THE BOSS.........Forty years on.

[vgalindo]

I disagree Ollie. I think if the prior failures were an issue, diana80 wouldn't have been much bigger. This seems like a case of poor publicity, especially when you take into account two singles released five months apart. That's crazy. Donna was tearing it up with her singles being spaced apart two, maybe three months. Admittedly I am not a fan of the diana80, so in the spirit of transparency I must state that it's possible I'm just biased in favor of The Boss which I find to be an A+ type album, while my opinion of diana80 is that it's not even good enough- song for song- to wipe The Boss' ass...if albums had asses of course.

I do agree with you. The Boss is far superior to Diana 80. IMO. I really feel a lack of publicity and the wrong lead single was released. The reason the Diana 80 album was such a massive hit was because of the right lead single “Upside Down”. I was in high school at the time and the kids loved “Upside Down” and bought the album.

[Boogiedown]

I do agree with you. The Boss is far superior to Diana 80. IMO. I really feel a lack of publicity and the wrong lead single was released. The reason the Diana 80 album was such a massive hit was because of the right lead single “Upside Down”. I was in high school at the time and the kids loved “Upside Down” and bought the album.

Additionally DIANA 80 came out just as the club scene was being told by the music establishment that their expensive scene was dead and over !! [[ nevermind that disco was nothin' but 'gay' music anyway ) , so along comes superstar Diana Ross saying, " It ain't quite over yet , and as far as disco being gay music , nonsense!!, but wink wink here's a song for ya'll anyway " [[ I'M COMING OUT) Whether Diana knew she was riding the last of the disco wave or not ,her timing was just right to be very well received by a hungry crowd and she benefited greatly.

[sup_fan]

I do agree with you. The Boss is far superior to Diana 80. IMO. I really feel a lack of publicity and the wrong lead single was released. The reason the Diana 80 album was such a massive hit was because of the right lead single “Upside Down”. I was in high school at the time and the kids loved “Upside Down” and bought the album.

i most definitely prefer Boss to diana but i've come to appreciate diana more in recent years. i never disliked it but found it more mechanical. missing the huge peaks of The Boss

but the diana ross project blog has a very interesting review which helped open my eyes a bit more. in his review diana gets a 5/5 while Boss gets 4.5/5.

of course the sounds of the 2 albums couldn't be more different. while both focus primarily on "dance" that's about where the similarities end. unless you want to also mention that both are wildly cohesive - which certainly helps them both stand out within the DR discography

The Boss is a more gospel-infused disco while diana is more of a urban/streetwise disco.

The Boss is big. huge productions, dramatic peaks, vocal gymnastics from Diana. the songs have an intriguing complexity. This is classic A&S with diana on vocals. althought it's also clear that Diana was collaborating with A&S on the message she was wanting to convey.

diana is lean. deceptively simple products without the huge orchestrations. simple yet still powerful. like how WDOLG was an amazingly simple yet powerful/revolutionary song. there's restraint which some might say is harder to pull off successfully. this is classic Chic with diana on vocals.



https://dianarossproject.wordpress.c...15/diana-1980/

[Guy]

I do agree with you. The Boss is far superior to Diana 80. IMO. I really feel a lack of publicity and the wrong lead single was released. The reason the Diana 80 album was such a massive hit was because of the right lead single “Upside Down”. I was in high school at the time and the kids loved “Upside Down” and bought the album.

Both are good albums. "diana" is more sophisticated and its themes are the quintessence of Ross. Those tracks capture her essence on an elemental level. "I'm Coming Out" is the truest 'Ross' song in her repetoire. If she is about positivity and its transformative power then it doesn't get any better than that [[or ANMHE or ROATSH). "Upside Down" is a rapturous disco update of the Supremes' sound and sentiment -- completely irresistible to the mainstream. Personally, I cannot get over the original Chic mix of "Tenderness." The beauty of the sound of her voice has never been more apparent than on "Friend to Friend."

I feel like the songs on "The Boss" could have been successfully recorded by anyone -- Thelma Houston, Natalie Cole, Dionne Warwick, etc. No one could have breathed more life into the songs of "diana", or so successfully imbued it with their own essence, only Ross. Aretha has said that those songs were written for her but I can't even, and wouldnt want to, imagine them in her hands.

[Albator]

Both are good albums. "diana" is more sophisticated and its themes are the quintessence of Ross. Those tracks capture her essence on an elemental level. "I'm Coming Out" is the truest 'Ross' song in her repetoire. If she is about positivity and its transformative power then it doesn't get any better than that [[or ANMHE or ROATSH). "Upside Down" is a rapturous disco update of the Supremes' sound and sentiment -- completely irresistible to the mainstream. Personally, I cannot get over the original Chic mix of "Tenderness." The beauty of the sound of her voice has never been more apparent than on "Friend to Friend."

I feel like the songs on "The Boss" could have been successfully recorded by anyone -- Thelma Houston, Natalie Cole, Dionne Warwick, etc. No one could have breathed more life into the songs of "diana", or so successfully imbued it with their own essence, only Ross. Aretha has said that those songs were written for her but I can't even, and wouldnt want to, imagine them in her hands.

This is an in-depth analysis to isolate the essence of Miss Ross's spirit.
I think you're right, but over time, there's more richness and variation to be found in "The Boss". In some ways, "The Boss" is more like "Baby is me".

Ut seems, Aretha Franklin used to tell a lot of stories