Music And Concerts
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Divine Madness (1980)

Billboard peak: # 34

Live Tracks: "Big Noise From Winnetka" - "Paradise" - "Shiver Me Timbers" - "Fire Down Below" - "Stay With Me" - "My Mother's Eyes" - "Chapel Of Love / Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" - "E Street Shuffle / Summer (The First Time) / Leader Of The Pack" -
"You Can't Always Get What You Want / I Shall Be Released"

Listen To Audio Samples



Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau

From anybody else, the second live album in under four years would have me charging unfair trade practice. From Bette it has me begging for intros--which rarely forthcome on a concert-flick "Soundtrack" that plays better on screen than turntable. Streisand's claque is right-she's a sloppy singer, which without the diversionary shtick of Live at Last sometimes matters. On anything she's perfected in the studio, for instance. Or when she expresses herself all over "Stay With Me" or "Fire Down Below," good notions that suggest cabaret may be her musical calling after all. "E Street Shuffle" she can handle--maybe because it has a plot. C+


Charlotte Dillon: All Music Guide

The legendary singer Bette Midler began her amazing recording career in the early '70s, and it is still going strong three decades later. She did this second live album, Divine Madness, a year after her staring role in the well-remembered film the Rose. Music fans that enjoyed the soundtrack from that movie should find Divine Madness just as pleasing and touching, since, like the Rose soundtrack, there are a number of emotional songs on this album, such as "My Mother's Eyes," "Stay With Me," and "I Shall Be Released." There are some upbeat music samples here to be had as well, including "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and "Leader of the Pack." Throughout the nine tracks this album offers, Midler's vocal prowess shines in ballads and carries through strong in high-spirited songs.