London with her infamously slow as molasses tempos and minimal musical accompaniment ( often just jazz guitar ) was riding high when Streisand was just getting ready to start out ( and Babs recorded London's big hit "Cry Me A River" on her debut, albeit in her own inimitable style ) so the idea isn't that far afield. And listening to Love is the Answer, Streisand's new CD—a collaboration with jazz vocalist/pianist Diana Krall, who produced and played piano ( and otherwise seems to have stayed in the background ) —gives the notion further credence. How else to explain the somnambulant approach of this hermetically sealed recording?

Using Krall's jazz trio as a basis, the recording then sweetens each of the 13 standards chosen for the project ( "The Wee Small Hours in the Morning," "Make Someone Happy," "Here's to Life," etc. ) —all ballads—with unvarying string arrangements by Johnny Mandel that offer not a dash of musical piquancy ( my kingdom for Nelson Riddle! ) and quickly wash away any distinction between the songs. It's all a creamy piece—and a very long, unwavering piece it is. Streisand, at 67, has lost much of her signature belting range and what remains has none of the lived-in, authoritative distinction of the great jazz vocalists ( like, say Shirley Horn, late-period Rosemary Clooney or Julie London, for that matter ) .

Streisand instead concentrates on emoting each syllable so intently, slowly and evenly that as the CD proceeds it sounds as if she's practicing her enunciation rather than singing. The occasional dramatic flourish ( a laugh of regret during "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," heavy sighs, etc. ) temporarily relieves the soothing torpor but not for long. Even the bossa nova flavored "Gentle Rain" is taken at a grandpa tempo, stripping this exquisite piece of any liveliness. I am a lifelong Streisand fan and eagerly sought the recording—hoping that here, at last, was the follow-up to 1967's still thrilling Simply Streisand. But by the time Love Is The Answer got to the great Bernstein-Comden-Green classic "Some Other Time," I am sad to report, I was eager to herd this self-reverential CD out the door.