14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fool's Platinum, April 11, 2000
This review is from: Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Audio CD)
Clearly, the platinum-selling success of Diana Ross' debut RCA set, the self-produced "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," was due in large part to her tremendous celebrity; her then-record $20m contract with RCA had received extensive publicity, and she had just come off a string of super-successful Motown hits: "Upside Down," "I'm Coming Out," "It's My Turn" and "Endless Love." This slick but boring album contains only two good songs: Ross' strong solo version of "Endless Love" and the sassy, hard-driving "Mirror, Mirror." The remainder of the album is soft-focus mush; the fault lies primarily in Ross' inexperience as a producer. Seemingly content to make the music as glossy and easy to swallow as possible, Ross also refuses to push herself vocally on most of these songs. "It's Never Too Late," for instance, could have been a decent disco bauble, were it not for the sterile production and Ross' phoned-in performance. "Work That Body" is an amusing enough parody of the aerobics craze celebrated by Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," but the joke soon wears thin. After the excellence of her most recent releases, this was a major disappointment from a lady capable of so much better.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Diana Ross' Commendable RCA/Capitol Debut, September 6, 2005
This review is from: Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Audio CD)
Firstly, the facts: "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" was NOT Diana Ross' first venture as a producer, despite what a few un-informed reviewers have written. The diva had produced the "Brown Baby/Save the Children" tracks on her "Touch Me In The Morning" album, and this was only 3 years into her solo career. No one complained then, I suspected.
"Why Do Fools Fall In Love" is a light hearted, fun album. The music itself has a clean, acoustic sound to it and it's not that bad. The title track, a brassy, breezy number, was an instant Top Ten hit on both the US and UK pop charts. I still occasionally hear this on the radio, proof that Diana's version has stood the test of time.
The most outstanding track on the album has to be the awesome rock/funky tones of "Mirror Mirror", which is probably one of the strongest songs that the lady has ever produced - it sure has tons of attitude.
I love "Sweet Nothings", with its catchy sax solo and Diana's playful, sassy vocal performance.
People ridicule "Work That Body", but it was a huge Top 5 UK pop hit that cashed in on the wave of aerobic songs that abounded at that time. Do people laugh at "Let's Get Physical" by Olivia Newton John?
The rest of the album borders on the schmaltzy but overall, Diana did a good job. Ok - it's not the strongest album of her career (neither were a few of her misses with Motown), but it's certainly not the worst. You'll have to make up your own minds.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
You Get What Ya' Pay For..., September 28, 2000
This review is from: Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Audio CD)
I should have strongly taken the hint this album was not at least top-notch outdated Ross material after seeing it in a discount bin...The only decent tracks are the funky driven Mirror, Mirror, classic re-make of Why Do Fools Fall In Love ?, and the sappy,yet romantically endearing Endless Love. As for the last track,the excercise-guru sounding, Work That Body has nothing over Olivia Newton-John's Physical. Work sounds like you're watching an Oprah Winfrey segment on her show on how to excercise...
Skip this one.
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