I became a Barbra Streisand fan about a year ago...and I have a lot of her CDs. But on all the newer ones she sounds like she's bellowing with a sore throat. Has she lost her voice? or is she just lazy and doesn't do more than one take? Andy why don't they do studio magic?
Andrew - Her voice has changed over the years - like everyone's does. For some singers, it can actually improve with age - up to a point. You can't expect someone in their 60s to sound the way they did in their 20s or 30s. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some digital "tweaking" on her voice in the latest recordings. I am curious why no one else has responded....
I think her performances on Guilty Pleasures are awesome. I haven't seen or heard her live recently but at least in the studio she can still deliver - trickery or not.
I know that voices change...but look at all the tweaking they do to Madonna. She is almost 50 and she still sounds like a chipmunk. Yet, you hear her live and she sounds like a man.
About the chipmunk sound, a few years ago I realized that about half the cuts on 1984's Like a Virgin have her vocals speeded up. If you have any playback devices with pitch control, slow the cuts down 5-10% to hear her vocals at the pitch at which they were recorded ("Material Girl" and "Like a Virgin" come to mind). Paul