Customer Reviews

Where Did Our Love Go / I Hear a Symphony

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WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO is an excellent, excellent collection of music. The album reached #2 on the pop lp chart, and is reportedly the best selling POP album of 1964. That was a tremendous accomplishment for The Supremes and for Motown Records at the time.

The Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and producing unit had hit its stride, if not its peak, at the time this music was released. They are represented with several of the tunes here, including 3 pop #1's [Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, Come See About Me], as well as the girls' first top 40 hit [When The Lovelight Starts...], which is somewhat of a Phil Spector soundalike, and is quite a production and performance. It also includes the classic H-D-H production/composition, "Ask Any Girl," which is one of the prototypes of symphonic soul, and features that incredible, and incredibly hummable "La-La-La" background by Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. The very first H-D-H/Supremes collaboration, "I'm Giving You Your Freedom," which is a major gem, is also included.

I particularly like the 2 Smokey Robinson-produced selections, "Long Gone Lover" and "A Breathtaking Guy." The former, a real soul-rocker, starts out with Mary's great alto part, and ends with an arresting, gospel-tinged tag by Florence, the latter featuring fill-in lines on the chorus by Florence and Mary, which gives an additional glimpse at "the other 2 singers'" glorious talent, which was squelched more and more as time went on in order to promote Diana Ross' supremacy within the group.

In my opinion, it was an incredulously unfortunate move to suppress 2/3 of the group's talent, in spite of Diana's effective, exciting leads on so many classic hits.

Anyway, an early Norman Whitfield effort is included, as well, and it is pretty stunning ["He Means The Word To Me"]. One of the very great treats on this album is a Robert Gordy production, "Your Kiss of Fire," which features absolutely knockout backing vocals, especially Flo's soprano part. Amazing! H-D-H's "Run, Run, Run" was meant to capitalize on the success of "Lovelight," and failed, in spite of it being an above-average early effort. Also, their "Standing At The Crossroads of Love," is a gem.

That should account for all 12-tunes on this extraordinary set, which needs to be in any pop, r&b, Supremes, Motown, or early-mid 60's music enthusiast's collection.

As for I HEAR A SYMPHONY: the title tune is one of Motown, The Supremes, and H-D-H's best. "Everything Is Good About You," is very beautiful, and is almost a Diana solo. "He's All I Got" and "Any Girl In Love" are above-average H-D-H productions. All of the cover tunes, though well produced, are uninspired. Diana's voice seems somewhat clunky on some of these tunes, and there is a suppressed sound to the background singing, when present. Here is a classic example of an album that had those good Motown intentions of expanding the artists' appeal, but that would most certainly have benefitted from including the "other 2 singers'" immense talent and contributions, which might have better suited certain songs. In spite of these shortcomings, The Supremes still had enough draw at this point for this effort to reach #8 pop.

Note that the packaging of the above is quite interesting, featuring a slip case and novel jewel case. The booklet isn't anything special, just a few pictures and track annotations. Overall, a good buy, with WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO constituting absolutely ESSENTIAL Supremes.

Also note that, via Hip-O-Select, and released in early 2005 in limited edition, is available a beautiful, deluxe 2 cd edition of WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO. It features lovely packaging and full-color booklet with copious notes and photos. Disc One contains BOTH mono and stereo versions of the album, from start to finish, and in that order. Disc Two contains many previously unreleased tunes that were either recorded during the WDOLG sessions, or during the same time period, a handful of which were probably worth releasing back then, and none of which feature lead vocals other than Diana's. It is a rather expensive deal at nearly $40. As a huge Supremes fan and near-completist, I sprung for it. Worth considering.

When the Original "2 on 1 CD" series came out in 1986, I purchased all of them. When I saw these re-released last fall with "remastered" on them, I was suspicious. I bought this one and listned to it track by track, back to back with the 1986 release. This remastered version is just that! Fantastic! The 1986 releases sounded so "compressed" and flat in comparison to the 2000 releases.

The Supremes began their period of success with the first of these two albums and the singles taken from it. The second album was recorded a couple of years later.

Where did our love go yielded three number one American hits, two of which (Where did our love go, Baby love) were also huge UK hits, while the third (Come see about me) was a more modest top thirty UK hit. Baby love was the only Supremes single to top the UK chart, though Diana Ross has also reached number one in the UK as a solo singer. The whole of this album comprised original material, either written by Holland-Dozier-Holland or by Smokey Robinson. The three famous songs are typical of the album. They are also the best tracks, but the rest of the album is well worth hearing.

By contrast, I hear a symphony is dominated by covers, although it contains some original songs. The originals include the title track, another American chart-topper, and My world is empty without you, an American top five hit. In the UK, the first only just made the top 40 and the second didn't chart at all, but both are well-known in the UK despite that.

The covers show another aspect of their music, including such classics as Stranger in paradise, Yesterday, Unchained melody, With a song in my heart, Without a song and A lover's concerto - a wide range of sources that demonstrated their versatility.

I have no idea why these albums were paired, but both of them are excellent.

To zoom in on The Supremes chart-topping success in 1964, Tamla Motown records (which they had been signed to since January 1961) released an accompanying album named after their first ever No.1 hit Where Did Our Love go. The Where Did Our Love Go album hosted a collection of their chart-toppers,a few minor hits from a time when they were referred to as "The No Hit Supremes" by fellow Motown colleagues (after having released nothing but a succession of flops and minor hits between 1961-63), B-Sides and a few would-be hits.

The swirling, latin-inspired, mellow arrangements on the divine A Breath Taking Guy had been penned by the genius song writing skills of Smokey Robinson (who Bob Dylan once described as "the greatest living poet"). The track featured a warm, sensual and passionate vocal performance from The Supremes stunning lead singer Diana Ross and contained magnificent vocal trade-offs on the shimmering chrous from The Supremes founder Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson. This should have been a break through for The Supremes (as should one of their earlier singles Your Heart Belongs To Me) but instead it stalled at No.75 on the Billboard Charts and yet even that was an improvement as their single prior to this, Let Me Go The Right Way, got as far as no.90!

However their next recording When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes packed a wallop like none of their other singles had to that point. It also marked the beginning of the legendary collaboration with Motowns hottest writers Holland-Dozier-Holland who along with Motowns unsung heroes, The Funk Brothers, helped define what was commonly known as "The Motown Sound - the sound of young America" but also helped develop an identity and focus for The Supremes where others most surprisingly such as smokey Robinson had failed. Containing an effective conga beat that generally had all the emphasis of that classic Tamla Motown sound, When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes carried a strong and an unusually assertive performance from the magical Diana Ross who was now the groups permanent lead singer. Though indeed a classic, the track enjoyed only marginal chart success, climbing its way to No.23 on the Billboard charts but then this single had certainly made far more noise than any of their previous singles.

Perharps cashing in on the success of The Crystals famous classic, Da Doo Ron Ron Ron, The Supremes next release was Run, Run, Run. Ross gallops along eagerly keeping up with the frentic, tight arrangements where as Ballard and Wilson enhance the production even further with their strong, effective backing vocals. Run, Run, Run has instant immediacy which is why its all the more surprising that Run, Run, Run crawled only to a dire No.93. the Supremes were confident after the top 30 success of When The Lovelight that they were on the right track to superstardom but the relative failure of Run, Run, Run dented their hopes.

Holland-Dozier-Holland then offered Where Did Our Love Go to the now distraught Supremes after it had already been rejected by The Marvelettes (who helped put Motown on the map by delivering the labels first No.1 hit with Please Mr. Postman) and Mary Wells (famous of course for one of Motowns most definitive classics, My Guy). Lead singer of The Marvelettes, Gladys Horton labelled the song "junk" and to top it off The Supremes also hated the song, especially Mary Wilson who never believed the song was going to be a hit. How wrong could they have all been!

Diana Ross oozed sensuality sounding sexy and angelic on Where Did Our Love Go whilst Ballard and Wilson provide the obligatory back up vocals throughout. Where Did Our Love Go caught on to the public like a magnet and it speedily found its way to pole position on the charts and was the first in a run of five consecutive no.1 hits. The Supremes had been travelling around the U.S on the Dick Clarke Caravan of stars appearing alongside such names as The Shirelles and Gene Pitney. The Supremes fell under the banner "and others" but after Where Did Our Love Go they were the HEADLINE attraction!

Baby Love was even bigger where it topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. This marked the beginning of Supremes Mania. Baby Love was simply just three minutes of what was pure, utter perfection! Ross' exuberant delivery is so touchingly sweet and the warm backing harmonies of Ballard and Wilson merely add to that dazzling effect.

Come See About Me swiftly followed Baby Love to the top of the charts. They were on a roll now! This was a more sassy offering (and my own personal favourite of their chart toppers of 1964) where Ross is joined in a capella at points by Ballard and Wilson that proved very effective. At this stage of the game, The Supremes sound was much more group oriented and didn't fully revolve around the distinct sound of Diana Ross.

The remainder of the terrific Where Did Our Love Go album was all indeed top notch stuff thanks to the unique and distinct vocals of Diana Ross to great, impeccable song writing from Holland-Dozier-Holland and complex, superbly crafted musical arrangements from Motowns legendary in house band known as The Funk Brothers.

Long Gone Lover sounded like another sure fire smash hit for The Supremes even though it remained just an album track. Those infectious musical arragements are enhanced by another sweet, tender lead by Diana Ross whilst the true volume and power of Florence Ballards far more earthy vocal style can be heard at the climax before the track fades out.

I'm Giving You Your Freedom had been recorded back in 1963 and featured Ross singing in a higher, yet sharper vocal tone thats fittingly raw and solid. The track also features a beautifully understated guirtar interlude at the bridge of the song.

The rather sugary Standing At The Crossroads Of Love features Ross singing again in a high key that becomes a little shrill at points but yet still proves adorable as it possessed such a unique and a very different quality.

The sharp, inventive musical arrangements on He Means The World To Me is a perfect example of the girl group sound of the early 1960's with another vulnreable, angelic sounding Ross chirping away against the intricate backing vocals of Ballard and Wilson.

The sweeping rhythm section on Your Kiss Of Fire has an exhilirating lead vocal performance from Ross but standing right next to I'm Giving You Your Freedom as a KNOCK OUT album track is Ask Any Girl. Ask Any Girl opens with a yearning vocal interlude from Ross which then pumps out into the classic Motown sound with lots of finger snapping and handclaps, repetitive beats and pulsating rhythms. Ross seamlessly surfboards along those glorious arrangements courtesy of The Funk Brothers. Ask Any Girl had been used as the B-Side to their cross-Atlantic no.1 hit Baby Love though easily could have become a hit in its own right.

Where Did Our Love Go is a landmark album by Diana Ross and the Supremes and also became one of Motowns biggest ever selling albums spending a total of 89 weeks on the chart. ESSENTIAL!

I Hear A Symphony (1965) is a different story. To broaden Diana Ross And The Supremes appeal to a multi-racial audience, Berry Gordy had the group record showbiz standards and cover tracks from the middle-of-the-road market. Berry Gordys mission was accomplished and soon Diana Ross And The Supremes were perceived as all-round entertainers. The I Hear A Symphony album is a pure example of what Berry Gordy accomplished with the group and whilst some say their startling and clearly inspired versions of showbiz classics like Stranger In Paradise, Without A Song and Wonderful, Wonderful, showcase their flair for diversity, I have to say purley from my own personal view that I found those kind of tracks quite ghastly. When I think of Diana Ross And The Supremes, I think Soul/R&B/Pop and its these elements of styles that captured their own unique, magical sound.

There is a rather bland reading of The Beatles, Yesterday whilst there is little ignition in their ponderous cover of The Righteous Brothers, Unchained Melody. Diana Ross certainly makes the songs her own as she sings them in her own unique vocal style and in no way are these criticisms aimed at Diana Ross but I feel the corny showbiz and MOR cover versions flaw this album in a big way and no doubt other die-hard Soul/R&B fans like myself, ran for cover on hearing these recordings!

However in its favour, and this alone justifies the reason for buying I Hear A Symphony, is the magnificent tracks that get that full injection of the riveting Motown sound. I Hear A Symphony is a pure masterpiece. A glossy, sophisticated soul number vastly containing elements of Jazz is coated by Diana's rich, golden voice.I Hear A Symphony became The Supremes sixth chart topper.

Another outstanding masterpiece is the utterly dynamic and stunning My World Is Empty Without You where Diana puts in an almost stark and far more earthy sounding vocal performance and is all the more effective in doing so. It was on tracks like these that you realised the full extent and range of Diana Ross's vocal abilities that literally pour out on such fully-formed productions like these. My World Is Empthy Without You quickly flew into the U.S Top 5 (despite seemingly having all the momentum and fire to go all the way into pole position).

More laid-back but still totally infectious is the lovely Any Girl In Love (Knows What I'm Going Through) whilst Everything Is Good About You basically has Motown written all over it! Though you could argue some tracks on Diana Ross And The Supremes full-length studio albums were somewhat formulaic, most individual recording still ecapsulated its own unique quality when judged on its own merits.

Finally I Hear A Symphony closes with the fabulous Northern-soul vibes of He's All I Got where there shimmering harmonies blend fantastically well together and He's All I Got in my opinion rates as one of their very best album recordings and most certainly has a strong commercial flair.

On the whole I Hear A Symphony is memroable purley on the tracks that are ignited by that riveting Motown effect but the showbiz covers sound dated that have not comfortably stood the test of time. Contrary to my own personal perception of the showbiz recordings, some fans will argue that these remain some of Diana Ross' most enthralling work and that I Hear A Symphony is one of their best studio albums, so its defintley worth a listen all-round.

I'm so glad these double album sets are available once again. I purchased them when they were first released in the mid-80's and have enjoyed them immensely. Talk about taking me back to when they were first released!! These two albums..."Where Did Our Love Go?" and "I Hear A Symphony" show how much (and quickly) Diana, Mary, & Florence matured (vocally, musically, artistically) in the course of 2 years. "Where Did Our Love Go?" includes such gems as 'Long Gone Lover', which features a solo line by each girl, beginning with Mary. It then builds with all three harmonizing in that Supreme way! Other notable selections include 'A Breath Taking Guy', 'Ask Any Girl', 'Your Kiss of Fire', among others. Each voice is clear and distinct...arrangements are superb. "I Hear A Symphony" shows a more sophisticated group doing some standards ('Stranger in Paradise', 'Without a Song', and 'With a Song in My Heart' which they later did in performance on 'Live at London's Talk of the Town') plus an exquisite interpretation of 'Yesterday'. And who could resist the title track along with 'My World is Empty Without You'?? They also pay tribute to The Toys with a fun rendition of 'A Lover's Concerto' and to Johnny Mathis with 'Wonderful, Wonderful'. Again, the Motown Sound is demonstrated loud and clear on this album. You can tell the direction Berry Gordy was leading them in and what he was planning to do to facilitate a successful 'cross-over' to mainstream appeal. Indeed, he succeeded! This selection is a must for any Supremes collector. The original releases displayed the original album cover art,which was nice. The "new" pictures are great and are worth obtaining as some of them are rarely seen.

These two original albums were the Supremes' second and ninth ( as far as I've able been able to trace ) LP's. Both of them contain some of the Supremes' greatest singles hits. "Baby Love", "Come See About Me" and the title-track from "Where Did Our Love Go". From "I Hear a Symphony" the hits are "My World is Empty Without You" and the title-track - all five hits Holland/Dozier/Holland compositions. Apart from two Smokey Robinson songs all tracks on the early album were penned by Holland/Dozier/Holland; making it by far the most consistent of the two albums. Stand out tracks, besides the hits, are "I'm Giving You Your Freedom" and "Standing at the Crossroads of Love".

The 1966 album features a much more varied type of songs, making it a much more uneven affair - including several standards of that time like "Unchained Melody" and "Lover's Concerto" - exposing them for rather heavy orchestration; and though the latter is quite enjoyable the Motown sound is more or less lost. The Holland/Dozier/Holland material on the album suits the Supremes' voices best, and stand out as the strongest and makes the album worthwhile after all.

this collection features two of the supremes biggest selling lps of the 60s as both would go on to sell over 1 million copies each for the group.not only are these two best selling lps but they are two of their best.the first ,WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO is early supremes and has alot of great harmonies from the ladies while the second,I HEAR A SYMPHONY,is also equal,but yet it does not feature the harmonies of the first.on some tracks they are Ross solos or almost with Flo and Mary hardly being used at all.if you heard these songs in their live settings,such as the LIVE AT THE TALK TO THE TOWN ,you would hear the harmonies for the live set but for this lp we are cheated of that.one can only imagine how more special this set would have been.in point,the cd SUPREMES SING ROGERS AND HART,there is a few great cuts with the supremes and to hear Flos voice right up against DIANAS was pure magic.too bad motown didnt see to us use the harmoies here.still a great lp.also,just out ,SUPREMES THERES A PLACE FOR US.a rare lp the supremes recorded in 1965 has 24 great cuts.the lp is very simular to SYMPHONY lp and the reissue of the never before lp has a few outakes from the SYMPHONY lp.however you can only order this from motown at hipo select.released in limited quantities.also released now is the 40th annivarsary of WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO 2 cd set with another 24 unreleased supremes performance including the never released SUPREMES LIVE LIVE LIVE.this lp was also scheduled for release in 1964 but cancelled.both are worth the bang!

Where Did Our Love Go (1964) was Diana Ross And The Supremes first major hit album. Whilst hitting No.2 on the U.S Billboard album charts, it remained in the Hot 100 for an incredible 89 weeks which perharps was reflected by the string of hit singles contained on it - three of which all became U.S chart toppers in 1964. Diana Ross really was an absolutly sensational vocalist. Her silky voice that had soulful qualities, raw elements of vulnreability and the technique of neatly surfboarding along Motowns complex musical arrangements, was positivley unique within itself and this is why Berry Gordy insisted that she be the lead singer of The Supremes. I don't know how anyone could possibly argue when you hear the magic on this album. The electric and dynamic combination was Diana Ross' upbeat vocal style, complimented by the more refined breathy and seamless vocal style of Mary Wilson and the raw, earthy sound of the groups founder, Florence Ballard, the genius skills of Holland-Dozier-Holland and the sheer magic of Motowns "in-house" muscians such as Earl Van-Dyke. Diana Ross And The Supremes first major chart hit came with the fantastic, When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, which had an effective conga beat that generally had all the emphasis of the early Motown sound and delivered with a solid and vastly assertive performance from Diana who proved to be a highly spectacular and versatile vocalist. Of course we all know the major hits on here are the ground-breaking Where Did Our Love Go, the cross-Atlantic chart topper Baby Love and the sassy Come See About Me. There is about as much pop as there is soul/R&B in these numbers but each represents key landmarks in their careers as it was with these batch of titles that Diana Ross And The Supremes began breaking down the racial barriers as they were popular with both blacks and whites alike. Some of their earlier hits pop up with the lush and beautifully composed Smokey Robinson-produced track, A Breath Taking Guy and the upbeat Run, Run, Run (Motowns answer to The Crystals, Da Doo Ron Ron Ron). Some of the albums lineup is vastly effective with some containing highly inventive musical arrangements and fabulous harmonising between each of The Supremes. If anything on the Where Did Our Love Go album, although Diana Ross is the main force, the recordings encapsulate more of a group-orientated feel. Nothing could be further from that than on the instantly infectious Long Gone Lover which features both Mary and Florence giving brief solo performances and Florence Ballard certainly gets chance to show off her full rocketing vocal power as she does on the climax of this number. I'm Giving You Your Freedom is one of my own personal favourite recordings from the album. Diana seems to lose that usual naive, vulnreable sound in her voice and ignites the track with a far more gutsy, assertive tone. The musical arangements on I'm Giving You Your Freedom is masterful and there is lovely backing support from Mary and Florence. Another stand-out album cut is the rolling Ask Any Girl. Diana just whips along those familiar Motown arrangements, projecting such heavy emotion and feeling and gloriously throwing her voice around too such effect. Standing At The Cross Roads Of Love features Diana singing in a much more high-pitched tone though there is something totally adorable in her delivery whilst He Means The World To Me and Your Kiss Of Fire continue in the familiar Motown ethos that contain vibrant and sparkling vocal performances from Diana.
All in all Where Did Our Love Go ranks as one of Diana Ross And The Supremes finest studio albums. Not one dud track, a host of top-selling hits and some remarkable album cuts like the sheer masterpiece of I'm Giving You Your Freedom and the totally sensational, Ask Any Girl. Superb - a classic!

I Hear A Symphony (1965) is a different story. To broaden Diana Ross And The Supremes appeal to a multi-racial audience, Berry Gordy had the group record showbiz standards and cover traks from the middle-of-the-road market. Berry Gordys mission was accomplished and soon Diana Ross And The Supremes were perceived as all-round entertainers. The I Hear A Symphony album is a pure example of what Berry Gordy accomplished with the group and whilst some say their startling and clearly inspired versions of showbiz classics like Stranger In Paradise, Without A Song and Wonderful, Wonderful, showcase their flair for diversity, I have to say purley from my own personal view that I found those kind of tracks quite ghastly. When I think of Diana Ross And The Supremes, I think Soul/R&B/Pop and its these elements of styles that captured their own unique, magical sound. There is a rather bland reading of The Beatles, Yesterday whilst there is little ignition in their ponderous cover of The Righteous Brothers, Unchained Melody. Diana Ross certainly makes the songs her own as she sings them in her own unique vocal style and in no way are these criticisms aimed at Diana Ross but I feel the corny showbiz and MOR cover versions flaw this album in a big way and no doubt other die-hard Soul/R&B fans like myself, ran for cover on hearing these recordings! However in its favour, and this alone justifies the reason for buying I Hear A Symphony, is the magnificent tracks that get that full injection of the riveting Motown sound. I Hear A Symphony is a pure masterpiece. A glossy, sophisticated soul number vastly containing elements of Jazz is coated by Diana's rich, golden voice. Another outstanding masterpiece is the utterly dynamic and stunning My World Is Empty Without You where Diana puts in a stark, more earthy sounding vocal performance and is all the more effective in doing so. It was on tracks like these that you realised the full extent and range of her vocal abilities that came out on such fully-formed productions like these. More laid-back but still totally infectious is the lovely Any Girl In Love (Knows What I'm Going Through) whilst Everything Is Good About You basically has Motown written all over it! Though you could argue some tracks on Diana Ross And The Supremes full-length studio albums were somewhat formulaic, most individual recording still ecapsulated its own unique quality when judged on its own merits. Finally I Hear A Symphony closes with the fabulous Northern-soul vibes of He's All I Got where there shimmering harmonies blend fantastically well together and He's All I Got in my opinion rates as one of their very best album recordings and most certainly has a strong commercial flair.
On the whole I Hear A Symphony is memroable purley on the tracks that are ignited by that riveting Motown effect but the showbiz covers sound dated that have not comfortably stood the test of time. Contrary to my own personal perception of the showbiz recordings, some fans will argue that these remain some of Diana Ross' most enthralling work and that I Hear A Symphony is one of their best studio albums, so its defintley worth a listen all-round.

The first half of this CD set isnt anything special; A lot of the standard early Supremes pop hits, but the I HEAR A SYMPHONY Album is really something unique. This is the Supremes at their elegant best. A brief moment after the silly pop of their first records, and before they moved into a more "Of the times" sound like you find with LOVE CHILD or REFLECTIONS. The sequence of the tracks are superbly set. Not unlike Dione Warwick albums of the same era; The I HEAR A SYMPHONY album sets a mood not heard since the hip lounge scene of the mid 60's. This Album makes you pine for the days of Audry hepbourn, Jean Shrimpton, and Brazil66. Tracks like WITH A SONG IN MY HEART or WITHOUT A SONG, offer the lister a silky soft and sophisticated side of the group that wasnt often exposed. While those who need a supreme pop fix will love MY WORLD IS EMPTY WITHOUT YOU BABE and ANY GIRL IN LOVE. The title track I HEAR A SYMPHONY makes an excellent bridge between pop and jazz as does LOVERS CONCERTO. Its Shame you can no longer buy it separately. It makes you wonder what might have happened if the Supremes had stayed on a more jazz like path. Though the pop sound of the earlier and later records is great! still one wonders...what if?

putting these albums together in double-disc sets is a cute idea. but someone is making these choices in such an odd fashion!

when motown switched a lot of albums on cd in the early 1990s, i bought as many as possible. especially those of the supremes, because they're my favorite motown group. in spite of the scandal and egomania, it's still easy to listen to the music and feel like a kid again, dancing in the living room with the 'big folks'.

but to get to my point. 'where did our love go' could be the debut album. after all, it's the one that is chock full of #1 singles and b-side showcases like 'a breath-taking guy' and 'standing at the crossroads'. not to mention the mock-spanish camp of 'ask any girl'. the backgrounds make me think of ethel merman every time i hear it! putting this album together with 'i hear a symphony' is an interesting choice but maybe it diminshes what 'symphony' is all about.

'symphony' is one of the most blatant attempts to put motown on a spindle with frank, tony and mantovani next to the 'funny girl' album. but, in its own way, it's also a beautifully produced and sung album, for the most part. there may a bit too much diana solo for me on this one, like her pallid rendering of 'with a song in my heart'. and this is the album where mary and florence begin to do their disappearing act. they're still giving out with the fervor but the tunes like their cover of 'wonderful, wonderful', or 'any girl in love' are not known except by the most die-hard fan(like me and elton john).

the upshot of this double disc is that they will be well-known after someone gives over to the experience. it will be well worth it. trust on this!