Higher Ground (1997)

Barbra Streisand's latest is meant to ''put positive thoughts out there in the universe,'' which it does — relentlessly. There are enough inspirational messages in Higher Ground to make Tony Robbins blush. But the persistent strings-and-choir treatment on these 12 tunes — including ''On Holy Ground'' and Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''You'll Never Walk Alone'' — reduces the whole collection to one long, lush ballad that would be more at home over The Prince of Tides' closing credits. C