Customer Reviews

Diana Ross and the Supremes - The Ultimate Collection

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
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1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have seen a negative review on this CD which I don't understand. It complains of this CD's sound quality. This collection is a remastering of the songs as they were released as mono singles (the ORIGINAL hits) . These are the versions, that when current, we heard on the radio. These are the versions that we bought as 45's. The Supremes cuts that we've been listening to for the past 25 plus years have been the album mixes. As is noted in this CD's liner notes, the album mixes were sometimes completely different cuts of the same songs, including the vocals. Yes, the sound quality isn't as great as it is on the album releases but after sooo many years, I'm sooo happy to hear the songs as they sounded when I fell in love with them, oh, so long ago.

The hand claps...the shuffling, 6/8 time signatures...the tamborine played over the snare...the "baby, baby" background vocals...the classic Motown Sound is unmistakable, and still makes for some of the most earnest pop music ever recorded. No bandwagon-chasing, trend-following artists in search of a quick buck...just pure and honest soul sung with unbridled joy. And one of the most beloved and popular examples of it is Diana Ross and the Supremes, the quintessential Girl Group for the ages. "The Ultimate Collection" is exactly that, a generously thorough exploration of their legendary career.

With the possible exception of "Stoned Love," recorded after Diana Ross' departure, every significant Supremes track is included. Every #1 hit is here (with "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," and "Stop! in the Name of Love" still sounding as fresh and sunny as they did three decades ago) as well as some songs that are so well known and loved it's a wonder they didn't top the charts as well (such as the cheerful "When the Lovelight Shines Through His Eyes" and the psychedelic "Reflections"). We're also treated to a healthy helping of their lesser-heard material: some, such as "In and Out of Love" and "Forever Came Today," make for fine listening, but songs like "My World is Empty Without You," "Love is Like an Itching in My Heart," and "The Composer" are particularly strong tracks that were definitely robbed of greater commercial success.

So whereas the Supremes box set goes a bit overboard (post-Ross tracks are fine, but does anyone really need the group's Coca-Cola radio spot on CD?), the single-disc "Ultimate Collection" sums up things nicely. Every Supremes song you've heard on the radio and sung along with is here, not to mention sounding better than ever with gorgeous digital remastering. So stop in the name of love...love of great music, that is...and treat yourself to this fabulous collection.

It's called 'The Ultimate Collection' and that ain't braggin'. And it's in glorious mono, not like the thinned out stereo versions on 'The #1s' set (do you get the feeling I really don't care for that ripoff?).
David Lee Roth once described VanHalen's music as being "shot from cannons". Well, I can think of no better way to describe this disc. All 25 tracks are nothing less than explosive. And that's because they're in mono. The sound is so in your face it cannot be denied. This is one of the most thrilling discs you will ever hear.
We all know the songs. My favorite one turned out to be not one of their biggest hits, but I think it's their best, "Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart". This may well be the most out of control Diana Ross has ever been. She sings within an inch of her life, she growls(!), she lives the song. Remarkable.
So, put aside all the Dreamgirl drama you've heard and pick up this set... and skip 'The #1s'!

No sense repeating the extensive reviews regarding how influential and entertaining this music is. It's truly astounding, and the music is brilliant.

However...

In remastering these recordings, the audio engineers have apparently done what I always call a "boost and compress," which reduces dynamic range, increases overall apparent loudness, and often increases distortion. Back in the 60's, the tendency was to mix songs with vocals much louder than the accompanying music, and with very little deep bass. Nowadays the tendency is right the opposite, with electronically generated deep bass notes, and vocals barely peeking over the music. To give the Supremes a more modern sound, they seem to have compressed these tracks to bring up the music, especially the bass. The result is distorted and unnatural vocals, and compressed dynamic range, especially on the older songs. It's really a shame.

If you can't tell the difference between mp3's and CDs, you won't care. If you're an audiophile, you'll be disappointed.

The Supremes were a brilliant group but there was plenty of sadness behind the scenes. Florence Ballard was the original lead singer. Several singles were released without success, after which Diana Ross replaced Florence as lead singer. Songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland were brought in at the same time and nobody will ever know which change was the most significant. Florence eventually left the Supremes, to be replaced by Cindy Birdsong. Diana Ross left to go solo in 1970, at which point this compilation ends.

The Supremes had just one British number one hit (Baby love) but they had many number ones in the American pop charts. Many of those were also top ten hits in Britain, but even those that weren't became famous anyway.

A glance at the track listing shows several classic songs, including Baby love, Stop in the name of love, Back in my arms again, I hear a symphony, My world is empty without you, You can't hurry love, You keep me hanging on and Someday we'll be together. Anybody who has listened to sixties pop music will know all these songs and at least some of the others. Furthermore, some songs have been cover hits for others, keeping the music alive for future generations. I particularly remember Kim Wilde's version of You keep me hanging on, but there have been others.

There have been many compilations of Supremes music, including double CD's and boxed sets, but this single CD contains all the essentials. If you only want one CD of their music, this is the one to buy.

Each time I play this CD, I'm amazed at how one group put forth so many hit records in a row: 23 Top 40 hits in 5.5 years including 12 #1's. Each hit record is reproduced here faithfully and exactly as they originally sounded as they topped the charts. That's why I scratch my head at why Motown, famed for it's greedy, shameless re-issues, wwould stoop so low as to bastardize the sound of these classics on "The 1's" - the most recent collection. This is the true sound of the group as the public snapped them up by the millions and the producer's intended. The Ultimate Collection is the ONLY way to go. You will LOVE it!

Here is what is significant about this CD:

1) Every version contained on here is the original single version, presumably in Mono. Most other collections feature stereo, so this is how they sounded back in the day.

2) The reason these 25 songs were selected is precisely because these were the 25 top 40 hits by Diana Ross & The Supremes. A few of the latter hits were smallish by comparison, and actually are not as good as many of the B-sides to the early #1's. Examples of these stellar B-sides include: "Ask Any Girl", "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love", "Everything Is Good About You", "There's No Stopping Us Now", "He's All I Got", and "Going Down For The Third Time". Notably, those were all Holland-Dozier-Holland songs, and in fact they beat most A-sides by other girl groups. But the 25 hits featured on this disc hit the top 40 as an A-side single. In this sense, the collection is as objective as can be, and the track selection is not left to the subjective whims of one person working at putting the CD together.

The best single-disc Diana Ross & The Supremes collection in print. Although if you want to dig deeper into the goup's catalogue, you should get one of the two-disc Anthologies out there, preferably the 1995 Anthology (versus the 2001 Anthology). In fact, the 1995 Anthology has the best sound anywhere of any Supremes collection, thanks to the remastering job of Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch.

Even though I am not a Supremes diehard, I have a lot of respect and love for the group's music, and what it represents. Like all of Motown's 60's output, this collection is filled with first-rate material that glows with optimism and warmth. And it's just pure fun. The uptempo hits like "Love is Like an Itchting in My Heart" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" are great, as are ballads like "Stop! In the Name of Love." But be warned: These tracks came from the 45 masters, so they are quite different than some of the versions most people are used to. I don't know if the versions are mono or what, but it sounds a little wierd, but that kind of adds to the appeal. It's cool to know what the records sounded like when folks were buying them the first time around. The one thing that did bother me was that as the collection went on, Florence and Mary's vocals seemed almost muted...like they were being downplayed purposely. For me, part of the fun is listenting to the harmonies AND the leads. Florence Ballard had a crisp, clear soprano that gave the early hits a lot of punch (just listen to "The Supremes at the Copa" and you will see what I mean). Nonetheless, this is the best, best single disc collection on the Supremes to date, and is enjoyable.

Between 1964 and 1969, The Supremes placed 25 songs in the Top 40 (including two hits with labelmates The Temptations: "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and "I'll Try Something New")--and they are all here on one terrific disc.

While their first chart hit, "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes," only reached No. 23, they followed that with a string of five consecutive No. One hits--a feat that wasn't duplicated until twenty-five years later when Mariah Carey did it.

Quite simply, the Supremes are the best girl vocal group of all time. With the writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland (who wrote their first seventeen hits), The Supremes camped out in Billboard's Top 40 for five years with such memorable hits as "Baby Love," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "Back in My Arms Again," "I Hear a Symphony," "You Can't Hurry Love" and "Love Child."

Accept no substitutes--this is Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard (who was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967). After Ross's departure, Wilson soldiered on until 1977, but none of those hits are included here. [They can be found on Motown's out-of-print two-disc anthology series if you're a completist, but The Ultimate Collection has the essential hits.]

Of all the Supremes collections currently available this is the one that delivers the goods. Forget Ross's upcoming Return to Love Tour with a regrouped Supremes. Ross will be performing with Lynda Lawrence and Sherrie Payne, whose only connection to the Supremes is that they both performed with Mary Wilson in the Seventies. Get this album instead and relive the Supremes' glory years. ESSENTIAL

Now of course to really want this CD like I did you've got to love oldies. The Supremes did'nt interest me much, neither did motown. But I really like "You Can't Hurry Love "which is my all-time favorite oldie. It's perfect uplift for depression . There are others songs by The Supremes that are also excellent and worth hearing "I hear a Symphony " "Stop In the Name of Love " "Baby Love" and "Where Did Our Love Go " and not to mention "Someday We'll Be Together" The Supremes like the Shirelles, the Vandellas and other such motown groups are wonderful songs that call back a time of bliss and hearing the songs can make any one feel Gooood ! I know it works for me. Go and buy the Ultimate Collection. It is the best compilation for the Supremes.