Barbra Streisand

On her 60th album, Barbra Streisand returns to what she does best—powerful ballads, sung in a voice beyond compare. The classic style here marks a return to 1973’s The Way We Were. All songs were sourced from films, beginning with “Smile” from Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936), a sad, melancholy ballad about smiling through adversity. “Moon River,” another gem from Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), is a song Streisand was born to sing. My favorite is “You’re Gonna Hear From Me,” the closer, from Inside Daisy Clover (1966), a Broadway belter in the style of Streisand’s own “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” All in all, it’s a Barbra feast—except for a few duds like “Emily.” But let’s not mess with perfection. In the words of our Funny Girl: “Hello, gorgeous!”