PDA

View Full Version : Diana's "I Love You" CD


test

daviddesper
08-01-2018, 11:40 PM
I have a ton of CDs and just rotate them in my car. That means I get to hear a wide variety. For example, today I finished the above CD, then went to Smokey, then to Travis Tritt, and am now on Dionne's Hot Live and Otherwise CD. That should give you an idea as to how eclectic my tastes are!

Anyway, about this Diana CD...to tell you the truth I had almost forgotten that I owned it. So I was curious to know what other fans, especially her diehard fans, think of it.

As I was listening to it, I could not help but think that it was sooooooo out of character for her because literally every song on it was soooo slow and mellow. Definitely NOT a dance album!!

So my question I guess is this: Was this a project that Diana had really wanted to do and therefore might have been really proud of, or was she dragged it into it kicking and screaming because someone else thought it was a good idea?

How well did it do on the charts or sell?

marybrewster
08-02-2018, 01:56 AM
Do we have the same CD? "More Today than Yesterday" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" I wouldn't quite consider slow and mellow?

Overall I thought the concept of a "covers" album was fantastic, but I question a lot of the choices. The selection was a bit all over the place.

I wish Miss D would do a "songbook" collection or something at least something a bit more cohesive.

Bluebrock
08-02-2018, 02:33 AM
I have a ton of CDs and just rotate them in my car. That means I get to hear a wide variety. For example, today I finished the above CD, then went to Smokey, then to Travis Tritt, and am now on Dionne's Hot Live and Otherwise CD. That should give you an idea as to how eclectic my tastes are!

Anyway, about this Diana CD...to tell you the truth I had almost forgotten that I owned it. So I was curious to know what other fans, especially her diehard fans, think of it.

As I was listening to it, I could not help but think that it was sooooooo out of character for her because literally every song on it was soooo slow and mellow. Definitely NOT a dance album!!

So my question I guess is this: Was this a project that Diana had really wanted to do and therefore might have been really proud of, or was she dragged it into it kicking and screaming because someone else thought it was a good idea?

How well did it do on the charts or sell?
It was a very poorly produced album along with some questionable song choices. The basic idea was not a bad one, but it was ill thought out and rushed. The budget to produce this album was simply nowhere near adequate for such a star of Diana's stature. She did the project because it was the only offer on the table at the time due to her excessive demands. The ironic thing is that such offers are now on the table and have been for quite some time, but i am veering off topic now.
Back on topic and Diana was far from happy with the finished project , but dutifully promoted it domestically, but the budget was not there to promote it overseas. To answer your question she is not at all proud of the project, but she does really like 3 or 4 of the songs on there.She merely wishes more money could have been made available to polish up the album.

jobeterob
08-02-2018, 02:42 AM
lovely day and to be loved are my two great favourites

PeaceNHarmony
08-02-2018, 05:41 AM
It's an 'ok' lp, as every singer of 50+ years of recording ends up with every now and again. To answer the sales question, it was a top-40 lp here in the states and higher in some other countries. Certainly infinitely more successful than anything done by any other member of her former group.

Jaap
08-02-2018, 06:03 AM
Due to the lackluster production, I never listen to this album [[although Ross does some amazing good vocals on several of the songs; it's just the musical production that is so banal and karaoke-like). Same for the Aretha Franklin's 2014 Sings the Great Diva Classics album. Artists like Ross and Franklin deserve better productions than these.

Ollie9
08-02-2018, 07:06 AM
Due to the lackluster production, I never listen to this album [[although Ross does some amazing good vocals on several of the songs; it's just the musical production that is so banal and karaoke-like). Same for the Aretha Franklin's 2014 Sings the Great Diva Classics album. Artists like Ross and Franklin deserve better productions than these.

Ditto....

If this was to be Diana's last album what a shame it was not with Ashford & Simpson. Somehow it would have seemed appropriate. As Diana was reported to be friends with the duo and appears to have a fondness for the songs featured on The Boss set i will never understand how she never got to record another album with them after 79.
Appologies for going off track.

jobucats
08-02-2018, 07:24 AM
I love Diana, however, as mentioned before by some, this product was too subpar to the kinds of products she had put out before. The concept of love was very good. In retrospect, I wish she had recorded "I Want to Know What Love Is", however, I doubt with the overall production and quality of the cd that even that classic would have come off as it should.

In my opinion, during the early 2000s, Diana's voice was very weak sounding to the point of being unpleasant as she strained through her songs. I used to cringe out of sadness to what I was hearing. There has been a rebound over the past years, however, where her voice, while nowhere near its glory days, is pleasant and actually very, very good for a lady of her age. I enjoy and smile as I watch the YouTube clips of her performances.

"I Love You" appeared to be a safe album for Diana, vocally. She, for the most part, is singing in a much lower range than her previous outputs. With that said, I wish the album [[cd) did provide more production wise.

RanRan79
08-02-2018, 09:21 AM
Karaoke is how I always describe the sound of the album. The song selection was great and exactly what she should have been doing. The American Songbook idea has to open up beyond a certain genre or time period. Diana was on the money with the idea but the production value was incredibly sub par to anything she had ever recorded in her entire career. I played the album a few times and then eventually it got tossed aside for other things and I'm sure it's been years since I've listened to it all the way through. "More Today Than Yesterday" has been in and out of the rotation on my laptop playlists over the years, however.

RanRan79
08-02-2018, 09:27 AM
I love Diana, however, as mentioned before by some, this product was too subpar to the kinds of products she had put out before. The concept of love was very good. In retrospect, I wish she had recorded "I Want to Know What Love Is", however, I doubt with the overall production and quality of the cd that even that classic would have come off as it should.

In my opinion, during the early 2000s, Diana's voice was very weak sounding to the point of being unpleasant as she strained through her songs. I used to cringe out of sadness to what I was hearing. There has been a rebound over the past years, however, where her voice, while nowhere near its glory days, is pleasant and actually very, very good for a lady of her age. I enjoy and smile as I watch the YouTube clips of her performances.

"I Love You" appeared to be a safe album for Diana, vocally. She, for the most part, is singing in a much lower range than her previous outputs. With that said, I wish the album [[cd) did provide more production wise.

Yes, Diana's voice had a period of time in the 2000s where something wasn't right, and the I Love You album dropped in the middle of it. Maybe her alcohol issues had an effect vocally? During RTL, Ross was in great vocal shape. I think the next time I heard her sing was when she did the Tsunami telethon and I was so embarrassed for her. She sounded horrible. I had never heard Diana sound horrible. When she did the TV Land Awards she sounded horrible. When she did American Idol she sounded horrible. And I Love You was recorded and released in the middle of all of this. Horrible time to record an album. [[I also agree that her voice has rebounded. I think she sounds damn good using her lower register but feel it's time to give up trying to go high.)

In regards to "I Want to Know What Love Is", yeah I'm glad she didn't try to tackle that one during this questionable vocal period. But I always wondered why she didn't give this one a recording during the 80s, after the Motown Apollo show. Even being hoarse I thought she sounded great. The song seems perfect for her. Does anyone know if it was ever a part of her live act? Had she and Patti Labelle recorded the song together, I bet it would have been a hit.

reese
08-02-2018, 09:29 AM
It is far from one of my favorites. But some of the songs are really good, particularly the title track and WHAT ABOUT LOVE. I think she sounds great on those. There's one note in REMEMBER that makes me cringe when I hear it, but otherwise, I think she sounds fine.

Re its chart position, it hit #32, I believe, her highest charter since SWEPT AWAY in 1984. She did do a lot of promotion before it, appearing on GMA, LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY, and DAVID LETTERMAN the day of its release, along with a later appearance on MARTHA STEWART.

I also think she was able to take advantage of it being released in the same period that DREAMGIRLS was.

Jaap
08-02-2018, 11:18 AM
Speaking of "I Want To Know What Love Is," I had to think of the 2009 cover album by Leela James aptly titled Let's Do It Again. If Leela James can afford a good instrumental backing and production, why can't an established artist like Diana Ross? Leela James's album is not exceptionally good, but just very, very well done with an "authentic" sound rather than the karaoke-sound of so many cover albums.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-dnt8WnLDY

lucky2012
08-02-2018, 01:15 PM
It was a very poorly produced album along with some questionable song choices. The basic idea was not a bad one, but it was ill thought out and rushed. The budget to produce this album was simply nowhere near adequate for such a star of Diana's stature. She did the project because it was the only offer on the table at the time due to her excessive demands. The ironic thing is that such offers are now on the table and have been for quite some time, but i am veering off topic now.
Back on topic and Diana was far from happy with the finished project , but dutifully promoted it domestically, but the budget was not there to promote it overseas. To answer your question she is not at all proud of the project, but she does really like 3 or 4 of the songs on there.She merely wishes more money could have been made available to polish up the album.
You confirm all the thoughts and feelings I have about this album, why it was done, why it sounds like it does. I'm relieved to find out that Diana was "far from happy and not proud" of the finished project. I'm proud that she promoted it dutifully anyway.
I was happy to get a new Diana Ross album in 2006. Someone on this thread felt that Diana's voice was weak in the 2000s but has somewhat rebounded in recent years. After the initial joy I confess I too felt a little sad about her voice not being what it was before. I feel the album would be a much better album if she did it now. [[Not saying that she should.) It's encouraging to hear about the offers on the table.
I don't play the album much. This thread has me listening to it again. The songs I initially liked remain my favorites: I Love You, Lovely Day, To Be Loved. I'm glad to have the album and, while I wouldn't use it to showcase Diana to a new listener, I will return to it occasionally.
Yeah, I wish she would have recorded I Want to Know What Love Is.

marybrewster
08-02-2018, 01:46 PM
Certainly infinitely more successful than anything done by any other member of her former group.

Unnecessary.

daviddesper
08-02-2018, 05:58 PM
Thanks guys for the detailed analysis. I am glad to see that it was just not me that considered this to be a sub-par Diana effort. As mentioned earlier in another thread, I am on the verge of ordering that Greatest collection that we discussed, which should contain about 35-40 samples of her at her best.

As for the ups and downs in her vocals, I saw her in person for the first time less than two years ago and had no concerns at all with her voice, her energy level, or the sincerity of the performance. She put on a great show that night.

RanRan79
08-03-2018, 10:10 AM
Unnecessary.

But typical.

TheMotownManiac
08-03-2018, 12:06 PM
I can’t listen to it. I never even think of it. I’ve never played it all the way through - even the first listen I could only play like 3 songs all the way through. I’m happy for those who enjoy it, for me, I prefer not to comment further.

jobeterob
08-03-2018, 01:26 PM
I see a reference saying it sold 100,000 copies according to Soundscan - the same as Touch but dwarfed by the 850,000 of A Bit of Liverpool

alanbill1074
08-03-2018, 04:53 PM
I was so so so disappointed with this after such a long wait for a new album. I rarely listen to it and I don't even consider it a proper album. The production was terrible, so amateur sounding, and the artwork completely pointless. Why do a photo session for it after the album was released? She should have waited instead of using and old 80s black and white one for the sleeve. It did nothing for it on shelves to stand out.

I really liked I Love You, so I do play that song, and I can tolerate about three of the covers, but this is such a bad album to stand as her last recording.

Guy
08-03-2018, 05:12 PM
I think all Ross fans agree that "I Love You" was bad. For me, it is probably her worst CD release. So much so I cringe when I hear her perform "More Today Than Yesterday" just because it makes me think of how disappointed I was by that CD. She sometimes sings "The Look of Love" or the title song -- all good songs, just horribly rendered -- in concert and all I can think is "why?"

I am desperate for her to try "I Want You" again [[but in the right way...) Such a missed opportunity.

jobucats
08-04-2018, 07:54 AM
I listened, as long as I could, to many of the tracks again last night as a result of this thread. To beat a dead horse, it was just a train wreck to my ears to have a product like this released from a performer who I have endeared so many years. While listening again, I focused more on the vocal tracks as I tried to figure out what was going on. Yes, many were ballad type songs, however, the overall projection and expression in Diana's voice was lacking. It appears, in my opinion, that her voice was not 'processed' correctly in the way it sat in the mix. Along with the cheap sounding delays and reverbs, the timbre of her voice, again in my opinion, could have benefitted from some tweaking in its equalization to remove the "thick" sound. Although this could not salvage what was occurring with the karaoke instrumentation and production, it might have made such adjustments/tweaking might have made it more palatable. I feel this album with its focused title and subject matter, love, was meant to be rather intimate sounding, however, it came across like it was coming from a closet. As others have said, there are some really, really good songs on "I Love You" which deserved a better treatment.

alanbill1074
08-04-2018, 09:00 AM
There's an art to mixing a vocal to make it sound like a record. That mesh between music and voice is very hard to get. Whoever mixed I Love You didn't do a great job.

luke
08-04-2018, 09:46 AM
Who produced it? I guess I’m the only one who liked More Today than Yesterday!

thommg
08-04-2018, 11:27 AM
Well, Diana was Executive Producer on the album, Co-Executive Producer is Marylata E. Jacob. Five songs produced by Steve Tyrell, and the rest produced by Peter Asher. And on the US version Take My Breath Away replaced Crazy Little Thing Called Love, but I don't know who produced Take My Breath Away. I bought the EU version at Virgin Records in the US. They carried it almost as soon as it was released.

daviddh
08-04-2018, 12:59 PM
wasn't crazy about it, a few gems. but mostly disappointing.
after being off the charts for so long and at this point of her career I expected better

Ollie9
08-04-2018, 03:28 PM
"Always and Forever and "I Love You" are to my ears pretty good vocal performances from Diana. "You Take My Breath Away" is so bad it defies description. using a 21 year old photo for the cover did not help things one jot. Bring on the remixes i say....You never know.

marybrewster
08-04-2018, 09:58 PM
Who produced it? I guess I’m the only one who liked More Today than Yesterday!

I like it too and perform it regularly!

While probably not her most inspired performance, I truly think this fits Diana's lower register quite nicely.