weird or unorthodox lyrics aren't necessarily bad. even indistinguishable lyrics don't automatically doom a song - listen to much of Janet Jackson's work for examples of both of these lolol.

Part of the power of Diana Ross though, IMO, was her amazing way to convey emotion and the story of a song through lyric. part of her talent is her storytelling. the way she combines her musical phrasing with lyric. Also her vocal tone was always "the sound." from the early Sup days until later solo work, the timber of her voice was always able to penetrate even big heavy tracks like Lovelight or It's My Turn.

Someone brought up the odd lyric of Thriller - yep and it works. I'll bring up Janet's big hit If. one of the most muddied and muted lead vocals ever released to the public. but it's a hot song and was a major hit.

I will give her credit for experimenting with EA but experimenting shouldn't mean completely tossing aside the foundation of your sound or singing. it should be new ways of interpreting that sound. Look at Madonna - so many different styles but they're all still "madonna"