Her debut solo album, and it HAS to be one of her greatest works ever, if not her greatest. From Ashford & Simpson's brilliant songwriting and production (they were undoubtedly two of her best collaborators), to her distinctly beautiful, emotive, crystal-clear voice, to just the cover alone, it stands, three decades and a half later, as one of her most enduring efforts. Her renditions of "You're All I Need To Get By" and especially "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" easily rival the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell originals, and album tracks like "Now That There's You", "I Wouldn't Change The Man He Is", and "Dark Side Of The World" are every bit as delightful.

Feel free to show your appreciation for this magnificent classic here.

This is one of her best albums, i like "The boss" and "Diana" better. The material was very good, you can tell a lot of work went into the making of this solo debut by Ross. Personally, i don`t like "Ain`t no mountain high enough", but "Where the was darkness", "Can`t it wait until tomorrow" and the other Ashford/Simpson compositions still sounds good today. Although she did a good job, for me it was the lack of feelings in her voice that dissapointed me. You should listen to Randy Crawford`s version of "Where there was darkness", and hear how it should sound like With that being said, i still have to agree that it was a VERY good album, mainly because it showed that she could make it on her own.


[Edited 12/27/05 14:37pm]

She was always better with The Supremes, but this and diana. are her indispensible solo LP's. My favorites are "You're All I Need To Get By" and "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You". I was never a fan of the slow "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" cover she did (ain't no way it comes close to the magic of the Marvin/Tammi duet). The remaster includes a cover of Laura Nyro's "Stoney End" (originally in the running as the first single, but was later deleted from the tracklisting entirely) which is interesting. The direction she takes it in is completely wrong, IMHO, and it's rather amusing to hear it. Just made me appreciate Streisand's gutsy cover of it that much more. Ross sounds disinterested throughout (a common fault with her solo albums) and lacks the vocal power and technique to make the final "cradle me, mama, cradle me again" sendoff work.
[Edited 12/27/05 14:44pm]

VoicesCarry said:

I agree, didn`t like stoney end at all, but she did a very good job on "Time and love", i can`t remember if it`s on the remastered cd, at least you can find it on the motown anthology, it`s worth checking out

I like her version of "Ain't No Mountain".


What's with the front cover photo?

CinisterCee said:

It`s not a typical Ross shot, but that`s what i think is so brilliant. This was her fist album as a solo artist. When she was in the supremes, people saw her as this glamour-girl, who got out on the stage, looked pretty and sang some good pop songs. When you look at the album cover, that`s all gone, now it was all about the music. She moved away from the cheerful, bright H-D-H formula, and took a new chance with the Ashford/Simpson sound, and think the cover reflects the changes. It was a smart move.

Icicle said:

I always hated the pic, though. She looks like a starving Biafran child.
[Edited 12/27/05 16:03pm]

Although, I like her 1980 album, Diana (her "peak" album to me) better than the debut, I thought that her debut just flowed with brilliance and energy. The whole album has an eclectic blend of warm soul and bluesy gospel tinged numbers like "Reach Out & Touch", "Now That There's You", "You're All I Need To Get By", and my favorite, "Something On My Mind". It was a big drastic change from the material she did with The Supremes because the songwriting of Ashford & Simpson is more matured. I have this on album on tape, but I guess I'll have to get it on CD 'cus my tape is wearing out. Has this album been remastered yet?

silverchild said:

Yes, w/ bonus tracks.

Great album! And that LP artwork should have been the poster for the USA for Africa effort.

RipHer2Shreds said:

LMFAO

RipHer2Shreds said:

You have expressed greatly my exact thoughts when I saw the picture.