All rightie. Here we go. This is my page on reviewing Bette albums. These are my opinions
and mine only. If I give an album a somewhat less enthusiastic review than another one,
so what? That's just me and everybody's got different tastes. Don't decide not to buy it or
something, because chances are you'll love it. Every single Bette Midler album is worth the
$15 you'll pay for it. EVERY one of them. So go out and buy 'em all, hunh??? Ok, here we go.
The Divine Miss M---1972---Three stars out of four
Bette's first album is one of her most important ones. It includes many of her classic hits and favorites, which she still performs today. There were several standout favorites on this one, including 'Do You Want To Dance?', 'Chapel of Love', 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy', 'Hello In There', 'Delta Dawn', 'Superstar', 'Leader of the Pack' and 'Friends', which was her theme song for many years. Also including 'Am I Blue?' 'Daytime Hustler' and another version of 'Friends', this one is a gem.
Bette Midler---1973---Three and a half stars out of four
Bette's follow-up, self-titled album (to show people that 'The Divine Miss M' was not her REAL name) is easily one of my favorite albums. The variety and range she shows on this album is the standard we've come to expect from her, and the kind performers of every style could learn a lot from. It featured some more Motown-sounding stuff, such as 'Breaking Up Somebody's Home', 'Uptown/ Don't Say Nothin' Bad About My Baby/ Da Do Run Run' and 'Higher and Higher (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)', lighter numbers, more retro 'In The Mood', and 'Lullaby of Broadway', as well as the comedic 'Twisted' and the slower ballads 'Skylark' and 'Surabaya Johnny'. But the two stand-outs on this one are the heartwrenching 'I Shall Be Released' and 'Drinking Again'. She still performs 'Drinking Again', and it's a fabulous number live, especially when she lets it rip, but she has stopped singing 'I Shall Be Released' because it has too much of a meaning for her. She will usually cry on stage, and she didn't want that any more. However, before she made this decision, she included it in 'Divine Madness', and mixing it with the Rolling Stones' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', which, by the way, was not a particularily happy way to end a show as she usually does. Oh well. This album is good folks. It's not her best one, but it's pretty darn good and includes the best variety.
Songs For The New Depression--1976--Two stars out of four
This is my least favorite Bette album. Not to say that this isn't good, because it is. There are many very good songs, including the swingin 'Dancing In The Night', which is a disco-flavored cover of Frank Sinatra's old song. Also standing out are 'Mr. Rockefeller', 'Marijuana' from her early days at the Continental Baths, 'Let Me Just Follow Behind', a beautiful and touching little ballad and the entertaining duet with Bob Dylan, 'Buckets of Rain' in which their talking and goofing off are as much fun as the light song itself is. There are many good songs on it, but overall I think it was missing something. But it's still good! Bette couldn't be bad.
Live at Last--1977--Three stars out of four
For the first and only real COMPLETE concert (considering 'Divine Madness was snipped up for the album) that Bette ever commited to record, this is a gem. She includes everything on this one. As far as the show goes, it wasn't as strong as her later shows such as 'Experiance The Divine' and 'Divine Madness' were, but it holds it's own. She belts her songs with gusto, dishes and rambles her perfectly timed comedy speeches, and adds a professional charm and energetic delivery to a bravaro performance. Included are a hyped-up and energetic 'Friends', by then her theme song, mixed with a bright version of a new one, 'Oh My My', in which she stops and begins her first comedy monolouge of the evening. She then goes into two new songs, 'Bang You're Dead' and Neil Diamond's great 'Birds' which gets a strong reaction from the audience. She then dishes about her upcoming movie projects, which include among others a sequel to 'Jaws' in which the SHARK is attacked by a 'great white woman'. She then segues into two songs she refers to as hubba-hubba songs, or dance music from the 40's, singing 'In The Mood', dedicated to Glenn Miller and then the old classic 'Hurry on Down'. She then sings her newest hit, 'Shiver Me Timbers' and breaks into what she describes as her favorite part of the show, because she gets to expose herself to...Cleveland. She tells them about her reoccuring dream that began when she broke into show business about being trapped in an act not of her own design with people not of her own persuasion. She describes her character, and then becomes her, the lounge singer with an attitude problem, Vicki Edie and her around the world revue. She sings, camps it up, and forces the audience to sing along to the absurd lyrics of a new comedy song Bette helped to write. She ends the act as a statue of Godzilla is brought down and as the Harlettes sing 'Optomistic Voices', the giant ape's hands are opened up to reveal Bette lying, fainted in his arms. She wakes up, stares up at him, and shouts 'NICKY ARNSTEIN! NICKY ARNSTEIN!' (Fanny Brice's husband) and brings the first act to an amazing close as she belts 'Lullabye of Broadway'. The album also includes a prerecorded song that played during intermission entitled 'You're Movin Out Today'. On disc two, Bette begins by doing a brassy version of 'Delta Dawn' after which she moves into her vulgarity section. She talks to the audience, and sings a comedy song 'Dr. Long John' about a woman who gets a little bit more than she expected when she visited her dentist. She then begins what is now a classic staple of every Midler concert, her Sophie Tucker jokes. She includes three very good ones here. She then adds a brillant character 'Nanette' and sings a downright amazing version of 'Drinking Again' and then does 'Mr. Rockefeller' and does closes it singing a wonderful 'Ready to Begin Again/ Do You Want to Dance?'. She then gets a little more serious, talks about a woman she met in New York who would walk down the street with a fried egg on her forehead. She sings 'Hello in There' and closes her show with a brilliant finale including 'Up the Ladder To The Roof', 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' and 'Friends'. This is a great showing of how versatyle Bette Midler is in concert. This album is definetely worth getting. So go buy it, already!
Broken Blossom--1977--Three and a Half stars out of four
Not all this album's ambitions are met, but it still succeeds as a good showing of Bette's diversity and energy. There are quite a few gems on this one, including 'Empty Bed Blues', 'Red', and 'Yellow Beach Umbrella'. The album gets under way with the soft and easy ballad 'Make Yourself Comfortable', then does a Ray Charles' cover on the melodramatic 'You Don't Know Me'. She then kicks into gear for Billy Joel's 'Say Goodbye To Hollywood', and does a very funny duet with funny-man Tom Waits (who also wrote 'Shiver Me Timbers') on a bar-singing humorous number entitled 'I Never Talk To Strangers'. She then slows down again for the slow 'Storybook Children' before rocking it down in 'Red'. She then completes the image by doing a vulgar-tinted (in that there's nothing real bad, but implied) 'Empty Bed Blues'. Such a great song. She does Disney on Cinderella's 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' before following with 'Paradise'. She then does a song called 'Yellow Beach Umbrella' which makes her sound very reminiscint of the Beatles'. It's a great song. She concludes the album with the old standard 'La Vie En Rose' beautifully. This is not an album that most Bette fans hold high up in their favorites, but it still is very good.
Thighs and Whispers--1979--Three Stars out of Four
Bette's disco album! This album is so different than anything Bette has ever done! It's great! Most of these songs are disco and she adds in a little comedy every once in a while in the middle of a song, such as in 'Knight in Black Leather' when she quipped 'You know, he smelled just like a brand new car...because everything he owned was leather!'. But the real standout here, folks is a blues song called 'Cradle Days'. This is easily one of the best performances ever put on a record. She evokes so much emotion in this standout story that provides such a winning combination. It's a little mowtown/ blues/ pop all mixed together giving it the same feel that the classic 'Stay With Me' brought. And the same kind of emotion. Somebody tell me why she isn't still performing this knockout! Oh, most would kill to get their hands on a song like this! It's one of Bette's best. She starts off the rocord with a swinging version of 'Big Noise From Winnetka', and sugues into James Taylor's slower 'Millworker'. She then shines on 'Cradle Days' before going wild and having fun and sounding great on the disco-flavored 'Knight In Black Leather', 'Hang On In There Baby' and 'Hurricane'. She then handles another thought-provoking song called 'Rain' about a lost love. She ends the album with the up 'Married Men'. Trust me, folks, this is a noteworthy album even if you're NOT a disco fan.
'The Rose' (Soundtrack)--1979--Three Stars out of Four
The soundtrack to Bette Midler's amazing film debut is an Oscar-winning performance in itself! Her emotionally packed and diverse delivery mixed with a vocal power comparable to only the queen of whom this movie was almost based on (Janis Joplin), make this soundtrack one of the most beloved in rock and roll history. Bette Midler delivers on this like you wouldn't believe. Friends of mine who hear this album will say 'Did you hear her version of 'When A Man Loves A Woman' or 'Stay With Me Baby'? I would kill to be able to do that once in my life, much less that and then to sing a bunch more songs equal to it!' She doesn't screech it, but finds a way to bring an emotional punch around to release all her frustrations to this listener. This is one of Bette's best albums and a must have. Included are: 'Whose Side Are You On?', 'Midnight In Memphis', 'Concert Monologue', 'When A Man Loves A Woman', 'Sold My Soul To Rock And Roll', 'Keep On Rockin', 'Love Me With A Feeling', 'Camelia', 'Homecoming Monolouge', 'Stay With Me', 'Let Me Call You Sweetheart', and 'The Rose'.
'Divine Madness' (Soundtrack)--1980--Three and a Half Stars out of Four
The soundtrack to Bette's second film--a concert film from her world tour taped in Pasadena is a quality concert recording. She went in and over-dubbed a few things, to cover her sickness. During the making of this film, Bette had a fever of 106 degrees, reportedly, the entire basement of the concert hall was under water and the danger of electrocution was rampant, and yet they forced Bette to go on with the show...and did she ever! She belted out about 20 songs, did her comedy routines (which, in the Sophie Tucker jokes and impressions of various celebrities involved jumping stomach first onto a high stool and flopping around as Delores Delago, the toast of Chicago, her most famous concert-made character, a mermaid in a wheelchair and swinging poi-balls from the Mouari culture) and showed her wit, charm and energy (not to mention incredible talent) to a less than enthusiastic response in the theatres, and record sales. But to Bette's fans, this is a monumental CD. My only complaint is that there isn't enough of her performance captured on the CD. The video is an hour and a half long, or thereabouts, and the CD is only about 45 minutes. Not included on the CD are her beautiful (probably my favorite version of my favorite song) versions of 'The Rose', along with 'Rainbow Sleeve' and 'Do You Want to Dance?' among others...and no comedy stuff! I guess after the vulgar-tinted 'Live at Last' album, they decided to tone it down a little bit. Oh well...Included are bravaro versions of 'Big Noise From Winnetka', 'Paradise', 'Shiver Me Timbers', 'Fire Down Below', 'Stay With Me' (if she doesn't move you in the movie, you're heartless, folks), 'My Mothers Eyes', 'Chapel of Love/ Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy', 'The E Street Shuffle/ Summer (the first time)/ Leader of the Pack' and a marvelous combination of the Rolling Stones' 'Can't Always Get What You Want' and Bette's then signature cover of Bob Dylan's amazing 'I Shall Be Released'.
No Frills--1983--Two and a Half Stars out of Four
Another mix of sounds, this album focuses on 80's techno/ pop/ rock sound. Included are knockout versions of Rolling Stones 'Beast of Burden', the cuban-flavored 'Only in Miami' and the Beautiful 'All I Need To Know'. Some of these are great songs, all of them are good. The one flawed song on the album is 'Soda and A Souvenier'. It's not typical Bette, and she never performs any of these songs any more--perhaps they're outdated to her. It's a decent album, but not Bette's best. Also included are 'Is It Love?', 'Favorite Waste Of Time', 'Let Me Drive', 'My Eye on You', 'Heart Over Head', and 'Come Back Jimmy Dean'.
Well, that's all for now. More reviews will be coming soon. If you have questions, suggestions, whatever, don't hesitate to e-mail me. Thanks so much. :)
Zach
More Coming Soon!
© 1997 ilovetopanga@excite.com
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