Release Me (Barbra Streisand album)

Release Me is a 2012 compilation album of eleven rare and previously unreleased studio performances by American singer Barbra Streisand.

Release Me
Compilation album by Barbra Streisand
Released	LP: September 25, 2012 CD: October 8, 2012
Recorded	1967–2011
Studio	Various
Genre	Vocal pop
Length	41:45
Label	Legacy Columbia
Producer	Barbra Streisand Jack Gold Wally Gold Gary Klein Jay Landers Peter Matz Richard Perry Howard A. Roberts
Barbra Streisand chronology
What Matters Most (2011) Release Me (2012) The Classic Christmas Album (2013)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Boston Globe	Favorable[2]
Daily News	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[4]
The Independent	Favorable[5]

A companion compilation of ten more unreleased tracks followed in 2021: Release Me 2.

Overview

Streisand announced the album's release on her official website in August 2012.^[6] It contains tracks recorded between her 1967 Simply Streisand and 2011 What Matters Most albums, gathering unreleased material from, among others, Stoney End, The Broadway Album, and Back to Broadway. The compilation's release was accompanied by a series of short video clips posted onto YouTube, in which Barbra discussed every track.^[7] A music video for "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" was directed, photographed and edited by Matt Amato.^[8]

The album debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 albums sales chart (with approximately 40,000 copies sold), making this her 32nd Top 10 album and her 6th consecutive Top 10 effort since The Movie Album in 2003.^[9]

Track listing

1. "Being Good Isn't Good Enough" (From Hallelujah, Baby!) – 3:30 (Intended for The Broadway Album)
2. "Didn't We" – 2:36 (Intended for aborted album The Singer in 1970)
3. "Willow Weep for Me" – 3:31 (Intended for Simply Streisand)
4. "Try to Win a Friend" – 4:07 (Intended for Streisand Superman)
5. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" – 3:27 (Intended for Stoney End)
6. "With One More Look at You" (From A Star Is Born) – 3:39 (Unreleased studio take)
7. "Lost in Wonderland" – 3:33 (Often cited as being recorded during the What About Today? sessions) ^[10]
8. "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"/"Heather on the Hill" (From Finian's Rainbow/Brigadoon) – 4:34 (Intended for unreleased version of Back to Broadway)
9. "Mother and Child" – 5:03 (Intended for aborted album Life Cycle of a Woman)
10. "If It's Meant to Be" – 4:08 (Intended for What Matters Most)
11. "Home" (From The Wiz) – 3:37 (Intended for The Broadway Album)

Charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11]	114
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12]	125
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13]	130
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[14]	8
French Albums (SNEP)[15]	138
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[16]	29
Italian Albums (FIMI)[17]	83
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18]	37
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[19]	33
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20]	78
UK Albums (OCC)[21]	31
US Billboard 200[22]	7

References

1. John Bush (October 2012). "Release Me - Barbra Streisand : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
2. Sarah Rodman (8 October 2012). "Decades of gems from Streisand's vaults". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
3. Jim Farber (October 2, 2012). "Album Review: Barbra Streisand, 'Release Me'". www.nydailynews.com. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
4. Jessica Shaw (October 3, 2012). "Release Me - review - Barbra Streisand Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
5. Nick Coleman (7 October 2012). "Album: Barbra Streisand, Release Me (Columbia)". The Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
6. "RELEASE ME - Barbra's new compilation of unreleased material to debut on September 25". www.barbrastreisand.com. 2012-08-23. Archived from the original on 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
7. "RELEASE ME". www.youtube.com. October 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
8. "I Think It's Going To Rain Today". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
9. Keith Caulfield (October 13, 2012). "Barbra Streisand Set For 32nd Top 10 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". www.billboard.com. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
10. "Barbra Streisand Archives - What About Today?". www.barbra-archives.com. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
11. "Barbra Streisand ARIA chart history (albums), received from ARIA in May 2024". ARIA. Retrieved July 19, 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
12. "Ultratop.be – Barbra Streisand – Release Me" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
13. "Ultratop.be – Barbra Streisand – Release Me" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
14. "Barbra Streisand Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
15. "Lescharts.com – Barbra Streisand – Release Me". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
16. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2012. 45. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
17. "Italiancharts.com – Barbra Streisand – Release Me". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Barbra Streisand – Release Me" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
19. "Spanishcharts.com – Barbra Streisand – Release Me". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
20. "Swisscharts.com – Barbra Streisand – Release Me". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
21. "Barbra Streisand | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
22. "Barbra Streisand Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 5, 2016.

External links

• Barbra Archives: Release Me (2012)
• "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" lyric video