The Divine Collection: Bette Midler: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Hello In There

2. Do You Want To Dance?

3. From A Distance

4. Chapel Of Love

5. Only In Miami

6. When A Man Loves A Woman

7. The Rose

8. Miss Otis Regrets

9. Shiver Me Timbers

10. Wind Beneath My Wings

11. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

12. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

13. Friends

14. In My Life

Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

From her early days in the bathhouses to her rise as the star of her own concert film, Bette Midler has always brought a campy playfulness to her performances. Experience the Divine focuses on her radio hits for the bulk of its resources, although the kicky "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" is here. Midler's voice easily adapts itself to the material she's performing: "When a Man Loves a Woman" is charged with a raw sensuality whereas "In My Life" is as tender as a lullaby. The more recent standards are here, "From a Distance" and "Wind Beneath My Wings", along with her star-making turn, "The Rose". Whether she's handling Cole Porter ("Miss Otis Regrets") or the Beatles, Bette Midler's voice is dynamic and expressive, according to the needs of the song. This astute ability to interpret without always going for the kill makes her versions of her chosen material some of the best ever recorded. --Steve Gdula

Amazon.com essential recording

From her early days in the bathhouses to her rise as the star of her own concert film, Bette Midler has always brought a campy playfulness to her performances. Experience the Divine focuses on her radio hits for the bulk of its resources, although the kicky "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" is here. Midler's voice easily adapts itself to the material she's performing: "When a Man Loves a Woman" is charged with a raw sensuality whereas "In My Life," is as tender as a lullaby. The recent standards are here, "From a Distance" and "Wind Beneath My Wings," along with her star-making turn, "The Rose." Whether she's handling Cole Porter ("Miss Otis Regrets") or the Beatles, Bette Midler's voice is dynamic and expressive, according to the needs of the song. This astute ability to interpret without always going for the kill makes her versions of her chosen material some of the best ever recorded. --Steve Gdula

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Customer Reviews

40 Reviews

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (40 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great covers and originals - all kinds of songs, Mar 26 2004

By

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Divine Collection (Audio CD)

Bette sings excellent covers of songs from several decades of popular music, each in her own distinctive style, as well as a few originals.

Among the originals, the outstanding song is The Rose, a song written by Amanda McBroom who was then unknown but has established herself as a cabaret singer since she wrote this song.

Bette is perhaps best known for two massive international hits. Wind beneath my wings started life as an R+B song but a Gary Morris cover made the top five in the American country chart. Lee Greenwood's cover became a minor British pop hit. Bette had a major pop hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Bette's version of From a distance, first recorded by folk-country singer Nanci Griffith, matched the success of Wind beneath my wings.

John Prine, an under-appreciated singer-songwriter, wrote Hello in there. Do you wanna dance is a rock'n'roll classic. Chapel of love is of a similar vintage, being originally recorded by the Dixie Cups. When a man loves a woman is a cover of Percy Sledge's classic soul song. The Beatles are represented by a wonderful cover of In my life.

Cole Porter wrote Miss Otis regrets, making it the oldest song here - it was a hit for Ethel Waters way back in 1934. Another old song, Boogie woogie bugle boy, was a hit for the Andrews sisters in 1941. Completing a trilogy of songs from the Great American Songbook is One for my baby, a 1945 hit for Lena Horne.

As a representation of Bette's music, this is excellent.

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1.0 out of 5 stars SHE'S CRAZY, SHE'S A DIVA, SHE'S DIVINE, Nov 5 2003

By

S. Quinto (Guatemala, Guatemala) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Divine Collection (Audio CD)

I have to say that Bette Midler is a gifted and talented performer, but here role in music is somehow eclectic. This Greatest Hits Package is missing not a lot, is missing everything!, some great tracks are just somehow unfitted here. This albums tries to show the different styles of the Divine, but the package got lost in the mix, making an odd track order. Of course the GH includes Midler highlights, "Wind Beneath My Wings, Form A Distance, Do You Want To dance?, and of course The Rose", but the album is somehow missing the key factor that made Midler a star, a well produced ecletic album that doesn't fall in boriness, but this collection does fall.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Our Divine Gal "Experience", Jun 23 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Divine Collection (Audio CD)

My friends and I have enjoyed your music for several years. Myself, I have been listening since 1973, and am still. I don't believe that there are any tunes that are not in some way pleasurable to listen to. For the "Experienced" listeners, there is much to hear and understand about the little gal that literally flew in, took this city and rocked it!

We love ya Bette...from Toronto....the city of Pride.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of Bette's First 20 Years in Business (3.5 stars)
Sometimes referred to as a lesser Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler has not had such a star-ridden career, but what she did in her music was always worth hearing. Read more

Published on Jun 16 2003 by Antonio Robert

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rose
Bette Midler has a wonderful voice and this is a great album.
The CD starts with the extremely melancholy tearjerker, 'Hello In There' (1972) followed by a soft jazzy... Read more