Customer Reviews

Way We Were

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Easily one of the top five Streisand recordings of all time, THE WAY WE WERE is an album that shouldn't work at all, no less work brilliantly. After the title song took off as a single (it hit #1 on the Hot 100 and eventually became the top selling single of the year), THE WAY WE WERE was hastily assembled by having Barbra quickly record three more new songs (recorded in a one-night session) and using previously unissued songs that were left over from canceled earlier projects to fill up the rest of the record. The end product should have been spotty and uneven, but THE WAY WE WERE stands as an amazingly cohesive and consistent release.

While recorded anywhere from four to seven years apart, the songs interweave with one another to produce a remarkably solid piece. I have no idea why such strongly written, marvelously performed songs remained in the vaults as long as they did. This is an album that really makes you aware of the power of Barbra's subtlety. Her restrained vocals on "Summer Me, Winter Me" and "Pieces of Dreams" are gorgeous, while her haunting renditions of "What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life?" and "My Buddy/How About Me?" will give even the most cynical listeners chills. However, she also gets to show off her phenomenal vocal prowess, and gives "The Best Thing You've Ever Done" and "Never Been A Woman Before" incomparable performances.

The new material is just as fantastic, and lays down perfectly beside the older tracks. Her renditions of Paul Simon's "Something So Right" and Stevie Wonder's "All In Love Is Fair" are particularly lovely, and of course the title track is one of Streisand's best-loved signature songs. THE WAY WE WERE album hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 200 and has reached Double Platinum status in sales, probably due to the success of the hit title track. However, the whole disc is amazing in it's entirety and is one of Streisand's finest.

From the beginning to the final tracks, this album is Barbra Streisand at her finest! The ballads on this album are still as beautiful today as they were 25 years ago. The album starts off on a powerful note with the ballads "Being at War With Each Other", and "Something So Right". Amazingly enough, the greatest song on this album is NOT the immortal classic, "The Way We Were", yet it is the extremely powerful ballad, "The Best Thing You've Ever Done". The ending still sends chills down my spine. "All in Love Is Fair", "What Are you Doing the Rest of Your Love" and "Summer Me, Winter Me" contain Streisand at her best in a restrained vocal, yet she lets it all out on the beautiful, intoxicating, goosebump giving "I've Never Been a Woman Before". This album is a must-have not just for Streisand fans, but for all music fans in general. An excellent piece of art!

I was amazed when I read sometime back that "The Way We Were" album was actually just a bunch of previously released non-LP singles and B-sides thrown together with some unreleased tracks and her then current #1 hit "The Way We Were."

But what material! In my opinion, her only albums that even come close to this are Guilty, People, and maybe The Broadway Album. Every song is outstanding.

But she has never been in better voice than on this set. Her delicate opening notes on "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life" send chills up your spine. I once played just the first few lines of that song for a friend of mine, and she simply closed her eyes and said, "Mmm!" as if she were tasting the most delectable dessert. It is arguably the single finest vocal performance of Streisand's career.

But sadly, the US version of this CD lacks any bonus tracks whatsoever. The UK edition does feature the film version of the title track, but this has been issued many times before. What should have been included is the hit single recording of "The Way We Were," which, though utilizing the same instrumental backing track as the LP version, used a completely different vocal take from start to finish.

Perhaps she decided she didn't like her vocal on the single, and re-recorded it for the later-released LP. Whatever the case, the hit 45 rpm recording has never been issued on any LP or CD. I remember the first time I bought her "Greatest Hits Vol. 2" album, back in 1981, on vinyl. I thought, "This isn't how I remember 'Way We Were' sounding on the radio." But I chalked it up to poor memory.

Do you know that, once ABKCO's boxed set of Cameo-Parkway artists is released late in 2004, "The Way We Were" will be the only #1 single since 1939 to never have been issued on CD in its hit version? Sad but true.

5 stars for the album, 4 1/2 for the remastering, and zero for not including at least two bonus tracks! Barbra, if you're reading this, quit sitting on your old recordings!

The fact that the better half of the tracks on this album(3, 6-10) were recorded in 1970(five years before its release) right after Barbra finished On a Clear Day... is not surprising. It was at this time before she decided to go pop that her voice was at its most pure and powerful. Her voice sounds so warm and effortless on those tracks you cant help but be hypnotized. Thankfully Barbra chose to use less than rock and more class on the remaining tracks, which are just as enjoyable because they are so passionately song. It makes one wonder how even more wonderful the album the pre-recorded songs came from would have been, had Barbra decided not to scrap them for the more contemporary Stoney End CD

Even though it was recorded at different sessions dating from the late 60s and the early 70s, with different producers, "The Way We Were" hangs together as one of the most sophisticated and mature albums of Streisand's career. With this album, her vocal timbre gains a warmth that had previous only been hinted at, and her phrasing is soulful, delicate, and intense at once. The first half of the album is highlighted by Streisand giving loose and impassioned readings of Carole King, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder songs, and of course the mega-smash title song, but it's with the first sound of the saxophone at the opening of "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" that the album enters into an intimacy that is thrilling, romantic and ulitmately heartbreaking. "Pieces of Dreams" practically floats on a cloud, it's so gorgeous. But it's the album's closing track, a medley of "My Buddy" and "How About Me" that is one of the greatest tracks Streisand has ever recorded. It is a reminder that she is a singer who possesses great subtlety -- both in her phrasing and emotion -- and this quality has been overshadowed in reputation by the more "hit single" vocal belting that most audiences know and love. It all has its place in the overall scheme of her music career, but it doesn't get any better or lovelier than this closing track, and this remarkably cohesive album.

I don't see a listing for it, but found this original entry for the previously issued THE WAY WE WERE studio album. The new version has restored original artwork, inclusive of the words "THE WAY WE WERE" next to the lovely Barbra photo from the first album release prior to removing it later. The names of the men responsible for the remastering Stephe Marcussen & Stewart Whitmore are noted on the tray insert, so you have the correct one, plus a new catalog number BK85153. The sound is superb and previous hiss has been further diminished or eliminated (still a slight amount at the end of "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", but not like before, where the last note goes & the hiss fades out). This edition did not make 5 stars, as Bonus tracks could've been added and were not. The true single version of THE WAY WE WERE could've been included (where the line "smiles we gave to one another" sounds different than the album version), as well as a 45RPM single version of "The Best Thing You've Ever Done". With CDs able to contain up to 80 minutes of music these days, it is a shame this new issue, along with 4 other Streisand Classics did not add bonus tracks. I hope future releases will take this into consideration based on her 40th Anniversary with Columbia this year. All in all, the sound is superb and this is one of Barbra's best overall albums.

I'm in total agreement with most here. This to me is Streisand's finest album to date. As another reviewer noted, this album is great from beginning to end; NO FILL-IN mush. Every track flawless. The clarity and controlled power in her voice is unsurpassed. Again, this is one of those early albums that catapulted Barbra even further into the larger than life superstar stratosphere where she has remained for 30yrs. This is where we were introduced to the song writing husband and wife team, the Bergman's. Every song blends so well together in mood and tempo. It is truly a work of art. I remember an entire restaurant going silent back in '74 when they played it on their PA system.

It's one of her earliest and I think one of her best. Streisand's voice is in perfect form and her rendition of "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life" is the best I have ever heard.

While it may be simply too easy to jump on the " let's criticize Barbra" bandwagon ( some of it justified I'm sure) I feel I should pass and review a cd that, to me at least, is still possibly her finest disc when taken as a whole.

The release of "The Way We Were" was, at the time, unusual in that Barbra was beginning to show much more interest in current "pop" composers such as Laura Nyro and Kris Kristofferson. This disc, while some may consider a throwback to her earlier days of doing Broadway tunes and standards, was musically, as well as emotionally speaking, her strongest effort for some years to come. While some of her later discs would hold some nice surprises for her fans none of them truly reached the emotional and artisitic peak that this cd did. And still does! There's no point in reliving "highlights" since the selections on "The Way We Were" are so wisely chosen that each song is in itself a precursor to the next. There's a continuity that here that I simply revel in! No, there's not a bad note to be found! It's interesting in that each song tends to complement the last...and how often are we fortunate enough to find that in any cd these days! And lest he be completely forgotten, kudos to Michele LeGrand of which whose lyrics make up the majority of this wonderful cd. Without his remarkable talent this disc would have never seen the light of day! Plus, I may add, that having Tommy Lipuma there to help "turn the knobs" was another wise move. No matter what Barbra may think she simply cannot do it all on her own, as later discs would testify.

My personal favorites,"The Best Thing You've Ever Done","Being At War With Each Other", and the Stevie Wonder song "All In Love Is Fair". Perhaps I should also add "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?". As I've stated it's impossible to pick any single song here...every one stands up so well.

Overall an amazing disc that gets so much time on my player. But when music is this mature and well performed it would be difficult to leave it to one side.

Sophisticated yet....emotionally accessible. At last!

Whatever Barbra Streisand had in her drinking water when she recorded these songs must have been so special, magnetic and powerful that I wouldn't mind drinking some of it myself--maybe then I could actually sing as a tenor every bit as beautifully as Barbra sings! Barbra Streisand's album The Way We Were has nothing but the very best from this wonderful, singularly talented songbird! I do agree with reviewers who note that they should have added the other version of "The Way We Were;" that is a disappointment but the rest of this album is just so good that it still stands well on its own. There's not a dud in the bunch here; and that's terrific. In addition, I like that cover art that incorporates the artwork from the original record album release; and the quality of the sound is superb.

"Being at War with Each Other" starts the track set with a dynamic, striking number that Streisand aces as effortlessly as if it were mere breathing--but, of course, we know it really isn't all that easy. Barbra's talent easily carries her through. The music fits perfectly with Barbra's vocals--and how's about that brass? "Something So Right" lets Barbra do an awesome cover of this poignant tune by Paul Simon; she makes it sparkle brighter than silver and gold with her magnificent delivery! Her excellent diction and her fine sense of timing makes Barbra's delivery all the better. "(The) Best Thing You've Ever Done" is very well done with excellent use of the strings and percussion; and of course the title track is flawless. Barbra sings "The Way We Were" with panache and I'm very impressed.

"All in Love Is Fair" strikes me with its natural beauty and that overwhelming sense of melancholy; this ballad by Stevie Wonder is unforgettable in Barbra's capable hands. The percussion is again used quite well and Barbra sings this with all her heart and soul; you can really tell it's true with just one listen! "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" has always been one of my very favorite love songs; Barbra sings this to perfection-and beyond! I love it; this leaves nothing to be desired--this music is all THAT good.

"Summer Me, Winter Me" is gorgeous when Barbra sings it; those strings really add to the lushness of the ballad. "Pieces of Dreams" is easy on the ear; and I really like "I've Never Been a Woman Before." The album ends very nicely with Barbra Streisand performing a medley of "My Buddy" and "How About Me." The music provides the faultless accompaniment to Barbra's vocals and it also leaves me wanting more!

Barbra Streisand never fails to please her fans; and albums like this prove it. This is a must-have CD for Streisand fans; and people who enjoy classic pop vocals would do well to add this to their music collections.