''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' (retitled ''The Ultimate Collection'' in some European countries) is the fifth

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

by American singer

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

, released on January 29, 2002, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The compilation features 38 songs from Streisand's catalog, in addition to two previously unreleased tracks (covers of "

Someday My Prince Will Come "Someday My Prince Will Come" is a song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated movie ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. It was written by Larry Morey (lyrics) & Frank Churchill (music), and performed by Adriana Caselotti (Snow White's voice in the ...

" and "

You'll Never Walk Alone "You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''Carousel''. In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and enco ...

"). It includes material from 26 of the singer's albums and was described as a collection of, mainly, her pop songs. A reissued version of the compilation was distributed by Columbia and

Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 20 ...

in 2008 and includes a bonus disk featuring nine additional songs from Streisand's discography. Critically, the album was noted for being a comprehensive and complete view of her discography, unlike her previous greatest hits releases. It topped the charts in Ireland, Scotland, and the United Kingdom, and peaked at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States. ''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' also reached the top ten in several countries and was included on four year-end lists. The album has since been certified Platinum in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States, and multi-platinum in the United Kingdom.

Background and development

''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' was released on January 29, 2002, by

. A compilation of Streisand's " pop-oriented performances", the collection contains two discs featuring 38 songs from Streisand's discography. Representing 26 albums from her career, the first-recorded song included on ''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' is "

A Sleepin' Bee "A Sleepin' Bee" is a popular song composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Arlen and Truman Capote. It was introduced in the musical '' House of Flowers'' (1954) and performed by Diahann Carroll. While ''House of Flowers'' was a flop, "A Sleepin' ...

" from ''

The Barbra Streisand Album ''The Barbra Streisand Album'' is the debut album by Barbra Streisand, released February 25, 1963, on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 2007 in mono and CS 8807 in stereo. It peaked at #8 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and has been certified a g ...

'' (1963), while the most recent track featured is " I've Dreamed of You" from ''

A Love Like Ours ''A Love Like Ours'' is the twenty-eighth studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand. It was released in North America on September 21, 1999, and Europe on September 20, 1999. It is her 23rd Top 10 album in the US. This was Streisand's f ...

'' (1999). In addition, Streisand included two previously unreleased tracks on the second disc, covers of "

" and "

". William Ruhlmann from ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' suggested that the former song was recorded during sessions for ''A Love Like Ours'' while the latter was meant for her twenty-seventh studio album, '' Higher Ground'' (1997). In some European countries, the album was released under the title ''The Ultimate Collection'' with an identical track listing. ''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' was reissued on September 30, 2008, through a co-partnership between Columbia Records and

. The new version featured a bonus third disk with seven more songs from Streisand's back-catalog and two live renditions.

Critical reception

''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' was given a perfect five star rating by ''AllMusic''s William Ruhlmann. He felt that Streisand's discography had not been detailed well on her previous compilations and considered ''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' to be the best choice for fans not willing to purchase the expensive

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

'' Just for the Record...'' (1992). Considering its comprehensiveness, Ruhlmann praised the album's inclusion of her eleven top ten hits and nearly all of her top 40 hits. Tom Santopietro, author of ''The Importance of Being Barbra: The Brilliant, Tumultuous Career of Barbra Streisand'', was disappointed by Streisand's decision to release two greatest hits albums in the same year (the other being ''

Duets A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. Duets or The Duets may also refer to: Films and television * ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis * "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episod ...

''). Describing her action as "cynical", he wrote: "At this point, even the most die-hard Streisand fan could be forgiven for expressing frustration at yet another release of '

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

' and '

The Way We Were ''The Way We Were'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Arthur Laurents wrote both the novel and screenplay based on his college days at Cornell University and his ...

'." However, he praised the inclusion of "Someday My Prince Will Come" and "You'll Never Walk Alone", calling them both "extraordinary" cover tracks. In addition to ''The Barbra Streisand Album'' and '' Stoney End'' (1971), Phyllis Fulford and Michael Miller, authors of the 2003 book ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Singing'', listed ''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' as one of the singer's "CDs that best represent ermore pop-oriented performances".

Commercial performance

''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 15, its peak position, during the week of February 16, 2002. It was the chart's second highest entry of the week, just behind the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the 2002 film ''

State Property State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownershi ...

'', which debuted at number 14. It spent a total of nine weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200. On March 15, 2002, it was certified Gold as a multi-disk package by

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for physical shipments of 250,000 copies; its certification was then upgraded to Platinum, signifying shipments of 500,000 copies, on October 17, 2003. As of June 22, 2007, ''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' has sold 506,000 copies in the United States. Elsewhere in North America, it debuted in Canada at number 73 according to the chart published by

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

. In Europe, ''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' topped the charts in several countries and has been certified Platinum by the

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...

for sales upwards of one million. According to the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

, it topped the charts in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, the compilation spent 49 weeks charting and was ranked on the year-end sales charts for both 2002 and 2003 at positions 36 and 192, respectively. It was later certified double-platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

for shipments of 600,000 copies. In the same continent, ''The Essential Barbra Streisand'' (or ''The Ultimate Collection'' in some European territories) topped the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...

, and reached the top ten in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. In Oceania, the album peaked in Australia and New Zealand at numbers 5 and 3, respectively. Both countries issued the compilation double Platinum and platinum respectively. When the album was reissued in 2007 and 2008 in several European countries, it debuted on the album charts in Austria, Italy, and Spain. In the first country, it reached the top twenty and peaked at number 11, and in Italy it peaked at number 75. In Spain, the album originally peaked at number 14 but reentered in 2013 at number 85.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel adapted from AllMusic. * Barbra Streisand arranger, composer, executive producer, primary artist, producer * Walter Afanasieff arranger, composer, producer * Milton Ager composer * Harold Arlen composer * Billy Barnes composer * Richard Baskin producer * Alan Bergman composer, producer * Marilyn Bergman composer, producer * Michael Berniker producer * Leonard Bernstein composer * Don Black composer * David Caddick conductor * Charles Calello arranger, producer * Ann Hampton Callaway composer * John Cameron orchestration * Truman Capote composer * Jacques Charles composer * Frank Churchill composer * Grant Clarke composer * Don Costa arranger, conductor * David Cullen orchestration * Nick DeCaro arranger * Neil Diamond composer, guest artist, performer * Céline Dion guest artist, performer * Bob Esty arranger, composer, conductor, producer * Peter Fletcher project manager * David Foster arranger, composer, producer * Ian Freebairn-Smith arranger * Albhy Galuten producer * Bob Gaudio producer * Barry Gibb composer, guest artist, performer, producer * Maurice Gibb composer * Robin Gibb composer * Jack Gold producer * Wally Gold producer * Alan Gordon composer * Arthur Hamilton composer * Marvin Hamlisch composer * Oscar Hammerstein II composer * Christopher Hampton composer * James F. Hanley composer * Charles Hart composer * Jack Hayes string arrangements * Rupert Holmes arranger, conductor, producer * Paul Jabara composer, vocal arrangements * Buddy Johnson composer * Gary Klein producer * Charles Koppelman executive producer * Jay Landers executive producer * Burton Lane composer * Robert John "Mutt" Lange arranger, composer * Michel Legrand arranger, composer, conductor, producer * Alan Jay Lerner composer * Jeffrey Lesser producer * Ira Levin composer * Alan Lindgren arranger, conductor * Mort Lindsey arranger, conductor * Tommy LiPuma producer * Andrew Lloyd Webber composer, orchestration, producer * Rolf Løvland composer * Jeremy Lubbock conductor, orchestration * Stephen Marcussen mastering * Greg Mathieson arranger, conductor * Peter Matz arranger, conductor, executive producer, orchestration, producer * Bob Merrill composer * Robert Mersey producer * Larry Morey composer * Jürg Morgenthaler composer * Jerome Moross composer * Trevor Nunn composer * Laura Nyro composer * Gene Page arranger * Marty Paich arranger, producer * Richard Parker composer * Richard Perry producer * Channing Pollack composer * Phil Ramone producer * Gabrielle Raumberger art direction * Karl Richardson producer * Nelson Riddle arranger, conductor * Bruce Roberts composer, vocal arrangements * Richard Rodgers composer * Sigmund Romberg composer * William Ross arranger, conductor, orchestral arrangements, producer * Milton Schafer composer * Walter Scharf arranger, conductor * Cliff Singontiko design * Stephen Sondheim composer * Alan Stein A&R * Richard Stilgoe composer * Jule Styne composer * Donna Summer guest artist, performer * Linda Thompson-Jenner composer * Jonathan Tunick arranger, conductor * Luther Waters vocal arrangements * Bobby Whiteside composer * Stewart Whitmore digital editing * Albert Willemetz composer * Patrick Williams arranger, conductor * Paul Williams composer * Stevie Wonder composer * Nigel Wright producer * Jack Yellen composer * Maurice Yvain composer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Essential Barbra Streisand, The 2002 greatest hits albums Barbra Streisand compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums