Butterfly

Barbra Streisand | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 1, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sbme Special Mkts.
• ASIN: B0012GMZYK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,441 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars guava jelly: TOTAL EROTICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!, September 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Butterfly (Audio CD)

This cd is the epitomy of all that is Barbra!! Especially liked "Guava jelly" and "Is there life on Mars" it gave me goose pimples!!She does it better than David Bowie.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "I WON'T LAST A DAY WITHOUT.....GUAVA JELLY?", January 14, 2000

By 

CHUCK WEST - See all my reviews

This review is from: Butterfly (Audio CD)

I don't LOVE this CD, but I don't HATE it either. Anything by Barbra Streisand is usually better work than most of what is on the market...even when it's odd. This is not one of my favorite CD's, but song #4, "I Won't Last A Day Without You," is one of my all-time favorite individual tracks of Barbra Streisand's entire catalog. This is one of the most intimate, heartfelt, really- feeling-the-love-energy-go-right-through-you songs (and vocals, for that matter) ever recorded. This song alone is worth the CD purchase price. I also like the calypso "Guava Jelly." I can't help but think of Barbara Streisand singing this song dressed like Mary Ann from "Gilligan's Island." Incidentally, folks, don't forget the early 1970's were an experimental/growth time. Very little lasting/quality music, film, clothes, or interior decor came from this time. "Butterfly" is like that avocado lamp, harvest-gold rug or orange-and- brown bean bag chair you come across in the attic. Once you're through making jokes about it, you pay attention and begin to focus on what you liked about it at the time it caught your attention.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "ButterFly" soars...!, September 2, 2001

By 

Christopher Sullivan (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Butterfly (Audio CD)

The 1st time I heard Barbra Streisand's "ButterFly" I was in a dentist's chair with Nitrous Oxide on... an exceptionally receptive mood for "Love in the Afternoon" to float in on. Then "Guava Jelly" ups the tempo a bit and is a great fun loving song. Slipping into a bluesier and thoughtful "Grandma's Hands" and then into more familiar Lite-FM-esque "I Won't Last A Day Without You" and onto a refreshing "Jubilation". I was hooked, gas or not.

The 2nd half of the album is at least as good as the 1st. "Simple Man" is almost spiritual in it's simplicity and earnest appeal. Then the best cut of the album, Barbra's remake of "Life On Mars", the David Bowie classic. Many people have lamented her version over the years, unjustly comparing it to the original. Barbra's introduction is haunting, futuristic and daring and she makes great use of her acting style so often well-utilized in her Broadway songs, to give this rendition a multi-layered and deeper interpretation.

"Since I Don't Have You" and "Crying Time" are unique. Streisand can at times create an unusual sound with her range and stylizations. These songs alternately feel country and soulful, an odd and yet very satisfying blend. Listen for yourself. She would later perform "Crying Time" as a duet with Ray Charles on one of her TV specials.

The 70's laid-back feel and spoken intro of "Let the Good Times Roll" harkens back to a simpler time. Before all the great "causes" that would leave us all in a perpetual state of despair. When the strongest drug of choice was pot, when sex wasn't life threatening and feeling good and mellow was "in".

This was back when she wasn't afraid to experiment with contemporary sounds and I'm glad we have albums like this and "Lazy Afternoon", "Stoney End" etc. to remind us of better times.