851. Bette Midler--The Divine Miss M (1972; #9) (7)

851. Bette Midler--The Divine Miss M (1972; #9) (7)

1. Do You Wanna Dance? (6)
2. Chapel of Love (6)
3. Superstar (6)
4. Daytime Hustler (?) (2)
5. Am I Blue (?) (3)
6. Friends (?) (2)
7. Hello in There (?) (3)
8. Leader of the Pack (5+)
9. Delta Dawn (6)
10. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (7+)
11. Friends (?) (2)

REVIEW: This ties Hair for my highest rated album so far. But I'd put Hair above it because that uses all original music, whereas this one is all cover versions. Still, she chooses good material, although she goes over the top with some of it (especially Leader of the Pack).

ED'S TAKE:

#851 - Bette Midler - Divine Miss M

1. Do You Wanna Dance ++7 (the breathless quality is a bit overdone...I'll take Thurston Harris)
2. Chapel of Love ++7 a decent cover of a great girl group classic
3. Superstar +++8
4. Daytime Hustler +++8
5. Am I Blue +++8
6. Friends +++8 (less is more here....she doesn't oversing or over posture....I like it!)
7. Hello In There - +++8 (a bit theatrical but a great Prine song)
8. Leader of the Pack ++7 (this is a pretty good cover but they hardly ever work for me completely if I truly liked the original.)
9. Delta Dawn ++7
10. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy +++8
11. Friends +++8

OVERALL RATING: 8 (bordering on "listenable with reservations")

COMMENTS: I've mentioned my feelings about Bette before. In her early days, I loved her rawness and brassiness, bouncing on stage with her equally outrageous singers, the Harlets, behind her. Yes, she was always a bit theatrical, as if singing was ALWAYS acting, even without a stage show or a movie script. Barbra Striesand was that way, too, which made me embrace her immediately. Unfortunately, the drama/theatricality can irritate, too. I can't listen to a Celine Dion song without not only HEARING the theaticality but actually see it in memories of the times I've seen her on tv pounding her chest. For me, it worked, mostly, for Bette until Beaches. With her hit with "Wind Beneath My Wings" she seemed to lose her ability to emote without sounding overly dramatic. Her over-the-top version of "From a Distance" didn't help any. Essentially, I gave up on her. She had entered the realm of those stars who dramatize EVERYTHING and do so in an overly syrupy/sentimental way. With the songs here, she was able to rein in the drama....I like it.