Emotion (Barbra Streisand album)

Emotion is the twenty-third studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand, released in October 1984 by Columbia Records. It was her first studio album in four years after the release of Guilty, which has since become her highest selling studio album worldwide.

Emotion
Studio album by Barbra Streisand
Released	October 9, 1984 (1984-10-09)
Recorded	May 17 – June 24, 1984[1]
Studio	Studio 55, Los Angeles Record One, Los Angeles Ocean Way, Los Angeles Evergreen, Burbank The Complex, Los Angeles Soundcastle, Los Angeles Capitol, Los Angeles The Village, Los Angeles Power Station, New York House of Music, West Orange, NJ Bill Schnee, Hollywood; Rumbo, Los Angeles
Genre	Pop
Length	46:12
Label	Columbia
Producer	Maurice White, Barbra Streisand, Albhy Galuten, Jim Steinman, Kim Carnes and Richard Perry
Barbra Streisand chronology
Yentl (1983) Emotion (1984) The Broadway Album (1985)
Singles from Emotion
"Left in the Dark" Released: September 1984 "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" Released: December 1984 "Emotion" Released: March 1985

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]

The album was promoted with the release of three singles, but none of them entered the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100.^[3] The album wasn't as successful as its predecessor, having peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard 200 chart and was certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA and Gold in the UK by the BPI.^[4][5]

Overview

This album was recorded in eleven studios in Los Angeles and two in New York with a multitude of producers and composers. Produced by Jim Steinman, "Left in the Dark" was the lead single peaking at #50 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Make No Mistake, He's Mine", a duet with Kim Carnes, was the album's second single and charted at #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #51 on the Billboard Hot 100. The final single "Emotion", featuring the Pointer Sisters on background vocals, was also released as extended 12" remix.

An instrumental version of "Here We Are At Last" appeared on the soundtrack of the 1987 feature film Nuts.^[2][6]

The video for "Left in the Dark" reunited Streisand with Kris Kristofferson, her co-star from A Star Is Born. The video to the album's title track "Emotion", which received some airplay on MTV, featured cameos from The Who's Roger Daltrey and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

The album peaked at #19 on the US Billboard 200 and #15 on the UK Pop Album chart.^[7] Emotion has also been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA and Gold in the UK by the BPI.^[4][5]

In 2023, in her memoir My Name Is Barbra, Streisand described the album as a "hodgepodge", vowing to "never again" make a pop record like "Emotion".

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Emotion"	Peter Bliss	4:58
2.	"Make No Mistake, He's Mine" (with Kim Carnes)	Carnes	4:10
3.	"Time Machine"	Maurice White, Martin George Page, Brian Fairweather	4:56
4.	"Best I Could"	Bobby Whiteside, Richard Parker	4:21
5.	"Left in the Dark"	Jim Steinman	7:13
6.	"Heart Don't Change My Mind"	Diane Warren, Robbie Buchanan	4:56
7.	"When I Dream"	Kathy Wakefield, Richard Baskin	4:31
8.	"You're a Step in the Right Direction"	Barbra Streisand, John Mellencamp	3:54
9.	"Clear Sailing"	Peter McIan, Anne Black Montgomery	3:56
10.	"Here We Are at Last"	Streisand, Richard Baskin	3:19

Unreleased songs

• "When the Lovin' Goes Out of the Lovin'"
• "How Do You Keep the Music Playing" (this song was later re-recorded and included on The Movie Album).

Personnel

• Barbra Streisand – vocals
• Roy Bittan – piano
• Abraham Laboriel, Lee Sklar, Neil Stubenhaus, Nathan East, Steve Buslowe, Bob Lizik – bass guitar
• Peter Bliss – programming, guitar
• Bill Cuomo – piano, synthesizer
• Robbie Buchanan – keyboards, synthesizer, programming
• Randy Waldman, Michel Colombier – synthesizer
• James Newton Howard – keyboards
• Steve Mitchell – synthesizer, Hammond B-3
• Albhy Galuten – synthesizer, keyboards
• Gary Mallaber, Max Weinberg, Tom Radke, Russ Kunkel, Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
• Ed Tossing – piano, Fender Rhodes
• Paulinho Da Costa, Joe Porcaro, Jimmy Maelen, Steve Forman – percussion
• Gary Chang – additional synthesizer, programming
• Paul Jackson Jr., Don Felder, Steve Lukather, Rick Derringer, Dann Huff, Craig Hull, George Doering, Bruce Gaitsch – guitar
• Ray Kelley – cello
• Lon Price, Jerry Peterson, John Phillips – saxophone
• Maurice White, Maxine Willard Waters, Clydene Jackson, Julia Waters Tillman – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1984) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] 13 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] 12 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 40 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11] 25 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12] 13 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 23 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 17 UK Albums (OCC)[15] 15 US Billboard 200[16] 19 US Cashbox Top Albums[17] 15

Year-end charts Chart (1984) Position US Cash Box[18] 61

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[19]	Platinum	70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[20]	Gold	50,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[21]	Gold	50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[22]	Platinum	15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[5]	Gold	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[4]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.