Diana Ross - Surrender (Expanded Edition)
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Free Music Notes for Surrender (Expanded Edition)
Free Music Review: Underrated and Underappreciated Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
This cd is another amazing Diana Ross reissue from Hip-O Select with perfect digital remastering for excellent sound quality and tons of superb bonus tracks. The album itself SURRENDER was Diana Ross's third solo release and went under the radar not selling very well. This is sad and confusing for it is one of the best works from her career.
Having AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH as Diana's first solo single was a mixed blessing. It was a huge hit which was great but it also established her as the slightly over the top diva she would become and took the focus off of how vocally gifted she is. SURRENDER is a true artist's album with quality vocals and very strong interpretive readings. Two of my all time favorite Diana songs are here - SURRENDER and REMEMBER ME. They are both more in the r@b vein than pop as is most of this cd. There is really only one uptempo pop fun song - I'M A WINNER. It is great but it is all the other songs with their r@b stance and excellent vocals that make them standouts from Diana's career. I don't understand why SURRENDER did not succeed as a hit single. It has a heavy beat and pounding vocals. All the songs here are timeless and not dated at all. Listen closely to the vocal expertise on I CAN'T GIVE BACK THE LOVE I FEEL FOR YOU, AND IF YOU SEE HIM, DID YOU READ THE MORNING PAPER and I'LL SETTLE FOR YOU. There isn't a miss here but these are the standouts. Diana is vocally at her prime. For some reason it wasn't what the public wanted though.
Diana Ross has had many chapters to her lengthy career and during most she has been a strong physical presence which has been amazing but often made her vocals be something taken for granted. The bonus tracks here are also great. There are two different versions of REMEMBER ME and they are pitch perfect and very different takes. There is also an alternate take on AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH which is a little less flashy and excellent.
This cd shows why Diana has been around so long. It is a set of songs performed with emotion, range and exsquisite versatility. Most important, it is an r@b Diana Ross and she shines. This is a must have for any Diana fan or fans of quality music from legendary artists.
Free Music Review: ***HIP-O SELECT***Has Done It Again!
Hit: 5 Stars
Diana Ross's SURRENDER album gets the star make-over treatment by Hip-O Select, and as usual they do a fantastic job!
This was Ross's third album and was produced by Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson who also produced Diana's first smash hit solo album Diana Ross. I never heard of the SURRENDER album, being that I was only one-year old when it was released, and I only knew the song "Remember Me" (which I love!)from this release, but I'm glad that I've discovered this "lost" gem and that it's being reissued.
The album itself was not the commercial hit here in the USA that everyone was expecting, reaching #56 on the pop charts, but it's a wonderful collection of songs that follow in the same vain as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." And Diana Ross sounds wonderfully soulful and shows off her laser like pitch that rings clear as a bell when she tears through songs like "Remember Me," "I'm A Winner," "Surrender," and others, proving once again that she was more than ready to be a solo artist.
Hip-O has done an outstanding job with the remastering and the entire production of this reissue. There are nine bonus tracks including an alternate version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (which has noticeably different ad-libs, but the music sounds the same) and the demo version of "Remember Me" sung by Valerie Simpson. Also included is a small booklet with photos and new liner notes from David Nathan and album producer Valerie Simpson about the album and its history. Simpson also provides comments on the original tracks that were issued along with editor notes providing additional info. Stellar job!
I hope this means that Hip-O will be re-issuing the "An Evening With Diana Ross" album soon!
Free Music Review: Surrender-licious
Hit: 5 Stars
The brilliant light that shines through Diana Ross's silken voice is smooth and brushed over like a fine fragile vase filled with flourishing fresh flowers taken out to set the table for todays welcomed guests. This CD is like a priceless heirloom bringing back beautiful memories to all her devoted delighted hand clapping fans. Her voice approaches you like Diana herself at her live performances. My lover Dean and I have seen her at several venues and we've actually seen her walking in Manhattan where she waved back and flashed that lightening bright smile we've all come to love.
You all know the songs and your reviews tell us the excellent details. The extra tracks are amazing as is the liner notes. Who would want to download this CD? "Ain't nothing like the real thing baby." I can't wait till Diana remasters "Live from Cesaers Palace" with "The Point" which she sings to her girls who are in the audience. I saw her perform that at the Palace Theater and both were amazing.
When I put Surrender into my Ipod and on my ears I couldn't take them off till the CD was over and there I was just listening to silence as I was caught in remberance and stilled by the voice I had just heard. That is her gift. We are all thankful for it!
Free Music Review: Sultry Soulful Seventies from Motown's Queen
Hit: 5 Stars
Diana Ross' Surrender ranges from soulful ballads to some pop-styled gems (And If You See Him).
Her approach in each song is dynamically pitched to the lyrics sometimes dark narratives. Her vocals are husky, smokey and delicate in the right places. Ross can come across like a terrified child (A Simple Thing Like Cry) and at other times plays coyly like the soul diva she is (Surrender and I'm A Winner).
I would have loved this as an accompanying soundtrack to a seventies movie she never made.
With equal portions of flirty fun through to the end-of-the-road pathos in Ashford and Simpson's songs this album deserves it's re-release...lets hope it stays in print for a long time yet!
Spirited soul gems like Remember Me (a top ten R&B hit) and the excellent Four Tops' cover Reach Out, I'll Be There sound as fresh today as they did in '71 and read beautifully next to the other songs on the album.
You gotta love this Motown masterpiece which begs the question - when is Diana Ross gonna make another Ashford and Simpson soul smash!!!
Free Music Review: Never Surrender, No Matter What The Odds
Hit: 5 Stars
Hip-O Select again does a tremendous job in meticulously searching the Motown vaults to expand upon the early solo career of Diana Ross.
This June 1971 release - her third album - was produced by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. It yielded three singles - Remember Me b/w How About You, Reach Out (I'll Be There) b/w (They Long to Be) Close to You, Surrender b/w I'm a Winner - and was building upon the #1 single from 1970, a cover of the Ashford and Simpson classic, Ain't No Mountain High Enough (an alternate vocal and mix is a bonus track), which earned Ross a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The original 11 album tracks are bolstered by nine bonus numbers, including the only unreleased song from the Surrender sessions - Baby I'll Come - and the original vocal demo of Remember Me by Simpson. A booklet that contains a wealth of previously unpublished photos is a winner.
This set shows an Ross working with top-notch material and delivering performances from the heart.