In 2012, Barbra Streisand took an initial look in her vault and rediscovered handfuls of old tapes with songs she’d recovered over her six-decades-plus in show business but never released for one reason or another. It turns out that even after Release Me, she still had more in the bank. Release Me 2 follows the same formula, with songs recorded since the early 1960s. The 79-year-old EGOT winner is the only artist with No. 1 albums in six consecutive decades.

What she found this time were 10 songs, most of them melodramatic ballads from the Great American Songbook and duets with Barry Gibb (on the better end), Willie Nelson on the schmaltzy end and … Kermit the Frog. In case you wanted to hear Babs with the felt amphibian. Jim Henson doesn’t appear to be credited, but it’s likely his voice on the record.

Every song here, from a cover of Randy Newman’s “Living Without You” (apparently originally recorded for 1971’s Stoney End) to “One Day (A Prayer),” which she recorded three times between 1968 and ’69, has shiny new production. The symphonic arrangements are classic Streisand, as is her voice, which is the star of the show.

And with that powerful, emotive voice, she sings songs by the likes of Burt Bacharach and Hal David (“Be Aware,” which she recorded in 1971 for a TV special) and Carole King’s “You Light Up My Life” (recorded in 1974 but also discarded). 

But back to that duet with Barry Gibb. The duo recorded “If Only You Were Mine,” the most consequential song in the package, for Guilty Pleasures, their second album of duets together. Over a keyboard and guitar and propelled by a snappy hi-hat, the duo clearly has some fun, even doing some scatting. 

The duet with Willie Nelson seems more forced. “I’d Want it To Be You” was written for Streisand’s 2014 album of duets with men, Partners. While Nelson has mellowed with age and Barbra Streisand is a card-carrying Democrat, and both came up in the ’60s, the two came from seemingly different generations. So when, in the song’s outro banter, she asks, “Can I ride on your bus, Willie,” my brain did not allow me to form an image of her and her buddy smoking a fat joint.

The oft-covered “Rainbow Connection” is everything you’d expect it to be. Miss Piggy will be so jealous when she hears this sugary-sweet duet, which Barbra Streisand recorded for 1979’s Wet.

With the schmaltz out of the way, this is a really strong collection of would-be classics (or B-sides) that never had a chance to reach fans until now. The swoon-worthy lead-in to “Right As The Rain”—Flutes! Strings! Operatic, Broadway-ready vocals!—is what what Streisand fans came here for. She originally recorded this 1944 classic (written for Broadway musical “Bloomer Girl”) in 1962. That’s before she even released her debut album.

Her voice sounds full and rich. There’s just enough pacing to not get dull (only two tunes break four minutes) and a couple of uptempo numbers. Yes, some of these songs were recorded a long time ago, but what else could anyone ask of a diva about to enter her octogenarian years?

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.