The Rose: The Original Soundtrack Recording

 (23 customer reviews)

The soundtrack for this 1979 film is the most paradoxical album of Bette Midler's career. "The Rose," the album, is arguably the best of Midler's live albums, but the songs are all new and more in the mode of rock 'n' roll ala Janis Joplin than the 1940s boogie woogie and other song types that brought Midler to prominence. As if to underscore the point, "The Rose," the song, plays to Midler's strengths as a vocalist while running counter to all the other songs on the album. It is a beautiful song and there really is a sense in which it is the only true Bette Midler song on the album, because the rest are being sung by Mary Rose Foster, a.k.a. "The Rose," the singer. But overall, the soundtrack is basically the best parts of the film.With "Midnight in Memphis" Midler proves she could be a pretty great blues signer and "Stay With Me" takes on almost epic proportions as the Rose self-destructs on stage before her hometown audience...Read more

Bette Midler shows us she can do blood and guts rock and roll on this #12, double platinum smash album! Midler's voice is in the same league as Joplin on this superior rock and roll album. If you love TRUE rock and roll, buy this album. Midler pulls it off perfectly! Trust me when I say. Midler's version of When A Man Loves A Woman is excellent as rock and roll and somehow sounds completely different from a woman's point of view. Stay With Me, a Midler classic, is astonishing. You can feel the pain of the song as Midler takes you for a ride. Sold My Soul to Rock and Roll and Keep On Rockin' will have you screaming along with Midler! You won't be able to help yourself! The album also contains Midler's smash hit The Rose. BUY THIS ALBUM NOW!!!! If you loved this Bette album, you'll love these other Bette albums: Divine Madness soundtrack, No Frills. Support Bette Midler! Buy the album here! Don't buy from an auction or download the songs for free!

Midler fans beware - the title track aside, this not the middle-of-the-road, adult-contemporary pop that the woman has made her trademark over most of her career. It's Memphis-tinged rock-and-blues sung in the persona of the fictional film character. Midler's voice isn't perfectly suited to the material - no one will ever mistake her for Janis Joplin - but she certainly gives it a game go and her performances are ultimately credible and winning. Classic R&B numbers like "When A Man Loves A Woman" and "Stay With Me" not only sidestep the potential for sacrilege and disaster; they manage to be fresh, potent declarations of pain. "Love Me With A Feeling" has a nice bluesy shuffle; other numbers are more straight-forward rock, filtered through Muscle Shoals. The album's succeeds in no small part due to the able musicians backing Midler. They are more than some ad-hoc Big Brother and the Holding Company; they have the bite and energy of a real band. I'd have liked to see them...Read more