In order to keep this Barbra Streisand Shallow Dive moving, I have to do a lightning round on the rest of her 70s releases. She followed The Way We Were with a half dozen albums, one per year.
Butterfly (1794), which saw her dabble in R&B and reggae, has been dismissed by Streisand herself as her worst album. Lazy Afternoon (1975) offered a more laid-back collection of easy listening material. Classical Barbra (1976) featured songs by European composers performed in multiple foreign languages.
Superman (1977) came on the heels of the smash hit soundtrack of A Star is Born and included a couple of tracks cut from the film, as well as a cover of Billy Joel’s ‘New York State of Mind’ and the hit single ‘My Heart Belongs to Me.’ It also had a sexy cover image of Streisand in a Superman shirt and no pants, one my 15-year-old self recalls well.
Songbird (1978) included a solo rendition of ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,’ which she would re-record later that year with Neil Diamond (the duet reached #1 on the Hot 100).
Wet (1979) was a concept album on which every track had something to do with water. It featured another #1 hit in ‘No More Tears (Enough is Enough),’ performed with Donna Summer. It was the first duet by two women to reach #1.
That brings us to 1980 and the release of one of Streisand’s most successful and critically-acclaimed albums, Guilty.
This album was produced and written by Barry Gibb, who also duets with Streisand on a couple of tracks. His contributions were so important that Streisand opted to use a photo of her and Gibb for the album’s cover.
Guilty produced three top ten singles in the title track, ‘Woman in Love,’ and ‘What Kind of Fool.’ ‘Woman in Love’ spent three weeks at #1. And the album itself became her top selling release worldwide.
Those three singles are undeniably great, but every track here is a keeper. Part of the appeal is getting a whole Streisand album of songs written for her, absent the Broadway tunes or covers of other popular artists. And Gibb’s songwriting turns out to be a perfect match for her vocals.
As a banger of an album and a perfect artifact of what it sounded like as the 70s turned into the 80s, it’s hard to do better than Guilty.
Life is a moment in space
When the dream is gone, it’s a lonelier place
I kissed the morning goodbye
But down inside you know we never know why
The road is narrow and long
When eyes meet eyes and the feeling is strong
I turn away from the wall
I stumble and fall but I give you it all
[Chorus]
I am a woman in love and I’d do anything
To get you into my world and hold you within
It’s a right I defend
Over and over again
What do I do?
[Verse 2]
With you eternally mine
In love there is no measure of time
We planned it all at the start
That you and I live in each other’s heart
We may be oceans away
You feel my love, I hear what you say
No truth is ever a lie
I stumble and fall but I give you it all
[Chorus]
I am a woman in love and I’d do anything
To get you into my world and hold you within
It’s a right I defend
Over and over again
What do I do?
[Chorus 2]
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I am a woman in love and I’m talking to you
You know I know how you feel
What a woman can do
It’s a right I defend
Over and over again
[Outro]
I am a woman in love and I’d do anything
To get you into my world and hold you within
It’s a right I defend
Over and over again
Meet Me In Montauk 
While, unlike my future wife, my junior high self was not a big Streisand fan, it was hard to escape or deny the appeal of the hits from this album.
I loved this album and played it over and over again. Reading this today I’m realizing I haven’t heard it in over a decade. I’ll be playing it tomorrow! Thanks for the reminder.