Back To Broadway [Soundtrack]

Does Barbra's follow up recording to THE BROADWAY ALBUM come close to matching the spectacular quality of the original? Well, yes and no. The original BROADWAY ALBUM is Streisand's masterpiece and one of the best recordings of all time, so there's really no way she could ever even begin to approach the level of that release. However, when thought of an independent release, BACK TO BROADWAY is an excellent record in it's own right.

Barbra is in terrific voice and she gives some of her most stunning performances here, particularly on the album's closing track "Move On." Unfortunately, it is in the production and song selection the BACK TO BROADWAY occasionally falters. While THE BROADWAY ALBUM featured many of Peter Matz's creatively daring arrangements that gave many of the compositions a jolt of energy, BACK TO BROADWAY consists mostly of the "easy listening" gloss of David Foster. Foster produced THE BROADWAY ALBUM'S stunning, post-apocalyptic rendition of "Somewhere," however the only tracks that are reminiscent of that kind of creativity here is the delightfully frantic take on Sondheim's "Everbody Says Don't" and the riotous, intentionally campy rendition of Frank Loesser's "Luck Be a Lady" (which delightfully brings back some of the vintage Streisand humor).

Foster basically plays it safe everywhere else, and his ultra-smooth production can either help a song or hurt it. For example, a sultrier number like "Speak Low" actually benefits from the "lite FM" arrangements, but an already-over-played composition like "Some Enchanted Evening" or "Music of the Night" simply sound generic in Foster's hands. Another problem is that, while the album is a pretty consistent listen, BACK TO BROADWAY never really gels into a completely cohesive release. This is due to the fact that two of the sections are duets and three are Andrew Lloyd Webber compositions. All of these tracks are individually very good (especially Webber's "As If We Never Said Goodbye," which is easily one of the composer's best), but they sound out of place next to the other material.

Having said all of that, BACK TO BROADWAY excels when it sticks to Sondheim's material. Stephen Sondheim is the greatest composer of his generation, and Barbra is the perfect interpreter of his material. Barbra gives the definitive performances of the aforementioned tracks "Move On" and "Everybody Says Don't," and her beautifully nuanced rendition of "Children Will Listen" is one of the best performances of her extraordinary career. Johnny Mathis joins Barbra on a medley of "I Have A Love/One Hand, One Heart," and (even if the duet format prevents it from working within the confines of the album) it is a show-stopper

In addition to the Sondheim material, the disc's best moment is perhaps Barbra's spine-tingling performance of "I've Never Been In Love Before." One of the more underrated recordings in Streisand's rich catalogue, this rendition of Frank Loesser's standard is another moment on the album where the song, arrangement, and vocal all perfectly combine to create an absolute masterpiece. Already blessed with a gorgeous melody and beautifully melancholic lyrics, "I've Never Been In Love Before" is further enhanced Jeremy Lubbock's lovely, but restrained arrangement and one of Streisand's most emotive yet understated vocals. When Streisand performs this number, she really becomes GUYS AND DOLLS' heroine Sarah Brown and she will break your heart every time you play this track.

Even if it never really unifies into a cohesive whole, BACK TO BROADWAY contains enough exceptional material to make it a great recording. The album hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 200 and has achieved Double-Platinum status in sales. That is an amazing achievement for a 51-year-old woman who had released her first record 30 years earlier.

Once thing you have to say for Barbra Streisand, when she sings a song she tries to make it her own. Like its predecessor, this collection of show tunes represents songs with which we are very familiar, which only serves to heighten the distinctiveness of Streisand's versions. It is not surprising that these songs are going to be hits and misses with listeners. Some of the tracks are relatively conventional, "As If We Never Said Goodbye" and "With One Look" from "Sunset Boulevard" along with "Children Will Listen" from "Into the Woods," but that album begins with "Some Enchanted Evening" from "South Pacific," which constitutes the most radical departure from the original version on the disc. There are also rare gems, such as "Everybody Says Don't" from Sondheim's "Anyone Can Whistle," to go along with classics such as "Luck Be A Lady" from "Guys & Dolls." For me the two standout tracks are the duets. Streisand does a medley from "West Side Story" of "I Have a Love/One Hand, One Heart" with Johnny Mathias; certainly her voice blows his away for most of the song, but there are some nice harmonies going there. But this is nothing compared to her duet with Michael Crawford on "The Music of the Night" from "Phantom of the Opera." He gets the first big high note, she takes the second. In between the harmonies are exquisite. This song still sends chills down my spine and I can never listen to it just once when I play this disc. No wonder they each released it on their own albums, this song deserves all the exposure it can get. Oh, and I like the appropriateness of the cover shot of Barbra as well.

"Back to Broadway" is a pretty good album, but it is not nearly as good as its predecessor, "The Broadway Album." She open with "Some Enchanted Evening" and tries to make it more intimate than the booming interpretations that we're used to; but somehow it ends up sounding like elevator music. "Everybody Says Don't" is a great song and she sings it really well. She seems to have found connections to it that she does not seem to find with some of the other songs. Her duet with Michael Crawford on "The Music of the Night" is quite dramatic and she sounds fabulous. He is one of the few people that she probably can't sing under the table. In contrast, her duet with Johnny Mathis ("One Hand, One Heart") is very disappointing. She seems to be trying (whether consciously or not) to out-sing him. Why did she bother doing this as a duet when the final result sounds like Barbra Streisand with Johnny Mathis on background vocals? Her versions of songs from "Sunset Boulevard" ("As If We Never Said Goodbye" and "With One Look") are technically perfect, but compared with the versions by Elaine Paige (another great singer/actress) who has actually played the role on stage, Barbra's versions lack pathos. In "With One Look" especially, she seems afraid to connect to the fact that the character singing the song is an over-the-hill star. Maybe the parallels are too painful for Babs to consider? My personal favorite song on this record is "Children Will Listen," a Sondheim song from "Into the Woods." He added lyrics for Babs, making the song more cohesive and literal. Her performance is wonderful. She really inhabits this song. Too bad the rest of the cd doesn't match this performance. According to the liner notes, she sings "The Man I Love" as a tribute to such jazz divas as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. I don't know why she bothered. She is not a jazz singer and her version pales in comparison to the aforementioned jazz divas. I usually skip over this song. She concludes with a song from "Sunday in the Park with George" called "Move On." In the musical, the song is sung by two characters. On Babs' record, the song has been reconstructed so that she sings both. I liked this alot, mostly because I loved the musical. She sings this well and, as with most of her Sondheim performances, she seems to connect to it emotionally--which makes the song sing, so to speak. Overall, this cd is a mixed bag. I would suggest that you sample "The Broadway Album" and some of her early sixties work before buying this one.