Everything I say I want to sing/ Everything I've dreamed is coming true, an emotional high point of the chorus in "It Must Be You," epitomizes the tone and content of Barbra Streisand's new album, A Love Like Ours. What else besides marital bliss could stir Streisand's emotions and recharge her already inestimable vocal talents to deliver such a superior album of classic and contemporary love songs? Clearly she's been inspired before, most recently for 1997's glorious and spiritually uplifting Higher Ground and certainly for 1983's highly personal Yentl. And she has surely recorded classic albums, most prominently 1985's The Broadway Album. But, where she so expertly played multiple roles on that masterwork, Streisand isn't acting on A Love Like Ours; she's simply singing as Barbra, a woman deeply in love with husband James Brolin, sharing her joy with us in engaging songs which are expertly produced (half by Barbra herself), brilliantly arranged, and masterfully executed.

Largely inspired by her wedding day, the album opens by remembering that special evening, first with "I've Dreamed Of You," with its lovely pastoral simplicity, and next with "Isn't It A Pity?" the couple's favorite song. Barbra first sang the former, a tender Ann Hampton Callaway lyric matched with the Secret Garden instrumental, "Heartstrings," composed by Rolf Lovland, at her wedding party, yearnfully recalling her search for love. Barbra's singing is definite and assured, declaring that absolutely nothing will separate the couple. Her soaring voice provides a guaranteed goosebump moment on Come happily ever after be/ The man I'll love until the very end. In the final verse, the arrangement becomes almost reverential, as Barbra thanks God for his blessings. She concludes with a deliberate sigh, or perhaps more aptly, a pleasurable exhale (as in "waiting to"). Dating back to George and Ira Gershwin's 1932 Broadway musical, Pardon My English, "Isn't It A Pity?" is the song to which Mr. and Mrs. Brolin first danced. It features Barbra at her most comfortable, wrapping a silky vibrato around clever lyrics of bittersweet reminiscence, contrasting lives spent apart before finally meeting. Tommy Morgan's perfectly placed harmonica solos are comparable to Stevie Wonder's solos on 1985's "Can't Help Lovin' That Man." William Ross, who arranges and conducts most of the album, leads an adept orchestration supporting Barbra's memorable phrasing (Me at the Prado/ You in Colorado) and improvisations between lines. A gem.

Bringing "The Island" alive, with its continuous cool Brazilian jazz percussion and beat, Barbra teams with producer and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Walter Afanasieff, who recently worked similar magic on Kenny G's Classics In The Key Of G. The song also marks her first collaboration with arranger-conductor Jorge Calandrelli, who arranged Tony Bennett's "cool" ballads on his upcoming Bennett Sings Ellington/Hot and Cool. Perhaps the most sensual song Barbra has ever recorded, with highly suggestive Bergman lyrics, like Taste me with your kisses/ Find my secret places, and Barbra's rising and falling voice, this track is always interesting. Like another beautifully romantic Bergman song, "The Summer Knows," there are even seagulls here. Plus, this track features Kenny G's tenor sax break and sparkling swirling accompaniment toward the end of the song, when Barbra's final contented note (We're there) fades out, suggesting the couple has finally reached the island and mutual ecstasy.

Again, it's Alan & Marilyn Bergman providing magical lyrics, as Barbra is accompanied only by pianist Randy Waldman for the first minute of "Love Like Ours," a very delicate, intimate song. Amazing how serene it is/ The shade of evergreen it is should resonate with double meaning for Barbra, the composer of "Evergreen," who wrote that 1976 Oscar-winning love song while in a previous relationship. The delicacy of the bridge, with Barbra's humming and Waldman's piano solo, sets up the final chorus stressing love's arrival. When love like ours arrives/ We guard it with our lives/ Whatever goes astray/ What rainy day comes around/ A love like ours/ Will keep us safe and sound. Splendid.

Barbra's duet with country singer Vince Gill, "If You Ever Leave Me," has H-I-T written all over it, as she is matched with a charismatic male partner who also shines in his own style of music. David Foster, who has produced and/or arranged Barbra's previous four duets, including close cousin "I Finally Found Someone" (1996), teams with songwriter Richard Marx on an uplifting romantic song featuring bright keyboards, multi-layered guitars, a catchy chorus, and an amazing dramatic bridge providing the singers' biggest moments (Gill: Hold me till the angels sing!; Barbra: Tell me every little thing!). Perfectly matched voices, truly a heavenly harmonic convergence, shift into overdrive on the final chorus, with Barbra ringing Even more than you know! Extraordinary.

Following Vince Gill's lead-in, Barbra has next sequenced the overtly fun country number "We Must Be Loving Right," produced by MCA-Nashville's Tony Brown, who previously did the same for George Strait's Easy Come Easy Go album. A jazz-flavored piano opens the song, with additional contributions by Nashville fiddle and pedal steel guitar musicians in a surprising yet quite satisfying song. Right on the bouncy 4/4 beat, Barbra must be singing the playful lyrics with a wide smile on her face - So if the whole world goes crazy/ Let everyone else fuss and fight/ When all's said and done/ We'll be the lucky ones/ We must be loving right.

"If I Never Met You," reminiscent of "No One Is Alone" from Into The Woods, contains a quasi-Sondheimian theatrical texture in music and lyrics, bolstered by Waldman's piano figure and Ross's orchestration. Barbra's performance shines in moments of sheer drama, as she repeats I don't know who I'd love/ I don't know what I'd do/ If I never met you, each time with a different coloring and melancholic emphasis. Like a reassuring partner in a relationship, the orchestra plays with tender tranquillity. Wonderful.

As previously mentioned, "It Must Be You" contains the album's main thematic lines and much more - Barbra's rare and dazzling harmony vocals. In fact, it's the perfect Adult Contemporary Radio track next to the duet. Produced by Arif Mardin and co-written by Steve Dorff, who both brought us Higher Ground's terrific title song, this one continues in that modern musical mode, with Barbra's voice effortlessly sailing amidst synthesizers, guitars, and a fine orchestra. She sounds closer to 37, not 57, with soaring vocal passion harkening back to 1975's "You And I" and 1976's "Lost Inside Of You." A winner.

Returning to her wedding day, Barbra reprises another song she debuted then, "Just One Lifetime," introduced by an exquisitely sparse, semi-classical string arrangement by Marvin Hamlisch. The first verse reminds me of "All I Ask Of You," particularly in Barbra's unique phrasing. The melodic chorus, Just one lifetime won't be enough time for us/ We need more for all this love, resonates with emotion. When she reaches the bridge, Barbra's higher and higher notes again produce goosebumps, akin to Yentl's "No Matter What Happens." Outstanding.

Barbra re-teams with David Foster, who produces, co-arranges, and plays keyboards on "If I Didn't Love You," another perfect radio track with a memorable chorus melody and changing lyrics. Barbra transmits the complex ironic lyrics expertly, the idea that if she didn't love her partner, then she wouldn't suffer through tough days, especially when he's away. In the end, though, it's all worth it (And yet you make me breathless at the way you move). The final verse is brilliant, emphasizing the enduring power of their love - You are the only reason I'm not afraid to fall/ Cause if I didn't love you/ If I didn't love you/ I wouldn't love at all. For an earlier ironic love song, see Barbra's "If I Loved You" (1985).

With "Wait," the Bergmans provide their third album contribution, this time returning to the music of maestro Michel Legrand, their first such collaboration for Barbra since 1988's "On My Way To You." Soft strings and Waldman's gentle piano comprise the lengthy prelude, after which Barbra begins singing in a hushed low register - Wait/ Before we take another breath/ We've lived another moment of our lives/ And now is fast becoming then - from which she gradually builds to very high notes, as only she can do. It's all about living in the moment, not taking a couple's future for granted, and finds Barbra at her most loving. Like the songwriters' delicious "After The Rain" (1979), "Wait" is an aural treat, which ultimately ends all too quickly. Gorgeous.

The album's finale, "The Music That Makes Me Dance," feels like a public tribute and thank you to Barbra's husband for inspiring the previous 11 songs which, unlike this one, are sung directly to him. While the new arrangement of Styne and Merrill's 1964 Funny Girl Broadway showstopper is faithful to the original, Barbra's still amazing performance is that of a wiser woman who has none of the Fanny Brice character's bittersweet, torchy longing-for-life-as-it-used-to-be-with-Nicky, but, instead exudes complete confidence in her present relationship. Kenny G breathes perfection through his spirited sax, with a brief neat solo, leading up to Barbra's final extended note. Almost twice as long as before and without all the blaring horns obstructing her voice, Barbra belts a much more pleasing, powerful, and effective lyric. Whoever thought of having the strings play a couple of familiar strains from "People" in the background is a genius. Superb.

From its gentle beginning to its sensational conclusion, A Love Like Ours delivers Barbra Streisand's finest studio recordings in almost 15 years, since The Broadway Album, which still ranks as her best. There is no mistaking the passion in her vibrant, youthful performances on her latest album, which provides a musical and pictorial glimpse into her personal life, something she rarely shares. Such happiness shouldn't be suppressed. Barbra, thank you for sharing your love, contentment, and especially your remarkable enduring artistry once again. - MJI, 9/19/99

© 1999 Mark J. Iskowitz

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