The votes are in, and in album sales this week, Barbra Streisand’s new “Walls” album is not number 1. It’s number 2. The number 1 album? Ironically, it’s the soundtrack to “A Star is Born.”
Streisand knew last year that the new “A Star is Born” was coming in the fall, along with a new Lady Gaga soundtrack. So she hustled to get a new album out around the same time, lest the public would only be talking about her in the context of ‘Lady Gaga succeeds Streisand’. Streisand, of course, had had a major career victory in 1976 in the theaters and on the charts with her “A Star is Born.”
And so we have “Walls,” a mix of new songs and old with some muddy production and political overtones that are right headed but will rankle a few right wingers. For a contemporary sound, Streisand has never been able to get back to her best pop album, “Stoney End,” produced by Richard Perry. On record, she always sounds like she needs Baywatch to come rescue her from strings.
But what a delicious irony that waiting a month after Lady Gaga, Barbra still couldn’t come in on top. That must be frustrating. On the BuzzAngle/HitsDailyDouble chart for sales and downloads, “Walls” sold 33,327 to Star/Gaga’s 45,343. And the latter actually moved UP to number 1 from number 2.
Barbra did less well on the chart that includes streaming, coming in at number 11. Her streaming was nil– just a thousand. Star/Gaga was number 2 with about 25,000 more copies from streaming.
The “Star” CD does have the upper hand– it’s attached to the movie. And of course Gaga is the star of this generation. She is now to Barbra what Barbra was to Judy Garland when they sang together. Of course this means that soon we will have a Barbra/Gaga duet recording and maybe a performance — if everyone’s smart– on either the Oscars or Grammys.
Remember– you read that here first.
