Bette Midler

The sad songs stand out. So beautifully sung...simple/melodic piano backing (by Barry Manilow). She had the ability to take old, classic songs & make them her own, (& SUCH an eclectic collection!)

You can just feel that this was a labor of love.

I've known this album since I was a child & it's really not the kind of music or artist that I'd normally be attracted to. I don't think I really even like much that Bette did after this...but this record is sensational. It makes you feel sad, (in the sweetest way) & happy & everything in between.

This was Bette's MOMENT. Check out the soundbites. They are very representative.


Classic Midler!   October 14, 2001
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Bette Midler's second album, which reached #6 on the charts, is classic Bette! This album, like many of hers, has it all. Skylark and Drinking Again are excellent ballads while Breaking Up Somebody's Home is Midler at her bitchy, rock and roll best! The album is worth the buy solely for her version of I Shall Be Released. Midler's pipes are in top form as the song starts out soft and by the end she is completely letting loose showing the listener JUST how well she can sing. Twisted is the funny, campy song while Higher and Higher (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) has almost a gospel touch, again showing her excellent range and emotion. This album also contains the Glenn Miller classic In The Mood. Bette added lyrics and makes the song as fun as ever. BUY THIS ALBUM!!!! If you love this Bette album, you'll love these other Bette albums: The Divine Miss M, Broken Blossom, Divine Madness Soundtrack. Support Bette Midler! Buy the album here! Don't buy from an auction or download the songs for free!


An amazing, classic album of The Divine Miss M's   November 20, 1999
 12 out of 13 found this review helpful

"Bette Midler" is one of the most classic, entertaining albums I have ever owned. "Skylark" is a gorgeous ballad, which highlights Bette's sweeping, beautiful voice. "Drinking Again" continues this tone with a melancholic, bittersweet ballad; highly unusual for a drinking song. "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" is a sultry, absolute riot. Bette is allowed in this song to put on her vampiness and campiness in full force as she says "You girls had better hold onto your men, cause I've got a funny feeling...I feel like breaking up somebody's home." Her performance in this song is just hilarious. "Surbaya Johnny" I don't have much to say about, although it is a very sweet song. "I Shall Be Released" as sung by the Divine One is one of the most uplifting, soaring beautiful songs ever recorded. She fills the music with such an amazing amount of passion and longing. It is a wonderful reminder of the humanity in us all. From this point, the album moves into a wonderful suite of old Broadway-1940's-campy-showtune type music. This and "I Shall Be Released" is what truly makes this album one to remember for all the ages. It begins with the "Optimistic Voices" chorus from "The Wizard of Oz," which leads directly into "Lullabye of Broadway," with Bette hilariously performing both male and female characters. What is so amazing is how in this disk, she is not just singing the songs, but performing them in character. Next comes the greatest recording ever of the old classic "In the Mood," and with Bette's playful amazing delivery it would be impossible to not be in the mood to hear it. The next medley is of "Uptown" which is beautifully done and leads directly into a slow "Don't Say Nothing Bad About My Baby" which becomes increasingly faster and faster till it reaches breakneck speed then immediately stops for a rousing rendition of "Da Doo Run Run". Then come one of the funniest-written songs ever, "Twisted." Let's just say Bette plays a girl who "hated to ride on those double-decker buses because they had no driver on the top" and who "instead of one head, has two." "Higher and Higher" closes off the album perfectly with its beautiful uplifting lyrics. All in all an amazing record, a true classic from a truly brilliant performer, the Divine Miss M, Bette Midler.


I SHALL BE RELEASED is my mantra   April 28, 1999
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This album is still as great as it was when I was 13. I remember staring at the album cover for hours, worried that she would never make another album as she had decided to quit show biz shortly after it's release. Listening and singing to I SHALL BE RELEASED is a yearly tradition that my best friend and I engage in once a year when we are together in the same state. It keeps us alive. When all is said and done the joy Bette Midler has given me is a gift I could never repay. Thank the stars for talent like hers.