The Way We Were

The Way We Were (1974) is the fifteenth studio album recorded by American singer Barbra Streisand. The album was released in January 1974, preceded by the commercial success of its lead single "The Way We Were" first released in September 1973.
The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who praised Streisand's vocals and found the record capable of being extremely successful. Commercially, The Way We Were topped the Billboard 200 in the United States and reached the top ten on album charts in Australia and Canada. It also entered the charts in Japan and the United Kingdom. The album has since been certified 2× Platinum in the United States by the RIAA.

In the United States, the album debuted at number 97 on the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending February 16, 1974, and by February 26, had already sold 500,000 copies and was certified Gold. The following week it rose to number 39, and on March 16 of the same year, it reached the top position. It became Streisand's second number one and seventh top five album, with the other number-one being People (1964). The Way We Were spent two weeks at the highest position before falling to number four on March 30. It continued dropping on the charts but managed to stay within the top 10 of the list for a total of six weeks. The Recording Industry Association of America changed its certification status to Platinum for shipments upwards of 1,000,000 sales, and again on September 23, 1998, The Way We Were was certified for selling over 2,000,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 49 in May 1974, and was certified Silver for shifting 60,000 physical copies.