Guilty

Barbra Streisand

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000025JT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,405 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Guilty may well be Barbra Streisand's best pop album. At the peak of her late-'70s popularity, she hooked up with the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb, who himself was basking in his Saturday Night Fever glow. Gibb wrote and produced most of the material on 1980's Guilty, and he supplied background vocals as well as co-leads on two tracks. The results are still completely bewitching. "Promises," for instance, is a lounge-like dance number and Babs sounds simply fabulous--sexy, lighthearted, passionate, playful--all at once. "Life Story" is a wild epic, and "Make It Like a Memory" keeps soaring up and up into a stratosphere of shag-carpeted luxury. Even Gibb's wavering vocals are great--and not a little like a disco version of Mandy Patinkin. And of course, the hits are out of this world: "Woman in Love" and "What Kind of Fool" are titanium-plated classics the likes of which Streisand has not topped since. A guilty pleasure, sure--just indulge. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything a contemporary pop album should be., December 19, 2003

By	Robert Johnson (Richmond, KY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Her biggest selling album, GUILTY is easily Barbra Streisand's best contemporary pop effort to date. Barry Gibb's skilled production hand gives GUILTY an added sense of cohesiveness, something that was sorely lacking from many of Streisand's late-seventies pop efforts. Gibb (along with Albhy Galuten and brothers Robin and Maurice) also had a hand in writing every one of the nine melodic songs and even duets on two of them.

Their pairing produced a monster hit with the riveting title track (#3 Pop, #5 Adult Contemporary), however it's actually the other Streisand-Gibb smash duet "What Kind Of Fool" (#10 Pop, #1 Adult Contemporary) that proves to be the disc's show-stopper. Gibb's production and voice are an inarguable key to GUILTY's success, but it is Streisand's magnificent vocals that provide the album with it's soul - that's right SOUL! The chart-topping smash "Woman In Love" (#1 Pop, #1 Adult Contemporary) was the leadoff single and stands a slice of pure pop perfection, with Streisand's performance as thrilling as any ever captured on record.

Amazingly enough for a pop record, the remaining six tracks more than hold up to the three big hits. The restrained ballads "Run Wild" and "The Love Inside" are absolutely gorgeous, while the seven minute-plus "Make It Like A Memory" plays out like mini-pop symphony. Barbra even ventures into dance territory with "Life Story" and the international hit "Promises" and really brings these tracks to life with a sexy exuberance. Even the slightly dated light funk of "Never Give Up" is a slinky delight. GUILTY was a massive hit upon release, hitting #1 on the Hot 200 and achieving Quintuple Platinum status in US sales and selling nearly 20 million copies worldwide. This success is hardly surprising as GUILTY is simply everything a pop album should be.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Bee Gees album with Barbra on lead vocals, but it's great!, June 13, 2000

By	New World Smurf "new_world_smurf" (Richmond, Virginia) - See all my reviews

When this album came out in 1980, Barry Gibb was the 800-pound gorilla of pop producers--everything he touched turned to gold records and top ten hits, basically because every album he produced for another artist sounded like a Bee Gees record with someone else singing. "Guilty" is no exception. Barbra Streisand knew a hitmaker when she heard one, and the result is the best modern pop album she's ever done. Barry Gibb's wavering voice takes a lot of getting used to if you're not a Bee Gees fan, but "Guilty" and "What Kind Of Fool", the two duets between Barry and Barbra, are pure pop paradise. "Woman In Love" still blows me away after twenty years--it's the perfect match between singer and song (and I'm praying that some overblown diva doesn't decide to do a remake and ruin it forever). The beautifully arranged "Run Wild" will put a lump in the throat of a dead man, while "Promises" is a fun, danceable singalong. There are some down moments, like the oversung "Life Story", but overall "Guilty" has weathered the years well. And what's this about another pairing between Barbra and Barry? "Guilty II", perhaps . . . ?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential CD to own, January 5, 2004

By	E. Laway "Lady E" (Temecula, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was homesick for this album when I heard a few coffebreakers talking about Barbarra Streisand but no one seemed to know anything about "Guilty," which is unfortunate because if you must own a piece of the Diva, this one is it. I actually bought the original album with the lyrics and numerous pictures of Gibb and Streisand in white. That was back in junior high and I wished I took better care of my stuff and have saved it. The CD quality is okay, it isn't remastered, but with today's high tech elelctronics, you can still get the beautiful sound. This CD is chuck full of beautiful ballads, with a Kareoke-like dreaminess and smaltzy lyrics. You find yourself singing along with lyrics like "I am a woman in love and I'll do anything to get you into my world and hold you within,..." just make sure you are lone in your car or the kids are playing outside, it possess you with hopeless abandon. So, it doesn't matter if you bought it 23 years ago or just yesterday, it still has the same whoozy effects. You can't help appreciating Streisand's rendition of Barry Gibb's peotic lyrics. And the best thing is that Streisand is not over the top screaming or strecthing her voice, none of that "Yentl" stuff. She is just right in this CD, soft pitch, full of feelings, letting her voice carry naturally. She has a gorgeous voice, this much I have to admit, being a non Streisand fan.

You will also appreciate the instrumentations. Lee Ritenour lends his jazzy guitar in songs like "Promises" and "Life Story." Good choice. "Guilty" and "What Kind of Fool" are the two duets with Gibb. Each voice completes the other in amorous melodies. What can I say, I am a sucker for this stuff. Hope that doesn't make me old school, but then again, I probably don't care.