Walls (Barbra Streisand album)

Walls is the thirty-sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Barbra Streisand, released on November 2, 2018, by Columbia Records.[1] The lead single "Don't Lie to Me" was written as a criticism of America's political climate amid the presidency of Donald Trump,[2][3] while the title track alludes to Trump's frequent calls for a wall at the Mexico border.

Walls
Barbra Streisand wears a black shall, gazing upward, surrounded by a large stone wall
Studio album by
Barbra Streisand
ReleasedNovember 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
RecordedNovember 2017–September 2018
Studio
  • Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage (Culver City California)
  • Blue Studio (Malibu, California)
  • Capitol Studios (Hollywood, California)
  • Grandma's House (Malibu, California)
  • Henson Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California)
  • Multiview Studios (Hollywood, California)
  • Sound Design (Santo Barbara, California)
  • Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee)
  • The Gentlemen's Club Studio (Nashville, Tennessee)
  • WallyWorld Studio (Los Angeles, California)
GenreVocal pop
Length47:09
LabelColumbia
Producer
Barbra Streisand chronology
The Music...The Mem'ries...The Magic!
(2017)		 Walls
(2018)		 Release Me 2
(2021)
Singles from Walls
  1. "Don't Lie to Me"
    Released: September 28, 2018
  2. "Imagine/What a Wonderful World"
    Released: October 12, 2018
  3. "Lady Liberty"
    Released: October 26, 2018

Receiving critical acclaim, The album debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200, becoming her first studio album not to reach the top ten since "Emotion" in 1984. As of January 2023, the album has become Streisand's fifth studio album not to be certified Gold or Platinum by RIAA.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Guardian[6]
The Independent[7]
The Times[8]

Walls received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Walls has an average score of 84 based on 5 reviews.[4]

Walls was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Year-end lists

Publication Accolade Ref.
Rolling Stone The 20 Best Pop Albums of 2018
[9]

Commercial performance

Walls debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200 but then dropped off the charts after a second week.[10] Walls opened at number six on the UK Albums Chart, selling 15,604 copies and giving Streisand her 36th top-75 album and 15th top-10 entry in the United Kingdom.[11] In Australia Walls debuted at number seven on the ARIA Albums Chart.[12]

Track listing

Adapted from Playbill.[13]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."What's on My Mind"
5:16
2."Don't Lie to Me"
  • Shanks
  • Myrin
3:57
3."Imagine/What a Wonderful World"
  • Afanasieff
  • Streisand
5:20
4."Walls"
  • Afanasieff
  • Streisand
3:54
5."Lady Liberty"Desmond Child
  • Child
  • Streisand
3:52
6."What the World Needs Now"
  • Afanasieff
  • Streisand
4:36
7."Better Angels"
  • Bayer Sager
  • Myrin
  • Landers
4:08
8."Love's Never Wrong"
  • Afanasieff
  • Streisand
4:06
9."The Rain Will Fall"
  • Shanks
  • Myrin
4:42
10."Take Care of This House" (from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue)
Streisand4:10
11."Happy Days Are Here Again"
Streisand3:53
Total length:47:09

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.[14]

  • Walter Afanasieff – arranger, keyboards, orchestral arrangements, producer, synthesizer
  • Tariqh Akoni – acoustic guitar
  • Leo Amuedo – acoustic guitar
  • Annie Bosko – background vocals
  • Adrian Bradford – engineer
  • Jorge Calandrelli – orchestral arrangements
  • David Campbell – string arrangements
  • Mabvuto Carpenter – background vocals
  • Desmond Child – keyboards, producer, programming
  • Steve Churchyard – orchestration recording
  • Tim Davis – choir director
  • Nathan East – bass guitar
  • Kenneth Edmonds – vocals
  • David Foster – arranger, producer
  • Ian Fraser – arranger
  • Dmytro Gordon – engineer
  • Tyler Gordon – engineer
  • Mark Graham – music preparation
  • Keith Gretlein – engineer, programming
  • Missi Hale – background vocals
  • Jeri Heiden – design
  • Russell James – photography
  • Jay Landers – executive producer, liner notes
  • Whitney Martin – music contractor
  • Michael McDonald – vocals
  • Vlado Meller – mastering
  • Shawn Murphy – orchestration recording
  • Jonas Myrin – arranger, associate producer, background vocals
  • Obie O'Brien – orchestration recording
  • J.C. Monterrosa – orchestration recording
  • Clay Perry – arranger, keyboards, programming
  • Tim Pierce – electric guitar
  • Tiffany Plamer – background vocals
  • William Ross – adaptation, arranger, orchestral arrangements
  • John Shanks – bass, guitar, keyboards, producer, programming, background vocals
  • Blake Slatkin – keyboards, programming
  • Barbra Streisand – arranger, art direction, executive producer, primary artist, producer
  • Shari Sutcliffe – music contractor
  • Mary Webster – score coordinator
  • Kris Wilkinson – music contractor
  • Lucy Woodward – background vocals
  • Gina Zimmitti – music contractor

Charts
Chart performance for Walls
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 7
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17] 50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[18] 37
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[19] 33
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[20] 59
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[21] 15
French Albums (SNEP)[22] 145
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 34
Irish Albums (IRMA)[24] 34
Italian Albums (FIMI)[25] 58
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 38
Scottish Albums (OCC)[27] 9
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[28] 16
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 6
US Billboard 200[10] 12

Certifications
Certifications for Walls
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[31] Silver 60,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "It's Easy to Feel Powerless, But We're Not: Barbra Streisand Takes a Stand Against Trump on Her New Song". Time. September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  2. "Barbra Streisand Talks New Album Walls and its Trump-Dissing single "Don't Lie to Me"". Billboard. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  3. "Barbra Streisand's New Song "Don't Lie to Me" Is a Pointed Trump Dig". HuffPost. September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  4. "Reviews for Walls by Barbra Streisand". Metacritic. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  5. "Walls - Barbra Streisand : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  6. Morris, Damien (November 11, 2018). "Barbra Streisand: Walls - review (Columbia)". The Guardian. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  7. Pollard, Alexandra. "Barbra Streisand, Walls". The Independent. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  8. Hodgkinson, Will. "Pop review: Barbra Streisand: Walls". The Times. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  9. Sheffield, Brittany Spanos,Rob; Sheffield, Rob (December 14, 2018). "20 Best Pop Albums of 2018". rollingstone.com. Retrieved December 19, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. "Barbra Streisand Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  11. Jones, Alan (November 9, 2018). "Charts analysis: The Prodigy maintain chart-topping album run". Music Week. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  12. "The Aria Report: Issue 1498" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. November 12, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  13. "Barbra Streisand Will Release New Album Walls in November". Playbill. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  14. "Walls – Barbra Streisand | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  15. "Australiancharts.com – Barbra Streisand – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  16. "Austriancharts.at – Barbra Streisand – Walls" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  17. "Ultratop.be – Barbra Streisand – Walls" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  18. "Ultratop.be – Barbra Streisand – Walls" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  19. "Barbra Streisand Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  20. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 46.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  21. "Dutchcharts.nl – Barbra Streisand – Walls" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  22. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums (Week 45, 2018)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Barbra Streisand – Walls" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  24. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Barbra Streisand". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  25. "Italiancharts.com – Barbra Streisand – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  26. "Charts.nz – Barbra Streisand – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  27. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  28. "Spanishcharts.com – Barbra Streisand – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  29. "Swisscharts.com – Barbra Streisand – Walls". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  30. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  31. "British album certifications – Barbra Streisand – Walls". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
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