Barbra Streisand - Wet
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Barbra StreisandEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1990-10-25
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Wet
- Come Rain or Come Shine
- Splish Splash
- On Rainy Afternoons
- After the Rain
- No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)
- Niagara
- I Ain't Gonna Cry Tonight
- Kiss Me in the Rain
Free Music Notes for Wet
Free Music Review: Rain Or Shine - Wet Is Slick!
Hit: 5 Stars
From the opening lyrics of the album's title cut, Barbra sings "Wet is rain, rain is clean and new" to the closing lyrics of the closing track "Kiss Me In The Rain," Barbra sings "I don't even mind if I get wet," and all of the songs in between, Barbra clearly has her first aquatic-themed album. Is this an unusual theme? Yes. Most artists have themed albums such as songbooks made famous by other artists, or a mix of ethnic material that other singers have made so popular in the past, but not our Barbra. Barbra stands alone. Her unique voice has found a unique theme and the results are saturated with her glorious voice.
When this album arrived in the fall of 1979, Barbra already had so many fine accomplishments; it's no wonder that her vocal was so confident. She was still riding high on the success of her newly found home, radio, and her singles, which hardly moved in the previous decade, were now flying off the shelves and becoming favorites of a new audience - teenagers! From the time she delivered her first album 16 years prior, she was THE premier female vocalist.
"Wet" is an interesting mix of songs that range from lush ballads, such as the aforementioned title cut which Streisand co-wrote, to pop to rock and disco. This album covered each musical genre flawlessly. Not just because of Streisand's impeccable voice, but because the song choices and arrangements were top-notch.
Following "Wet," Barbra took on the Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer standard "Come Rain Or Come Shine" with a jazz-oriented arrangement and an electric guitar, and brought the gorgeous ballad that was written decades before and gave it a sound that was "clean and new." The arrangement and vocal is one of the best versions of this song I have ever heard. It is still my favorite, and this song has been covered by the best. Judy, Frank and Ella's are the most familiar.
Other lush ballads include "On Rainy Afternoons" and "After The Rain" both written by the ever-present Bergmans, with Lalo Schifrin and Michel Legrand composing the music on each of the songs, respectively. The placing of the two songs back-to-back is also a stroke of genius, the two songs act as companion pieces to close out side 1 of the album. The piano on "On Rainy Afternoons" is reminiscent of the piano solo of "Nadia's Theme" that was written a few years before and adds the delicate quality to Barbra's polished delivery.
My favorite ballad on the album, hands-down, is the Marvin Hamlisch, Carol Bayer-Sager, Bruce Roberts collaboration of "Niagara." This song has Streisand in her most dramatic, yearning for a love that is faltering all too fast. Streisand sings of her disdain of the present and longs for the time the couple was care-free and beautiful and "crazy" living out their fantasies on a vacation in Niagara Falls. She longs to be "crazy" again. The sax solo by veteran Tom Scott is magic and adds fire and emotion to compliment Streisand's outstanding vocal.
For a nice balance to the ballads, the Bobby Darin pop rocker "Splish Splash" was added to the roster with additional lyrics by Streisand herself. The song and its choice was the only song on the album that the critics found flaws with. But then again, they have always found flaws when Barbra attempted anything rock-oriented. I have to disagree with the critics on this. The arrangement of this song by David Foster was meant to be delivered as a party song, serving up nothing but fun, and fun is what we got. Tom Scott and his sax are key to giving this song that extra oomph. How many rock songs can you name where you can understand all of the lyrics? Even Streisand's delivery is perfection. Some say she went overboard with a minute or so of uncontrollable laughter that close out the song. I say she added the spirit in which the song was intended. "It's gettin' hot." Party on!
The big single release of the album was the highly-touted duet with none other than the queen of disco herself, Donna Summer. Barbra had to actually be talked into including this jewel on the album because it originally didn't contain lyrics that included water. The original title of this song by Paul (Last Dance, The Main Event) Jabara and Bruce Roberts was "Enough Is Enough." The trio went back and within days returned with a gorgeous opening ballad that contained the lyrics "It's raining, it's pouring" and throughout the most demanding disco beat, Streisand sang, and adapted "No More Tears" as the dueling divas belted their lousy lovers out the door and declared their state of independence. Thus, the name of the song was renamed "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" and was MORE than good enough to be included on the album. It was so good, the 8 minute plus version, and not the edit, was included on the album. When the album was first delivered to retail, it included a sticker of the famous Francesco Scavullo photo of Barbra and Donna "Featuring the hit single" slapped right on the cover. No doubt, Barbra had a successful foray into disco ("The Main Event/Fight") just a few months prior, but this duet just exploded and went to Number 1 within weeks of its release. It was also the first "12" club single to reach platinum status. Streisand, being a woman of "firsts" added this to her long list.
The album's two closing numbers are a fluffy disco-tinged number "I Ain't Gonna Cry Tonight" and the second single to be released, the ballad "Kiss Me In The Rain." While I found the lyrics to be sentimental and sometimes a bit silly on "Kiss Me In The Rain," Streisand's refined opening to her powerhouse vocal and back to graceful closing made the song work. How many times have you heard people say, she could sing the phonebook and make it important? That was my feeling, more or less, with the final track.
All in all, "Wet" is one of the finest pop albums in Barbra Streisand's catalogue. The orchestrations are lush, the songs are fun, and the vocal is superb. Were you expecting anything less from the world's greatest pop singer? "Wet" still stands as one of my all-time favorite Streisand recordings. This is an album for all kinds of weather, "Rain or Shine..."
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