subject.
just what is this record? why, it is the 36th officially recognised studio album to be recorded and released by Barbs. it also marks a return to her doing some original compositions, something not seen, or rather heard, in a fair while. no, the last few years for Barbs has been things like Partners, Encore, Christmas Classics and an assortment of compilations.
a welcome return, then, but one (that is, a return) that does not lack reason. this will crop up as we go, should you elect to continue, but, surprise surprise, Barbs is not, funnily enough, all that happy, enamoured or delighted with what she observes in her native grounds of America. yes, this is with specific emphasis on the current political arrangements and clients.
strangely, happily or maybe against expectations, the above dislike is not overtly dominating in the songs, and nor is it distracting. for now, however, on with a bit of a gander at the music. but, that said, the motivation and inspiration behind Barbs making this record is never all that far away.
three songs off of the album have enjoyed a fairly healthy amount of radio play. it is a sign of the peculiar times that we must now assume the three songs which have had radio play are the lead "singles" off of the record, despite them never actually being released as singles. anyway, the three songs / singles off the album to get radio rotation are Don't Lie To Me, the titular Walls and The Rain Will Fall.
as an ultra-loyalist, hardcore Barbs fan, i would say that these three songs in particular stand up to scrutiny and appreciation normally reserved for her "classic" hits. this is by no means an easy thing to say - quite controversial in fact. mostly this would be due to the fact that, at times, and in particular on The Rain Will Fall, Barbs is sounding less like Barbs, and a good deal more like Cher than even Cher currently sounds. but, hey, who doesn't like Cher?
of course, this being where we are in this century, and Barbs being Barbs, just the one thing comes to mind when a word like "walls" is mentioned; the ambitious plan by a certain President Trump to build a wall that will supposedly block Mexico, actually specifically Mexicans, from the United States.
Barbs is perhaps the personification of the democrat (in American political party terms) dream. she is also an unapologetic acolyte, advocate and tacit apologist for the Clintons, the political dynasty that never was. whilst the (lavish, extensive and beautifully presented) linear notes make clear how "proud" Barbs would have been if history had brought us a second President Clinton, the commentary within the songs - in particular Walls - is far from over.
it's a more constructive than narrative in the lyrics, then. idealist, perhaps, and at times so hippy fantastic that you might be forgiven for thinking you are listening to Art Garfunkel at his solo airy best rather than songs partly penned by Barbs. in a song like Walls Barbs takes a concept or idea that has little but negative connotations and turns it into an expression of how the world could, would and should perhaps be.
on a practical and blunt level, Barbs is experienced and wise enough to know that releasing a record which effectively screams "f*** Ttump" is of little value. such statements are of course bandied about frequently, and often serve to get the speaker of them some polite applause for being right on rather than they do to change anything.
a sticker on the front of the CD and a comment on the back say that this record is Barbs singing about "what is on her mind". it is not like you can turn around and complain that no warning was presented, then.
pictured below is the booklet section which concerns Don't Lie To Me. unless it is just me getting "old" and that, i quite agree with the sentiment she expresses. other than all this "fake news" nonsense, in which people dismiss stories they happen to disagree with as "fake", there is the problem of social media in general but all this "twitter" business in particular.
for some reason we have allowed the forth estate, the world news media, to present "what is trending on twitter" as being the most important news going. dangerously, there's an assumption that anything put or "trending" on this twitter thing immediately equates to it being true and right. no, not quite. how it has escaped the attention of so many that twitter is essentially an echo chamber is beyond me.
i mean, i get the entertainment and value people get off of something like twitter, and no, i would not seek for that to cease. what i don't quite understand is how it's been allowed to have such a sway and influence on the media, which in turn means sway and influence on the world we live in.
the remainder of the album, other than these three highlighted songs? at the risk of sounding disrespectful some "standard Barbs", but then again standard Barbs happens to be very good. one thing i am wrestling with is an "orchestral mash up" of Imagine (yes, the John Lennon one) and What A Wonderful World (the Louis Armstrong one, not to be confused with Wonderful World off of Sam Cooke). it's an intriguing vocal performance, but after a couple of plays i still cannot determine if i like what she's done here. all, of course, whilst accepting that it is Barbs what done it, so yes it is brilliant, as i am duty bound to say.
would i suggest or recommend to you, the people, procure and secure a copy of Walls by Barbra Streisand for your listening pleasure? yes, absolutely. i can say that on the basis of the three lead songs / "singles" being used to promote the album alone. all three are superb, and the remainder of the album gives you more of the same.
yes, indeed, had i heard it at the time of release, this record would have featured in the positive part of my "albums of the year" section. not the best, of course. as interesting as what is on Barbs' mind is to hear, ultimately what is going on in America is of little relevance to me. but still, the songs are all very good indeed.
unless a spectacular surprise release happens in the next couple of weeks, i would have thought that the next music or album related post here shall all be of the return of Ian Brown as a solo artist. but i would suspect with confidence that i shall find other things to write of between this and then.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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