Barbra Streisand: A Star Is Born : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Hey, nobody listens to soundtrack albums, right? But this one is atypical—classy-looking—and a lot of people, Streisand fans especially, might think the music is equal to the package. Instead, it's dreadful. Streisand's voice is mixed way in front, making it sound as if the band and chorus were out in the trailer. The material is the worst sort of histrionic supper-club stuff, much of it made ridiculous by being cheered raucously by a crowd at a pseudorock festival. In addition to a pair of duets with Streisand, Kris Kristofferson sings only three songs, sounding hurried and awkward (which makes one fond of him).

The Streisand name is all over this album, always with top billing: as coproducer, co-writer of three songs and singer on eight. None of these jobs is done particularly well.