By Far The Best

A GENTLE CLOSE

I'M COMING HOME AGAIN is by far the best song on LIVING WITHOUT YOUR LOVE but almost the worst possible choice as a single. It's a slow and introspective ballad which brings the album to a gentle close. However, possibly because of its ponderous nature, it possesses no hit quality whatsoever. It was probably chosen for single release in the UK because the lyrics were so appropriate to Dusty's return to UK but there were certainly one or two other tracks on the album that would've been a lot safer to go with. Reviews were less than kind... The song was written by Carole Bayer Sager and Bruce Roberts. Sager's own version was issued on her 1978 album TOO and includes a middle section not used on Dusty's recording: "Hello, my friends, I've been neglecting you awhile/Well maybe now we'll know each other better/Time has a way of always turning up a smile and/Now I've got the time to know you better."
As good as her studio recording is, Dusty performed the song to perfection when she sang it on Saturday Night At The Mill in April 1979.

Paul Howes, THE COMPLETE DUSTY SPRINGFIELD (Reynolds & Hearn Ltd)



A REAL JEWEL

Of the many albums recorded by Barbra Streisand, A LOVE LIKE OURS is probably the most genuinely romantic, because it's about true love - the love for her second husband, James Brolin. The set is a celebration of one happy love story (it also includes I'VE DREAMED OF YOU, which Barbra sang at her wedding party) and though lacking in rhythmic variety, it does contain several memorable songs. One of the best is certainly IF I DIDN'T LOVE YOU, an elegant, meditative ballad written by Bruce Roberts and Junior Miles which finds Streisand's voice at her most charming. A real jewel.

Sebastiano Lionti, 2006