Customer Reviews

Higher Ground

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is an outstanding album. Released in November 1997, it was a project Barbra had been working on for many many years. It is a touching collection of inspirational songs. Barbra has never sounded so beautiful. These songs were meant for Barbra to sing, or so she proves by singing them. Her angelic voice powerfully sings the songs, that all have beautiful messages.

1. I Believe/You'll Never Walk Alone

A great song to kick off the cd. A touching song, very inspiring and uplifting for the soul.

2. Higher Ground

This is the title track, a very powerful song that you will love. Its very uplifiting and honest, in a belief about a higher power.

3. At The Same Time

This is a beautiful song that demonstrates how as people we are interconnected and are responsible for one another, and how we are all living together in the world, our hearts beating as one, at the same time.

4. Tell Him (With Celine Dion)

This is a great duet, it was about time the two collaborated. A song about a younger, less experienced woman, asking for help with her relationship, then the wiser more experienced woman giving her advice. Beautiful song.

5. On Holy Ground

A beautiful song that explains how we should celebrate and be thankful we are walking on Holy Ground.

6. If I Could

This song was done for her son Jason, it is a very touching song.

7. Circle

This song is simply how life is a circle, and the power of love and faith.

8. The Water Is Wide/Deep River

Another inspiring song about faith, and the connection between deep water and crossing over.

9. Leading With Your Heart

This is a beautiful song that Marvin Hamlisch and ALan & Marilyn Bergman wrote for Barbra, knowing how much she loved Virginia Kelley, titled after her autobiography by the same name. Very touching song.

10. Lessons To Be Learned

This is a beautiful, touching, uplifting song that explains how in life there are no mistakes, but lessons to be learned. It explores questioning our faith, when things happen that we do not understand.

11. Everything Must Change

This is a beautiful song about accepting change, as we grow older as people, and learning to embrace it and celebrate life.

12. Avinu Malkeinu

A song in request to ask God to treat us equally and fairly, even if we haven't lived up to his teachings.

This collection of music will soothe your soul, it will uplift your spirit, it will make you think about life, and why we are here, things like that. I am not a part of organized religion, but I do believe in higher powers and faith from within, and this collection of music will inspire you to believe in a beautiful life that is out there waiting for you. A must have collection.

Barbra Streisand shines on this album of inspirational and gospel songs, HIGHER GROUND. There is nothing quite like hearing Barbra singing with a full gospel choir, accompanied by a full piece orchestra. The songs are so beautiful and uplifting, its the perfect companion to any mood where you need to feel inspired.

The album opens on a high note with her rendition of "I Believe", which halfway through the song turns over to "You'll Never Walk Alone", a stirring medley to get this album started on a fresh note. The title track follows in the same vein, a soaring ballad accompanied by a full choir. "At The Same Time" is one of my favorites, with its universal tale of acceptance and understanding, which is both inspiring and dignified.

The duet with Celine Dion is excellent as well, where the younger woman (Celine) asks for advice from the more wise woman (Barbra) about affairs of the heart. Vocally these two endure each other and both come out on top as winners. Other stirring songs that are definate highlights include the gospel song "On Holy Ground", "Circle", "Leading With Your Heart" and "Lessons To Be Learned".

With HIGHER GROUND Streisand proviedes some of her most vocally enduring work, and she is definately up to par on the challenge. These songs will inspire you and touch you in so many ways, this is clearly one of her best moments musically.

This beautiful cd came out in 1998 just the time my wonderful husband of 20 years was dying of kidney cancer. I PLAYED IT NIGHT AND DAY. It gave me solace and strength during the last 7 months of his life. Now I am dying of colon cancer and it is doing the same again for me. Every afternoon I take my morphine and lie back in my chair and fall asleep listening to this beautiful music. I played this at my husands memorial and it is my wish to have it played at mine. Thank you BARBARA!

Carol from Crestline Ca.

After the Top 10 duet with Bryan Adams "I Finally Found Someone" (from "The Mirror Has Two Faces") Barbra led off her next album with another duet, this time with Celine Dion on the track "Tell Him". A truly beautiful and classic song, I was only disappointed that Barbra did not sing more lyrics than she did. Later I learned that Barbra had recorded the song and sent it on to Celine, who added her vocals to it and from there it was on to a final mix. Things goes a long way in understanding Celine's "over emoting" on the song.

"Higher Ground" was Barbra's most successful studio album of the 90's, although her follow-up album "A Love Like Ours" finds her in better vocal shape than here.

"I Believe/You'll Never Walk Alone" is a brilliant combination and Barbra is exquisite up unitl the end where she sounds like she is yelling out the final note. Fortunately, she ends on a haunting and memorable way. "Higher Ground" took some to grow on me, but after hearing it loud on a jukebox one day, I finally gave in and have come to consider it one of the better tracks. "At the Same Time" is very nice, but having seen Barbra perform it New Years Eve, I can tell you her live version is far better. "On Holy Ground" with its gospel-flavored sound ends on a power note and is very satisfying. "If I Could" is probably the best all around cut from the album. It is dedicated to her son Jason and provides insight into that relationship. "Circle" is a very fun and Walt Disney-esque song that holds up great over time. "The Water Is Wide/Deep River" also works splendidly and Barbra mesmerizes with her lower range, adding a certain soulfulness you would expect more of in a collection of religious inspired songs. "Leading With My Heart" is yet another tired Marilyn/Alan Bergman song... they all just sound the SAME after awhile and I've come to cringe at hearing their names asociated with new Streisand material. The needle is definetly getting stuck in the groove! "Lessons To Be Learned" is my personal favorite cut. It is reflective and inspirational, without being overly preachy. "Everything Must Change" and thank God this song did! I obtained a copy of Streisand's original rehearsal of this song and it left a lot to be desired! It's is a far better song here, almost haunting! "Avinu Malkanieu" is the only truly religious song on the album and is sung so incredibly by Streisand here that any flaws in the album up until then just seem to vanish!

Some of Barbra's vocals sound a bit forced or overwrought, and at times you feel as if Barbra had lost some of her upper range. Fortunately the follow up album "A Love Like Ours" and her "Timeless" Millennium concert proved that while at nearly 58, Barbra may take a little bit longer to warm up, her voice is still as thrilling and magical as ever.

"Higher Ground" is more "Deepak Chopra Spiritual" than a Judeo/Christian sprituality, but it proves that beautiful , soulful songs can transend any faith and inpire us all to "higher ground".

"Higher and Higher" A Critical Review of Higher Ground.

There's an initial temptation to think, "Oh, Bab's got a new album out, well we've heard this all before." And with good reason, many of her albums are polished, safe performances of the standards that have been done umpteen times before by the likes of Streisand and those contemporaries in her class. But, if you haven't heard Higher Ground, this album will surprise you.

This is by no means a heavy-handed, overtly religious album: it's definitely on the lighter side and the Creator is not defined (confined) by any religious cognomen. This is a simple statement about living with a spiritually uplifting message interwoven. This is the inspirational album the many didn't make.

This album sets out to define in very broad terms what an inspirational album should say, simply put, it examines the vicissitudes of life, while all the while encouraging one, despite the difficulties, despite the pains, despite the failures, the losses, to never lose faith.

I've used the word reflective repeatedly because it is an accurate description of one's feelings when she sings. All this notwithstanding, there are the Streisand-sounding types. Everything else is strikingly unique, such as the remake of the R&B classic, "If I Could."
Those of us who love this song knows it is owned by Ms. Regina Belle. Not anymore. To hear Ms. Streisand's version is to hear a new, more soulful and maternal rendering which leaves one in awe. If there's a lesson in all of this, it just might be that when performers on par with Streisand don't gratuitously offer their stamp of approval on the pop-songs of the moment, but genuinely take a work of art (and "If I Could" is such) and present it as a personal statement of Truth, the results are rarely what Ms. Streisand achieved: a rendition that's worlds-away better than the original.

Besides this, "On Holy Ground" and the title track, there are three more outstanding pieces. With "Leading With Your Heart," Ms. Streisand seems to be giving a testimonial from her diary, and finally, I humbly recommend, "Avinu Malkeinu," ("Our Father, Our King")-a fitting end to this masterpiece.

The late Timothy White said of Bob Marley, that Marley was so exceptional that his work was never a part of the reggae phenomena. He always stood parallel to everyone and everything in that period. The same can be said of Barbra Streisand. She, too, is a legend. And, like the late, great King of Reggae Music, she doesn't rest on her laurels. The legends never do, they realize there's too much at stake to stay on the mountaintop too long. There's much, too much, work to do with/ for the hungry masses.

Higher Ground is an unsurpassed and insurmountable inspirational album. And, I've heard quite a few.

20th century pop music has produced only ten truly great talents who have transcended others and made their own unique mark in the entertainment industry: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Nat "King" Cole, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Frankin, Michael Jackson, and, last but surely not least, the incomparable Barbara Streisand. The multitalented Streisand can do it all.

I thought her apex was "The Broadway Album," but 1997's "Higher Ground" is, without a doubt, her finest to date. Every cut sends shudders up the listener's spine. Starting off with the blend of "I Believe/You'll Never Walk Alone" the listener is set on a voyage that is totally inspirational. The mother's lament "If I Could," although recorded by others such as Regina Belle and Nancy Wilson, is given the unique Streisand touch that is magnificent. Another medley "The Water is Wide/Deep River" elevates the listener to a plain that is deeply reflective. I am not even Jewish and appreciate the superb "Avinu Malkeinu," which completes this monumental recording.

But, the highlight is "On Holy Ground." Not since the soundtrack to "Funny Lady" with its gospel-influenced "(It's Gonna be)A Great Day)" has Streisand sounded so soul-stirring. When only her voice is heard as the orchestra "breaks," I know that St. Peter hears her.

And he, like the rest of us, is smiling!

Barbra Streisand is far and away, the only artist in history who can outdo herself. Granted, we have had artists who have done it once or twice, but Streisand has made a career out of it. She releases one album hailed as the "best album of her career" yet then she releases one that tops that one. Through the 60's, 70's, 80';s and 90's she has done that. The last album she made no one thought she could top was THE BROADWAY ALBUM. Well, I have news- she has topped it. Spending 15 bucks on this album is worth it, even for just one song- "On Holy Ground". Truly, the hand of God touched Streisand's voice upon her singing of this. Other beautiful inspirational ballads are "At the Same Time", "Circle", "Leading with Your Heart" and "Lessons to be Learned". "Tell Him" is just fantastic, and the two medlys are very powerful, and enchanting! This album is worth it! A true inspiration!

Being a fan, i am in love with this wholly inspiring album!

The cover versions of I Believe/You'll Never Walk Alone is beautiful and even the new tracks ("At The Same Time, Tell Him (with Celine Dion), If I Could, Circle, Lessons To Be Learned) are all nothing short of sincere and masterfully executed.

The best track though is her cover of On Holy Ground, totally immersive and Gospel sounding (Thank you Mervyn Warren, producer), it makes this album memorable.

She even does Avinu Malkeinu (a Jewish number) and an old B-side ("Everything Must Change")...what can i say? She might be getting older, voice less glass-shattering, but the magic that is conviction and total concentration will forever be found in a Streisand number...that voice is still as timeless as it was when it was first heard.

Seriously, this is her highest point of her career ever since the classic Broadway Album and the ambitious box-set 'Just For The Record'

Commercially, it has gone triple platinum, so there- Higher Ground indeed. Musically, it is literal and Barbra Streisand still has that golden voice of hers, wonderful!

THIS IS WHY I FELL IN LOVE WITH BARBRA MANY YEARS AGO, BARBRA SINGING LIKE NO ONE ELSE CAN. SOME OF HER LATER WORK HAS A JAZZ FEEL TO IT, THIS IS PURE BARBRA, ON HOLY GROUND HAS TO BE THE BEST RECORDING OF HER CAREER, SHE'S IN PERFECT VOICE THE MUSIC IS RICH SMOOTH AS SATIN. IT JUST DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS.

An album of inspirational songs, this is another excellent recording from Streisand. The song selections are top-notch, with the perfect mix of proven standards and well-chosen contemporary material. The opening medley seamlessly combines "I Believe" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" into one gorgeous, cathartic masterpiece. The medley of "The Water Is Wide" and "Deep River" is similarly successful, while the more contemporary-sounding songs like the title track (co-produced by Arif Mardin) and "Leading with You Heart" (written by Marvin Hamlisch and the Bergmans) stand up well next to the classics.

Streisand sounds lovely throughout, giving delicate readings of "If I Could" and "Everything Must Change, and lending powerhouse vocals to the soaring "Lessons To Be Learned and the thrilling, gospel-infused "On Holy Ground." The highly publicized David Foster-produced power ballad "Tell Him," a duet with Streisand-wannabe Celine Dion, is somewhat of an odd inclusion when compared to the rest of the album. However, the track is cleverly conceived (Streisand plays the older, wiser mentor to Celine's love-sick ingenue), and it is undeniably fun to hear the two belters go head-to-head in song.

Best of all is the closing track "Avinu Malkeinu," which is performed during the Jewish New Year, deserves special mention for bringing the album to such a powerful close. Barbra's hauntingly intense performance will make you wish she would record an entire album of traditional Jewish songs. HIGHER GROUND was deservingly a massive success, hitting #1 on the Hot 200 and quickly reaching Triple-Platinum status in sales. It has sold over 6 million copies worldwide, and proves that there are some music-buyers who still have great taste.