Search - Diana Ross :: Love from Diana Ross

THE QUEEN OF LOVE BALLARDS

ianphillips@uk.dreamcast.com | BOLTON, LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND | 05/27/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Nobody can deliver a ballard like Diana Ross as this album only goes to prove. Yes its yet another compilation but this album does offer some surprise inclusions with this being more occupied by various album only recordings, plucked from the many she has recorded since 1981.This compilation begins with the absolutley breathtakingly beautiful, When You Tell Me That You Love Me, which Diana has said is one of her favourite self-recordings. the touching lyrics and Diana's heartfelt performance is totally magnificent. This timeless recording raced to No.2 on the u.K charts but was a surprising and disappointing failure in the U.S. Another British Top 10 hit follows with another timeless ballard, One Shining Moment, which is also featured on her utterly fabulous 1991 studio album, The Force Behind The Power. She puts in a powerful performance on her solo renedition of Endless Love (from the 1981 album, Why Do Fools Fall In Love) even more than that of the more famous version with Lionel Richie. The inspiring, Voice Of The Heart (Take Me Higher,1995) is another ballard that Diana so effortlessly has a flair for but the tempo up's a little then with her charming and affectionate cover version of Why Do Fools Fall In Love which was a British and American Top 10 success. Paradise, an out and out pop song taken from her Hip-Hop inflected album, Workin' Overtime (1989) is catchy enough but does sound a little dated in comparison to some of the other tracks on here. However we are then treated to one of her very best ballards from the 1980's with the sparkling, I Love Being In Love With You, which is taken from one of her best albums of the past two decades, Eaten Alive (1985). The doo wop sounds of So Close (Silk Electric,1982) is complimented by a wonderful performance from Diana whilst the touchingly dramatic, You And I (The Force Behind The Power, 1991) is even more stunning. Her most definate best ballard of the 1980's is her touching tribute to the late, great Marvin Gaye on the powerful, Missing You (Swept Away,1984), which was written by Lionel Richie. The track climbed into the U.S Top 10 charts but was lost on the British public where it surprsingly bombed. Change Of Heart (The Force Behind The Power) is a sophisticated blend of uptempo soul/pop, featuring a robust guitar at the bridge of the song whilst Think I'm In Love (Why Do Fools Fall In Love) is more laid back and is great at that. Your Love (One Woman - The Ultimate Collection,1993) is another gorgeous (if not predictable) ballard that climbed into the U.K Top 20 charts in 1994 whilst more fun and infectious is the bouncy caribean-pop sounds of Touch By Touch (Swept Away,1984) which disappointingly only scraped into the u.K top 50 charts, despite having all the fire and potential to go to No.1. Finally the album winds down to three unique ballards that are all fabulous - Heart (Don't Change My Mind), which was a British Top 40 success, a touching enedition of the Bob Dylan classic, Forever Young (Swept Away,1984) in which she is vocally superb and finally a track that was released to coincide with her thirtieth anniversary celebrations in showbiz, The Best Years Of My Life (One Woman - The Ultimate Collection, 1993) which was also a British Top 40 success. All in all a very good compilation to have as there are very few compilations floating around that focus on her post Motown years. So if you don't want to collect the many wonderful albums she has recorded over the past twenty years, then add this to your collection which is just a mere skimming of her best work since 1981. Recommended."

A WINNER

finch334 | 05/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection of absolutely heart-felt and -sung ballads is part of EMI's "gold" series and is without a doubt worth it's "weight" in gold. Essential."

Change of Heart.

alamsami | 02/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Perhaps one of the most beautiful ballads ever recorded by Diana Ross is «When You Tell Me that You Love Me» taken from her 1991 EMI album «The Force Behind the Power». It remains until today one of the most lovely classic love songs. "Love from....» includes some of her greatest love songs and some... less famous songs taken from various albums 1981 + like the songs `Paradise' (1989) and the long forgotten «Touch By Touch» (1988). Rarely, we get songs from her 80's RCA records, most of them are out of print. This one has some surprises."