Diana Ross
Diana

THE REVIEW

Seeing the Motown Records logo spin on the turntable is an emotion. The history of black music summed up in 33 and 1/3 revolutions per minute.

Diana Ross is part of the history of the historic Detroit record label; she is the "supreme" of the "Supremes." In 1980, her "Diana" was released, climbing charts worldwide thanks to the two hits "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out" produced by the duo of Chic's Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards with the help of their entire historic group, from the brass section to the strings, and even the backup singers. However, the final result that was published is related to a version of the album later reworked to smooth out the most pronounced disco accents, which led the two to request not to be credited in the final credits, but without receiving approval from Motown. The extraordinary success of "Diana" erased any memory of this episode. "Diana" is a very enjoyable album, perhaps it doesn't have the freshness of the carefree soul-pop of the Supremes (absolutely go back and listen to the album with the Temptations) but it is very pleasant to listen to. The chart-topping single that opens it, "Upside Down", is known to everyone and is perhaps the only track that approaches the more typical disco sounds, while in "My Old Piano" they are more subdued. "I'm Coming Out" has a very particular beginning dictated by Rodgers' typical funk guitar, Diana's singing, and a drum engaged for the first twenty seconds with very effective sobbing tom-tom fills. The rest flows pleasantly between ballads, "Friend To Friend" and more funk tracks like the closing with "Give Up".

In 2003, the version with Chic's mixes and the original vocal tracks of Ross was released, as the official 1980 version indeed presents a re-recording of all the vocal parts and the extended instrumental parts that had been cut by sound engineer Russ Terrana.