FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
PHOTO CREDIT: PA
Part Ninety-Three: Diana Ross
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FOR this A Buyer’s Guide…
PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Natkin Images
it is time to select the essential albums of a music icon. Diana Ross is someone who is among the most respected and loved artists ever. I am focusing on her solo albums, rather than her work with The Supremes. Before coming to the four studio albums worth owning, an underrated gem to look out for, her current studio and a great book to seek out, here is some biography from AllMusic:
“Indisputably a legend, Diana Ross achieved stardom with the Supremes, a vocal group who during the 1960s grew from struggling hopefuls to Motown leaders to one of the most successful recording acts of all time. The singer broke from the group in 1970 and had immediate solo triumphs leading to more than two-dozen solo Top 40 pop hits. Among them are "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (1970), "Love Hangover" (1976), "Upside Down" (1980), and "Endless Love" (1981), chart-topping classics traversing pop-soul, disco, and adult contemporary ballads. No matter the style or emotion, Ross has exuded uncommon levels of glamour and poise, always sounding connected to her material while conveying a sense of perseverance through even the most distressed romantic scenarios within her rich discography. Nominated for a dozen Grammy awards through her work with and without the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted Supremes, and nominated for an Academy Award via her starring role in Lady Sings the Blues, Ross has also been honored by the Recording Academy with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Her still-thriving, six-decade career was celebrated in 2019 with the documentary Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy and in 2021 she released her 25th solo album, Thank You.
A brief period in Bessemer, Alabama excepted, Diane Ernestine Earle Ross was brought up in Detroit, her place of birth. In 1959, shortly after she and her family had moved to the city's Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, she joined Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson in the Primettes, who became the Supremes. From 1964 through 1969, the Motown group topped the Billboard Hot 100 a dozen times, beginning with "Where Did Our Love Go." They repeated that feat with the Grammy-nominated likes of "Baby Love" and "Stop in the Name of Love," continued with the immediate classic "Reflections" -- by which point they were billed as Diana Ross & the Supremes -- and concluded their run with "Someday We'll Be Together." Along the way, the Supremes became one of the most commercially successful groups of all time.
Primed for a solo career, Ross performed with the Supremes for the last time in January 1970. That June, Motown released Diana Ross, the singer's solo debut. Written and produced almost exclusively by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, it yielded hit singles with "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and a remake of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," previously a smash for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The latter A-side topped Billboard's Hot 100 and R&B charts and earned Ross a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female. The three LPs Everything Is Everything, the soundtrack to the television special Diana!, and Surrender (all 1971-1972) quickly followed and were eclipsed by Lady Sings the Blues (1972), the chart-topping soundtrack to the Motown-produced film of the same name. Ross made her acting debut as Billie Holiday and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Touch Me in the Morning, the Marvin Gaye duets LP Diana & Marvin, and Last Time I Saw Him (all 1973) soon followed. The biggest hit off these three was "Touch Me in the Morning" itself, written by Michael Masser and Ron Miller. Ross' second solo number one, it too resulted in a Grammy best-performance nomination, this time in the pop field. Live at Caesars Palace (1974), Ross' first solo concert recording, acted as a stop-gap before the romantic drama Mahogany, another big-screen Motown production with Ross as the lead actor. Composed by Masser and Gerry Goffin, the film's "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" returned Ross to the top of the pop charts and was Academy Award-nominated for Best Original Song.
Ross' breathy vocals and natural theatricality proved to be perfectly suited for disco. She made another smooth transition with the Marilyn McLeod/Pamela Sawyer-written, Hal Davis-produced "Love Hangover." One of the style's exemplary epics, it went to the top of Billboard's disco, R&B, and pop charts, sending its parent release, Diana Ross (1976), to the Top Ten of the corresponding R&B and pop album charts, and resulted in Ross' fourth performance-related solo Grammy nomination. The singer responded with Baby, It's Me (1977), on which she was paired with Richard Perry, just before the producer helped revitalize the Pointer Sisters. Among the album's three charting A-sides was another song targeting dancefloors, "Your Love Is So Good for Me," which made Ross a best-performance Grammy nominee yet again. Next up was Ross (1978), evenly split between new recordings and sweetened versions of previously unreleased material recorded earlier in the decade.
Ross continued to alternate between careers with The Wiz (1978), a loose film adaptation of the like-titled Broadway musical production, itself a re-telling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz placed within an African-American context. Another Motown production, it was a success outside standard industry box-office measures with an impact deepening across the years. Its soundtrack, certified gold, featured a version of "Ease on Down the Road" -- with Ross joined by co-star Michael Jackson, assisted by co-production from Quincy Jones -- that topped the disco chart and was nominated for a Grammy. Ross' club appeal continued with a further set written and produced by Ashford & Simpson, The Boss (1979), and the following Chic Organization collaboration Diana (1980). The former became her first solo gold album in the U.S. The latter, powered by the number one pop hit "Upside Down" and number five follow-up "I'm Coming Out," trumped it by going platinum, another solo first for the singer. "Upside Down" became her ninth Grammy-nominated recording. The same month the ceremony was broadcast, Motown issued a second patchwork LP of new and polished archival material, To Love Again (1981).
Ross left Motown for RCA, but not before recording "Endless Love," written by duet partner Lionel Richie for the film of the same title. A number one hit on the Hot 100, R&B, and adult contemporary charts, it reappeared on Ross' otherwise self-produced RCA debut, Why Do Fools Fall in Love (also 1981), and was nominated for two Grammy awards: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and one of "the Big Four," Record of the Year. Like Diana, Why Do Fools Fall in Love went platinum. Ross continued to crank out albums for RCA on a nearly annual basis. Silk Electric (1982) was the source of "Muscles," a Top Ten pop, Grammy-nominated hit written and produced by Michael Jackson. She then worked with fellow Detroiter Ray Parker, Jr. and Gary Katz on another album titled Ross (1983), released the same year she gave two historic performances in New York City's Central Park. Swept Away (1984) went gold on the strength of the Top 20 title song and number ten hit "Missing You," recorded respectively with the teams of Daryl Hall and Arthur Baker and Lionel Richie and James Anthony Carmichael. Her RCA phase trailed off with Eaten Alive (1985) and Red Hot Rhythm & Blues (1987), highlighted by "Eaten Alive," featuring supporting vocals from Michael Jackson and additional writing from Barry and Maurice Gibb.
In 1988, Ross and her Supremes partners Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Coincidentally, Ross signed a new deal with Motown and made her return to the label with Workin' Overtime (1989), a new jack swing-flavored album produced by Chic's Nile Rodgers. The title track was a Top Ten R&B hit. The Force Behind the Power (1991) began a lengthy association with producer Peter Asher, but Ross also aimed toward the charts throughout the decade by working with other established studio veterans and emergent hitmakers, from Arif Mardin and Nick Martinelli to Al B. Sure! and Chuckii Booker. "No Matter What You Do," a duet with Sure!, became her final Top Ten R&B hit.
Through the end of the '90s, Ross issued two more studio albums, Take Me Higher (1995) and Every Day Is a New Day (1999), but she spent the majority of the decade successfully positioning herself as a legacy artist. She celebrated the 20th anniversary of Lady Sings the Blues with a Ritz Theatre concert documented as Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings...Jazz and Blues. Less than three weeks after that performance, she recorded Christmas in Vienna with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. Around the same time, she published the book Secrets of a Sparrow, synchronized with a career-spanning box set, Forever Diana: Musical Memoirs. The single-disc anthology One Woman: The Ultimate Collection summarized the box and was particularly successful in the U.K., topping the pop chart on its way to quadruple platinum certification.
The 2000s began with a Supremes tour for which Ross was joined by later members Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne, and continued with numerous high-profile solo performances and accolades. Most notably, Ross performed "God Bless America" at the 2001 U.S. Open women's singles final and two weeks later sang the same song at the first professional baseball game in New York -- at Shea Stadium -- following a break prompted by the September 11 terrorist attacks. Duets with Rod Stewart and Westlife were followed by Blue (2006), a standards-oriented project that had been shelved for three-and-a-half decades, intended as the follow-up to Lady Sings the Blues. Shortly thereafter came I Love You (also 2006), Ross' first studio album in seven years. Produced by Peter Asher, the set consisted of covers of classic love songs, including Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "The Look of Love," Harry Nilsson's "Remember," and Heatwave's "Always and Forever." Ross' contributions to the performing arts were subsequently acknowledged at the annual Kennedy Center Honors, and she earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from both the Recording Academy and BET. Over the course of the 2010s, Ross toured regularly and held multiple Las Vegas residencies. President Barack Obama awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. Motown continued to issue catalog titles, including Diamond Diana: The Legacy Collection (2017). The documentary Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy closed out the decade. Contemporary dance remixes from Eric Kupper were then compiled for Supertonic: Mixes (2020), containing numerous tracks that topped Billboard's club chart. In June 2021, Ross released "Thank You" before the appearance of her her 25th solo album. Produced with Jack Antonoff, Thank You also featured collaborations with Jimmy Napes, Tayla Parx, and Spike Stent”.
Below are my recommendations when it comes to the Diana Ross albums that you need to own. If you are fairly unfamiliar with Ross’ work or you are an ardent fan, I hope that my tips below are of use. Here is my guide when it comes to the very best work…
OF a supreme talent.
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The Four Essential Albums
Diana Ross
Release Date: 19th June, 1970
Label: Motown
Producers: Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson/Johnny Bristol
Standout Tracks: You're All I Need to Get By/These Things Will Keep Me Loving You/Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=99260&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fRnRS1s58KLndlxOi8c36?si=78cjofVFRhWZGg9hIUW63Q
Review:
“Diana Ross was one of the most eagerly anticipated records of the then-new decade, the 1970s. At the very start of the year Ross had played her farewell gigs with the group that she had led throughout the 60s, the Supremes, in Las Vegas. The Supremes, in all their chiffon and finery were already by this time the most successful female vocal act of all time (a record they still hold). And in Diana Ross, they had a true star as their leader. Groomed for superstardom by Motown boss Berry Gordy far beyond the confines of the trio format, it was a question of what approach she would take when her first solo record was released. 'Grand yet intimate' was the answer.
Released in June 1970, its cover could not have made it plainer. This was a new Diana. Shorn of all the dresses and gladrags, here she was in sepia sitting in a tye-die and shorts eating an apple with an impish look and her hair brushed forward. The music inside – full of going-it-alone, inner strength messages – typified the ornate, manicured ballads would become her trademark.
It is producers Ashford and Simpson's album, writing ten of its 11 tracks – the only outsider is the song she cut a year earlier with Johnny Bristol, These Things Keep Me From Loving You, which sounds most Supremes-like. Three tunes stand out: Her re-recording of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's You're All I Need To Get By and the opener, Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand) were both powerful and poignant.
But it was the last track recorded for the album that was not simply a case of show-stealing but larceny on the grandest scale. Ain't No Mountain High Enough gave Ross an enormous anthem, one that proved she was a superlative song stylist. The arrangement is so over the top it almost beggars belief; with its spoken word passages and gospel choirs, it demonstrated that Ms Ross and her writing and production team were a force to be reckoned with” – BBC
Choice Cut: Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)
Diana & Marvin (with Marvin Gaye)
Release Date: 26th October, 1973
Labels: Motown/Universal Music
Producers: Hal Davis/Berry Gordy/Margaret Gordy/Bob Gaudio/Ashford & Simpson
Standout Tracks: You Are Everything/You're a Special Part of Me/Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=66698&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1jbl32APgmqzDulRIqLQwC?si=JjwqKYRWQDSaXYSb2ufHQA
Review:
“By the early '70s, Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye were in completely different creative territories. Ross was settling down as a professional diva, while Gaye was pushing his art forward with What's Going On, Trouble Man, and Let's Get It On. What they shared, apart from a mutual admiration, was that they were two of the biggest artists on Motown and that their voices sounded terrific together. So it wasn't entirely surprising that the duo teamed up in 1973 for the Diana & Marvin album. Although the album didn't produce any timeless classics, the results were still very good -- good enough for the record to be one of Ross' best efforts of the era. The highlights are the three singles ("You're a Special Part of Me," "My Mistake (Was to Love You)," "Don't Knock My Love"), but even the weaker tunes are redeemed by the duo's indelible chemistry, and that's the reason why it's worth a listen” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Pledging My Love
Diana
Release Date: 22nd May, 1980
Label: Motown
Producers: Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards
Standout Tracks: Upside Down/Tenderness/My Old Piano
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=99253&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3zgDLoVcpVGfFbDZJf3uHI?si=xDrelz_VQoCtlZDlVBdq2A
Review:
“It’s ironic, then, that both “I’m Coming Out” and “Upside Down,” two of Ross’ most enduring songs, caused an irreparable rift in the album’s process. After Ross brought a rough mix of the album to the popular radio DJ Frankie Crocker, she came back to Rodgers and Edwards with a changed outlook. In the wake of Disco Demolition Night, Crocker thought Chic was set on ruining her career with this new set of disco pop (it didn’t help that he’d also pointed out the subtext of “I’m Coming Out,” assuming Ross was coming out on the record herself). Once Gordy also derided “Upside Down,” Motown demanded the demos back and ceased communication with the group, succinctly bringing a rude awakening to a dream collaboration.
They didn’t hear back until Rodgers and Edwards received a new mix of the album in the mail, reworked by Ross and Motown engineer Russ Terrana. The songs were shortened and radio-primed; Ross’ voice was more up-front in the mix and there were new vocal parts spliced together. After devoting themselves so completely to the project, all of their work had been Frankensteined into something slimmed down to appease as broad and commercial an audience as possible. Rodgers and Edwards even sought out an attorney to remove their name from the record in a last-ditch attempt to stand their ground.
Nonetheless, diana was released with the new Motown mix in May 1980 and remains Ross’ best-selling album to this day, lasting on the charts for 52 weeks. The album is a masterpiece of pop and dance music, even without Chic’s punchier mix (both versions of the record are available to cross-compare, released as a deluxe edition in 2003). “Upside Down” topped the pop and R&B charts by September, and “I’m Coming Out” reached No. 5, even after it was clocked as a gay anthem by critics as soon as it was released. That the song prevails today is testament to Rodgers’ canny songwriting and Ross’ infectiously joyous performance, carrying out the ecstatic message over an exacting guitar line and bellowing trombones.
Listening to the album provides endless pleasures, from the loungey deep cut “Now That You’re Gone” to the refined ballad “Friend to Friend,” written as a tribute to the close relationship between Ross and de Passe. Rodgers and Edwards understood how to bring the pop star into their elegant arrangements, where she infused them with her outsize personality. Ross practically transcends time on the buoyant floor-filler “Give Up”—you can picture her swaying and gyrating to the restless bassline in the studio, giving it life with each breathless chorus.
diana represents a union of two generations: Ross’ unfettered sophistication and Chic’s uptown disco-funk, stirred into an instantly enjoyable cocktail. “She represented the perfect blend of soul and style, everything we wanted Chic to be,” Rodgers said of the diva. Their resulting collaboration is still one of the band’s most memorable and all but guaranteed Chic’s long-standing career, a status ensured once Sugarhill Gang sampled “Good Times” for “Rapper’s Delight” and jump-started hip-hop. “I’m Coming Out,” too, was later sampled for a rap classic in 1997 with Biggie’s “Mo Money Mo Problems,” further proof of the album’s far-reaching alchemy.
Ross eventually returned to Motown and teamed up with Rodgers again on 1989’s Workin’ Overtime, but diana persists as their stone-cold classic. The album both set a new bar for her musical career and established a template for the dance and pop music of the next decade, and the next decade, and the next. diana stands out among its peers in the ’80s because it comes underpinned by the intimate bond she formed with both Chic and her audience, delivered with indefatigable grace. Today, Ross still reliably opens her live performances with “I’m Coming Out,” a timeless anthem that continues to resonate with precise, dazzling magic” – Pitchfork
Choice Cut: I’m Coming Out
Blue
Release Date: 20th June, 2006
Label: Motown
Producer: Gil Askey
Standout Tracks: Let's Do It/I Loves Ya Porgy/Smile
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=145015&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3qKmttMYDiDumiewIcyDdw?si=bpi57YseTO2sb16Sz0yPPA
Review:
“In late 1971, after Diana Ross completed filming the Billie Holiday bio-pic Lady Sings the Blues, Motown put her in the studio to record an album of jazz standards to coincide with the movie's release. The material was shelved after the producers decided to keep Ross on the pop-star track, which soon produced the #1 hit "Touch Me in the Morning."
This summer Motown is releasing that long-lost album, entitled Blue. A welcome attempt to cash in on the recent standards successes of Rod Stewart, Carly Simon, Queen Latifah and others, it's a tastefully recorded piece of jazz-lite. Produced by Gil Askey, the album burbles with orchestral swells, but never to the point of overwhelming the material. Ross' voice is sugary-sweet throughout, and she favors succinct phrasing over straining melisma—clarity of tone is her touchstone. Thankfully she makes no attempt to imitate Lady Day's delicate growl; she sticks to clear lines and rarely plays with the beat, letting the song do the work for her.
And these songs do plenty, with gems like "What A Difference A Day Makes," "But Beautiful," "Love Is Here To Stay" and "My Man." The formula is flawless, and while it never touches Holiday's emotional depths, it never descends into decorative kitsch, either. Risk-taking should be reserved for those who can pull it off—and the professionalism on display here plays it safe with style and sincerity.
"Let's Do It is a prime example. Anchored by an acoustic guitar strum, murmuring strings and a muted trumpet, Ross' voice lightly bounces as it talks of those "goldfish in the privacy of bowls falling in love. She modulates her voice within a limited range, but each tweak adds wry humor, allowing the graceful turns of phrase an ideal setting to make their impact. These renditions don't bear much of a personal stamp, but they shimmer with life regardless. That's what a beautiful voice can do for you” – All About Jazz
Choice Cut: What a Difference a Day Makes
The Underrated Gem
Baby It's Me
Release Date: 16th September, 1977
Label: Motown
Producer: Richard Perry
Standout Tracks: Too Shy to Say/Your Love Is So Good for Me/The Same Love That Made Me Laugh
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=99248&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0z4TlSNxbGiVropWXW3xxF?si=8TJGPW4eSJ20M5r1X0STxg
Review:
“Diana Ross' gifts aren't easy to capture on record. In fact, it's been a decade since anybody has done it consistently. She's campy and prone to self-parody. And though Ross is a limited vocal technician (her voice is as light and reed-thin as her skinny body), she can alternately be sullen, sultry, dramatic and just plain silly. Still, it's a shame that her abundant gifts have gone unchallenged for so long.
Richard Perry wouldn't have been my first choice as producer for this type of project. For one thing, Perry always seems to be too self-consciously arty in his approach, and then there was his work with Martha Reeves, a fiery renegade who suffered from Perry's teak-and-glass production. But these days Diana Ross is a lot closer to Barbra Streisand than Martha Reeves, and try as I might, I find much of Baby It's Me hard to resist.
The instrumentation is surprisingly sparse and at times quite odd. Strings rather than horns (with few exceptions) are used for punctuation and momentum, a device that works just fine at times ("All Night Lover") and badly elsewhere. On Stevie Wonder's "Too Shy to Say," keyboards and strings provide the only backdrop, creating a campy piece of torch. The only real lapses in taste are the title song, an awkward attempt at mixing Diana Ross and funk (it's like staging a showcase performance by Ross in a rib joint—a second-rate one at that) and "Your Love Is So Good for Me," a perfunctory four-minute disco number.
At least three songs on Baby It's Me are meant to recall the Supremes (an idea that fits well here but would wear thin if repeated). The best are the two cowritten by Jerry Ragovoy (a Sixties soul producer responsible for a number of cult classics by Lorraine Ellison and Howard Tate), who, with one seemingly trite couplet ("Every time you hold me/You just about control me") brings Diana Ross right into focus. Of course there are more grandiose and melodramatic moments. Not only "Too Shy to Say" and Melissa Manchester's "Confide in Me," but also "Come in from the Rain" (written by Manchester and Carole Bayer Sager), the album's finale, which sports a production so unashamedly stagy and manipulative that it's hard to resist.
You don't listen to Diana Ross for great truths, and she sure doesn't heal wounds like Aretha Franklin. What Diana Ross does better than anybody, though, is provide her audience with an immediate (if not very lasting) emotional gratification. On that level, Baby It's Me is a minor triumph. (RS 253)” – Rolling Stone
Choice Cut: Gettin' Ready for Love
The Latest Album
Thank You
Release Date: 5th November, 2021
Label: Decca
Producers: Charlie McClean/Diana Ross/Fred White/Jack Antonoff/Rodney Kendrick/Theron Feemster/Triangle Park/Troy Miller
Standout Tracks: If the World Just Danced/All Is Well/I Still Believe
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=2367175&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3IHDaf8CClvaSdgrewRPjl?si=PL4FAQxcR-qJhhhWzrwgJg
Review:
“Recent news reports had claimed that Diana Ross’ first album of new material in over 20 years would see her chancing her arm creatively by working with Tame Impala’s chief cosmonaut Kevin Parker. Alas, there’s no such surprise collaboration on ‘Thank You’, with the singer instead opting to go big on cloying showbiz-trooper gratitude and saccharine co-writes with songwriters who’ve previously worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith.
Recorded at Ross’ home studio during lockdown and produced by the omnipresent Jack Antonoff, there are flourishes and call backs to moments from the 77-year-old’s storied career throughout her 25th studio album. The nostalgic groove of its title track could have fallen through a wormhole from 1970, while the honeyed R&B of ‘In Your Heart’ sees Ross huskily sing “reach out and touch somebody” – a likely nod to her 1970 hit ‘Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)’.
Barring the upbeat reggaeton of ‘If The World Just Danced’, the R&B-inflected ‘Let’s Do It’ and the pass-the-Quaaludes campstravaganza of ‘I Still Believe’ (which sounds like it should be played under the moon and spoon of Studio 54), the emphasis of ‘Thank You’ is on schmaltzy, mid-tempo diva empowerment. There’s a fine line between ‘timeless’ and MOR, and Ross’ kitten heel is firmly on it with earnest, loungey paeans to the power of love like ‘Count On Me’ and ‘Just In Case’.
When she reaches the Siedah Garrett (the veteran songwriter responsible for Michael Jackson’s ‘Man In The Mirror’)-penned torch song ‘The Answer’s Always Love’, Ross goes full grand dame histrionics. “You can ignore the dreamer / But you can’t deny the dream,” she sings, as you imagine fans weeping down in the front row of her Las Vegas residency.
The biggest problem, however, are the lyrics, which leave no cliché uncoined throughout the record. By the time you get halfway through ‘Thank You”s 13 tracks it feels like you’re being held hostage by a Little Book of Inspirational Quotes at ear-point, and you begin to yearn for some of Chic’s patented “Deeper Hidden Meaning” that they brought to 1980’s ‘I’m Coming Out’’.
Ultimately, it feels as if everybody involved in ‘Thank You’ has reverentially tried to make the platonic ideal of a Diana Ross album, but instead fallen into the late-career artist deadzone of a pleasant record that neither particularly updates nor diminishes her legacy. Don’t get us wrong, it’s great to have Ross back – and she’ll slay Glastonbury when she finally gets her COVID-scuppered chance next year. But you do wonder what more could have been achieved here if everybody had thought outside the box and added a little more attitude instead of gratitude” – NME
Choice Cut: Thank You
The Diana Ross Book
Diana Ross: The Unauthorized Biography
Author: J. Randy Taraborrelli
Publication Date: 19th January, 2007
Publisher: Sidgwick & Jackson