Diana Ross - «I Love You» (2006 Special Edition CD & DVD)

In what might be the least inspired album of her career, iconic diva Diana Ross sleepwalks through a mishmash of seemingly randomly chosen love songs, all covers save for one new composition, adding nothing to them and forcing one to wonder just why she bothered. It's been standard music industry practice for years for artists to record (or for their labels to release compilations of) romantic tunes in time for Valentine's Day, and the January 2007 arrival of this set couldn't have been better timed as it also coincided with the release of the film version of Dreamgirls, based on the career of the Supremes. But Ross doesn't seize the moment: she puts little emotion or enthusiasm into her recitations here, and seems to have little familiarity with, or understanding of, the songs she and producers Peter Asher and Steve Tyrell have chosen for the album. Her vocals are largely nondescript and at times barely hint at the qualities that made her such a distinctive force for decades, and the arrangements and production are whitewashed and lacking in originality. The material is all over the place, including songs from the '50s to those of more recent vintage, from the Platters' "Only You" through Berlin's "Take My Breath Away," fellow Motown great Marvin Gaye's "I Want You" to the ubiquitous (and, at this point, plain annoying) "You Are So Beautiful." Ross takes Jackie Wilson's "To Be Loved" and bleeds the soul from it, and she drains the magic from the Drifters' classic "This Magic Moment." Harry Nilsson's "Remember" not only opens the album but closes it in a brief reprise version, but Ross seems unsure what to do with it either time. The Beatles' "I Will" might be an excellent cover choice in more sympathetic hands, but Ross sounds uncomfortable with its simplicity and quietness, while her reading of Burt Bacharach-Hal David's sultry masterpiece "The Look of Love" is embarrassingly lifeless, especially if compared with Dusty Springfield's definitive '60s version. Whoever came up with the idea of Ross covering the Spiral Starecase's 1969 hit "More Today Than Yesterday" at least gets a few points for digging a bit deeper into the covers well, but Ross puts no fire into the up-tempo/upbeat song. Interestingly, the one new track here (other than a piece from the current Broadway production of The Color Purple), the Fred White-penned ballad "I Love You (That's All That Really Matters)," makes the most of Ross' vocal capabilities and range, begging the question of why she didn't just record an album of new material custom-fitted to her talents. Had the singer on this album been an unknown trying out for American Idol with these performances, no doubt Simon Cowell would have found her appalling. This has to be chalked up as an anomaly and a mistake, because an artist as singular as Diana Ross doesn't just forget who she is and what she does best. [The 2006 Special Edition includes a bonus DVD featuring behind-the-scenes footage and an archival photo gallery.] ~ Review by Jeff Tamarkin ~ (ajiger)

Исполнитель: Diana Ross
Альбом: I Love You
Год: 2006
Стиль: Pop, Soul, Pop-Soul, Contemporary R&B
Формат: FLAC + Covers
Формат DVD: PAL 4:3 (720x576) VBR | English (PCM, 2 ch) | Regions: All | 10:46 Min
Качество: Lossless
Размер: Total size: 1.07 Gb
Продолжительность: 0:56:03
Продолжительность DVD: 0:10:46

Tracklist:
Disc: 1 (Audio)
1. Remember
2. More Today Than Yesterday
3. I Want You
4. I Love You (That's All That Really Matters)
5. What About Love
6. The Look of Love
7. Take My Breath Away
8. Lovely Day
9. Only You
10. To Be Loved
11. I Will
12. This Magic Moment
13. You Are So Beautiful
14. Always and Forever
15. Remember (Reprise)
Disc: 2 (DVD)
1. Behind the scenes footage (09:18)
2. Photo Gallery

Diana Ross - «Blue» (2006)

Королева блэк-фирмы Motown решила не отставать от своих младших собратьев по шоу-бизнесу и в 2006 году одарила нас чудесной компиляцией классических джазовых баллад. Записаны они, исходя из реперпуара, в разные годы. Это до боли знакомые «эвергрины» от Кола Портера, Джорджа Гершвина, Дюка Эллингтона, и даже Чарли Чаплин задействован здесь в роли композитора. Если одним словом описать альбом, то это слово «богато». Причем с ростовским акцентом и неподдельным восхищением в голосе. Шикарный биг-бэнд, отменный свинг, чувственный вокал – и над всем этим великолепием парит, царит и всяко-разно колдует нестареющая соул-валькирия. Этот прекрасный подарок отлично пойдет под коктейли возле камина (естественно не в одиночестве). Настоятельно рекомендую представителям среднего класса с условно высшим образованием, у которых звуки классического джаза не стимулируют рвотный рефлекс. (ajiger)

Исполнитель: Diana Ross
Альбом: Blue
Год: 2006
Стиль: Vocal, Vocal Jazz, Standards
Формат: FLAC + Covers
Качество: Lossless
Размер: 322.56 Mb
Продолжительность: 0:50:16

Tracklist:
1. What a Diff'rence a Day Makes [03:28]
2. No More [03:09]
3. Let's Do It [03:00]
4. I Loves Ya Porgy [05:11]
5. Smile [02:58]
6. But Beautiful [02:50]
7. Had You Been Around [02:29]
8. Little Girl Blue [04:00]
9. Can't Get Started with You [03:10]
10. Love Is Here to Stay [02:13]
11. You've Changed [02:54]
12. My Man (Mon Homme) [03:31]
13. Easy Living [Bonus Track] [02:54]
14. Solitude [Bonus Track] [02:05]
15. He's Funny That Way [Bonus Track] [03:02]
16. T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do [Bonus Track] [02:22]

Отредактировано marks (2009-06-07 13:59:54)