Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Business goes on as usual for Barbra after A STAR IS BORN, December 11, 2005
By the mid-1970s, Barbra Streisand was truly a one-woman media blitz, having conquered television with her highly imaginative specials, Hollywood with films that were almost always guaranteed top grosses at the box office, and finally pop music with one finely-crafted LP after another. Sure, consistency was not always the order of the day with regards to the latter, but you could always count on an affair that was every inch approved by Barbra herself. If that was how she wanted to hear her music, there was no reason why her fans should not either. 1977's STREISAND SUPERMAN was another link in this unbreakable chain.
Most of Barbra's 1970s albums were filled with various covers that were either great reinventions or interesting efforts, depending on the song at hand. SUPERMAN instead relies more on original songs heard here for the first time (Barbra even gets in on the act with credits on 2 songs).
The harder-edged rock sound she had dabbled in while filming her 1976 remake of A STAR IS BORN was sure to be held over onto her next album, and SUPERMAN does not disappoint (some songs were originally intended for the movie itself). For someone as constantly in the public eye as Barbra was back then, the anti-tabloid "Don't Believe What You Read" (which is one of the Barbra co-writes) fits in nicely. While not as fierce as, say, Michael Jackson's "Leave Me Alone", it does rank as one of Barbra's most energetic & defiant songs of her career. "Cabin Fever" seems to be a precursor to Donna Summer's (who of course would record with Barbra 2 years later) "Hot Stuff" & "Bad Girls" with a ballsy salute to not staying inside, but getting out there & doing something, for crying out loud.
In case the tougher side of Barbra was too unbelievable for some (and she was only marginally successful at turning up the volume), SUPERMAN still had plenty of softer treasures to remind us what Barbra always did best. The title track is perhaps too gimmicky to really work, but it still speaks to any listener looking for their own superhero to come rescue them (it probably took a pretty penny for Barbra to get the rights to use the Superman trademark).
Roger Miller's "Baby Me Baby" abandons the sweeping strings of most the album's ballads for a smaller jazz-based backdrop that is Barbra's most sensual number since "Love In The Afternoon". "I Found You Love" finds her strutting gently towards the disco with a tune that would not quite be at home in Studio 54, but believe me, you will feel the need to cut a rug.
The other Barbra co-write "Answer Me" is not really a terrible song, it just simply floats by in the 3 minutes it lasts without leaving much of an impression. Probably the only song on SUPERMAN that does not hold up with the rest (with it co-written by Paul Williams, this is probably the most likely holdover from A STAR IS BORN).
"My Heart Belongs To Me" was the album's big hit, reaching #4 on the Hot 100, along with topping the Adult Contemporary charts, and was truly the best representative of the album for a single. It was also perfect for Barbra's own independent nature with its theme of opening oneself up to love, but never feeling the need to give your heart to only one. Rupert Holmes' "Lullaby For Myself" (a leftover from 1975's LAZY AFTERNOON?) is similar in its reminder to the listener that before you can love anyone, you must love yourself first. With Barbra's passionate delivery of this song, it is clear she has no trouble with that (and I mean that sincerely, not acknowledging her half-deserved reputation for being difficult & perfectionistic).
The best-known covers come near the end of SUPERMAN, and show off the strengths Barbra has always had as an intrepreter. "Love Comes From Unexpected Places" was written by Kim Carnes when she was better known as a songwriter who had only minor success as an artist. This came 7 years before she & Barbra would team up again for "Make No Mistake, He's Mine", and it is said Barbra recording this song helped edge Kim further towards becoming a full-time singer who just happened to write her own material.
Billy Joel was finally making his way to headliner status in 1977 with THE STRANGER, and Barbra helped the cause of getting him there by covering "New York State Of Mind". A lifelong New Yorker herself, I cannot think of anyone else who could have covered this song this well. She may have conquered Hollywood & played to audiences around the world, but Barbra remains forever drawn to the city that is her home. This could have been a can't-miss follow-up single to "My Heart Belongs To Me", but unfortunately remains an album track worth searching after.
While STREISAND SUPERMAN may not have been Barbra's most groundbreaking album or her even most original, the fans appeared to have gotten their money's worth for the album peaked at #3 even with only one single release. It arrived only 7 months after A STAR IS BORN had been released, so Barbra Streisand was definitely a busy woman back then. Who was to say if she was running herself ragged & not taking a break once in a while? But as SUPERMAN shows, even with the workaholic attitude, a Barbra Streisand album could sound similar to the one that came before it, but never ever was it dull.
|
|
|
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
STREISAND SOARS., February 24, 1999
Though many of her 80s and 90s efforts have seemed superficial (notable exception: THE BROADWAY ALBUM), the 1970s were really the peak of Streisand's career in terms of choosing material that her voice could complement. STONEY END, BARBRA JOAN STREISAND, and SUPERMAN remain among her finest achievements and represent true growth in terms of trying material new to her. And the rewards go to the listeners. The SUPERMAN ballad is almost laughably schmaltzy, but Streisand's soaring vocal make it memorable, while ANSWER ME, MY HEART BELONGS TO ME, LULLABY FOR MYSELF, and the stunning LOVE COMES FROM UNEXPECTED PLACES are among her finest, and most restrained, vocal accomplishments. The liner notes for the original album were written by Barbra and I wish they had been preserved on the CD release, but the digital remastering is superb. All in all, a smashing success in a career full of highs.
|
|
|
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adding a Little Edge to Glossy Pop, May 22, 2000
In many respects, this ablum, like the way the Barbra has described herself, is a mass of contradictions ... on one hand, the majority of the songs are glossy, professional-to-the max pop, often alternating between string-laden ballads that are guaranteed to wow the devoted (i.e. the top 5 hit My Heart Belongs to Me) and a few rockers obviously targeting the younger audience Streisand won over via A Star is Born (the candy-coated disco-ish I Found You Love, the rock guitar and violin bathed rockers Don't Believe What You Read and Cabin Fever). But when you overlook the studio gimmickry, you find along the way some refreshingly bright and even insightful pop songs. Take, for instance, the delicate Love Comes From Unexpected Places, with Streisand's hushed and husky vocals evoking knowingness and, at the same time, loneliness and painful desperation (mass of contradiction thesis at work!). Or, better yet, the lyrically astute Lullaby For Myself, which compellingly examines the conflict between maintaining independence and the selfishness that comes along with it, and the need to have a simple albeit codependent relationship. (Pretty heady stuff for a pop song!) On Lullaby, Streisand confirms her reputation as the actress who sings, beginning the song with a devil may care delivery (shaded with plaintiveness), and subsequently bringing her frustration and previously subtle plaintiveness to the surface.Above all, the album provides a nice vehicle for Streisand's increasingly firm grasp of Top 40 pop music. Yes, a song like I Found You Love is awfully dated-- with a quasi-Caribbean musical coloring cluttering the song and a male speaking voice in the intro that evokes polyester eroticism-- but Streisand is obviously having a ball, cooing a little, belting a lot! Meanwhile the title track and Don't Belive What You Read are formulaic but enticing pop confections that exude, respectively, ecstacy and rage (hey, as much as we love seeing Streisand's charitable, sensitive side, it's always fun hearing her melodically spout out a little venom!) Though the below reviews seem to indicate a pop debacle, Superman, is, in truth (truth because I say so!) a nice example of Streisand elevating pop/rock, trivial and insightful, to unexpected levels.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
~ Barbra Streisand
~ Barbra Streisand
~ Barbra Streisand
~ Barbra Streisand
~ Barbra Streisand
- the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
