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Ah musical memories! They may be beautiful but... tracks that are too regretful we simply choose to re-cut. Barbra's latest release had great potential for exciting duets but makes the mistake of redoing songs she previously recorded. In addition some of her partners are just not ideal.
There was a time when it would have been unthinkable for Barbra to rerecord her previous hits. When preparing her Musical Instruments tv special in 1973 producers requested her past hits so she created a tongue in cheek medley set to African drums! Usually Barbra does not like to repeat herself but clearly her attitude has changed. She has become more sentimental and reverential toward her old chestnuts, as well as more appreciative of her fans. Maybe it's her live concerts over the past twenty years during which she performed new arrangements for some hits. Her highlights were her collaborations with Il Divo, Il Volo and her son Jason. With those performances plus her duets that were compiled in 2002 that's hard to follow without unfavorable comparisons. Some partnerships are magical such as How Deep is the Ocean with Jason and some partnerships should have been dissolved before hitting the record button.
In her interviews promoting Partners Barbra said the idea came from her A and R guy Jay Landers so while she enjoyed the process, the purpose of this project seems more business than pleasure. With the exception of Jason, the assembling of various male artists is like multiple business arrangements attempting to appeal to each artist's fan base. Barbra is in great form throughout, hitting her high notes and giving her usual 110 percent. She even recorded some in same studio at same time as her partners. Unfortunately some of the collaborators let her down. The magic that can come from music collaboration is just not sustained throughout. The partnership leaning most toward business than artistic is Blake Shelton. I know Barbra chose Blake for I'd Want It To Be You. Considering a country sound she might have thought "why not? It worked with Vince Gill." Well I'll tell ya why not. Because Blake still sounds like Nashville and Barbra like Barbra. It's two completely different styles that don't work like serving grits with bagels for breakfast. With Billy Joel it's great to hear him in the studio again and both being New Yorkers it should have worked. But their styles don't quite blend, its like his original and hers spliced together. Though I did like the tag at the end about pizza and Chinese food. Other strictly business comes from Stevie Wonder in worst arrangement of People ever. Poor Peter Matz must be turning in his grave. Elvis? Seriously? She had better chemistry with Marlon Brando on The Concert album in 1994. Other bland business from Lionel Richie, John Legend and Josh Groban. Josh actually sounds better on All I Know of Love on Duets which they actually recorded separately. The difference has to do with the arrangements.
Babyface came up with new ones for Evergreen and Lost Inside of You that are great and improvement from her duets with Kris in A Star is Born. Babyface has history of cool collaboration on his own duets release so he knows how to bring it vocally. The arrangement for It Had to Be You with Michael Buble is the best track. It sounds like Buble brought his own big band along with his excellent jazz vocal style. He actually takes control telling her "let's go!". Andrea Bocelli also takes control forcing Barbra to reach new heights on one of two newly recorded songs I Still Can See Your Face. It is reminiscent of her live Il Volo performance. You can hear the joy in both vocals. Her son Jason Gould is a revelation. We already had an idea how this would sound from the live version but in the studio it's even better. Again pure joy with gorgeous arrangement. Mother and son blend in beautiful harmony. Come Rain or Come Shine is the most improved arrangement from the original. John Mayer does not blend as well vocally but contributes his cool guitar work which Barbra seems to appreciate saying at one point "oh yeah!" If only more of these guys gave their all instead of just coasting through to get their pay out. Could nerves from working with Barbra have held them back?
Of course most disappointment could have been alleviated if she did not choose to rerecord her past works. From interviews it seems she feels the fans want to hear the old chestnuts again because we cheer for them at her concerts. She may also be too lazy to research new material. But all I know is I as a fan would rather hear something new from this living legend. Because no matter how she may redo, rearrange or reinvent-- everything old is still old...again.
Recommended tracks: It Had to be You, How Deep is the Ocean, I Still Can See Your Face and on Deluxe edition: Lost Inside of You
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This is a beautiful album. You will appreciate each duet , with Barbra"s awesome performances. Each duet rises to the occasion to be the best it can be. I had a wonderful experience. Thank you Barbra! :-)
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CamperVan-K
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