To Love Again [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered]

Selecting a quality Diana Ross compilation can be something of a daunting task, especially as the market currently seems awash with literally dozens of sets. Here's one with a difference, though.

In its original form, "To Love Again" featured songs that were written, co written & produced by the legendary Michael Masser. The original concept was extended and the album now includes standards of Carol Bayer Sager, Gerry Goffin, Lionel Ritchie, Stevie Wonder, Thom Bell and Linda Creed. The result is an outstanding collection of love songs that are timeless.

When you read Michael Masser's essay in the inner sleeve, you realise that Diana's approach to ballads is sensitive, thoughtful and intelligent. She pays particular attention to capturing the mood and essence of each song and this explains why the ballads here have a lasting quality.

All of the big Masser/Ross hits are here, including "It's My Turn", "Theme from Mahogany", and "Touch Me in the Morning". However, it's the lesser-known songs that grab my attention:

"I Thought It Took A Little Time" - opens with a lovely, bitter-sweet cello piece that provides the perfect backdrop for Diana's smooth vocals;

"To Love Again" - a gorgeous track.

Stevie Wonder's "Too Shy to Say" (from the "Baby It's Me" album) is a stunning torch song that's something of a hidden gem from the masses.

So there we have it - a superb collection of love songs that display that inimitable finesse of Diana Ross. It comes highly recommended.

I have waited patiently for this album to be released on CD and now here it is, remastered and with extra tracks. This is simply Diana Ross at her finest. Favourite tracks: One More Chance and Stay With Me, worth buying the CD just for those two. This release has made my year!

In early 1981 it was announced that Diana Ross was leaving Motown Records after twenty years for a reported $20,000,000 deal with RCA Records. After riding high on the success of the dynamic diana (1980) album, Diana Ross was certainly in a position to pick and choose. Following the news of her departure, Motown issued one last album, To Love Again which featured new-at-the-time-of-release songs as well as some old hits and tracks directly plucked from various albums. If anything it was a celebratory exercise to mark her dynamic combination with songwriter Michael Masser who later went on to produce Whitney Houston.

To Love Again (1981) was deleted from Motown's catologue some years ago but re-surfaced in January 2003 with the bonus adding of some rare material and 1 unreleased track. Motown has finally recognised the potential in Diana Ross back catologue of studio albums and let's hope now other classic albums in the Ross catologue such as Everything Is Everything (1970), Surrender (1971), Diana Ross (1976), Baby It's Me (1977) and Ross (1978) find their way to being re-issued with the added bonus of tracks canned from the origanal sessions for the album.

This updated edition of the album opens with one of her most powerful and passionate ballads - It's My Turn. The song is positivley timeless and almost seemed like a direct message to Motown and of course, Berry Gordy - her mentor, her one-time lover and the father of her first child, Rhonda. The lyrics are strongly emotive, the musical arrangements gloriously assembled and Dianas performance is truly impeccable. It's My Turn hit No.9 on the U.S Charts whilst gliding in at No.16 in the U.K though had all the fire and potential to go to No.1.

Stay With Me is an overly sugary ballad that is redeemed and ignited by Dianas sensational performance. No one delivers a ballad quite like Diana Ross and had it been any other artist recording slush like this, i'd most likely run for cover but Diana has that uncanny ability to really make an overly schmaltzy song like this come to life and her performance is just so heart-warming and genuine that it's virtually impossible to fault. One More Chance has more punch in the musical arrangements and Diana neatly surfboards along the complex musical arrangements. One More Chance was lifted as a single and stalled within the Top 100 on both sides of the Atlantic.

Cryin' My Heart Out For You was another touching ballad that failed to gain wide-commercial acclaim where it merley stalled within the U.K Top 60 but still is a divine classic, delivered with style, class and finesse by Diana. More famous though was The Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To) which features divine musical arrangements and a magnificent classical ending which is quite startling for what is initially a soul track. Theme From mahogany hit No.1 in the U.S in 1975 whilst bouncing to No.5 in the U.K.

I Thought It Took A Little Time (But Today I Fell In Love) was another underated gem. Featured on the fabulous Diana Ross (1976) album, it's success was perharps overshadowed by the rapid release of Love Hangover. This glossy number contains another sensual and exuberant performance from it's star. I Thought It Took A Little Time became a Top 40 struggler.

The exotic, To Love Again, featuring an effective spanish guirtar interlude in the arrangements is breathtakingly beautiful and is delivered with such class from Diana. The track had origanally been featured on Ross (1978), a studio album that was similar in it's content to this album. No One's Gonna Be A Fool Forever is more forgetable taken from the oddest entry in her catologue, Last Time I Saw Him (1973).

Touch Me In The Morning is of course one of her most definitive and most timeless classics - a song she will always be remembered for. Similar to the formula of an earlier classic, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, the rhythm builds to an exalting climax which Diana tackles well and sounds convincing and utterly compelling in the process. Touch Me In The Morning raced to the top of the American charts whilst hitting No.9 in the U.K.

Another exotic sounding number was the lush, Love Me which was one of the better songs on the Last Time I Saw Him (1973) album. Dramatic in it's content and sweetly soulful musically, Love Me is one of the long-lost and forgotten Diana Ross classics, even though it was a Top 40 struggler when lifted as a single in the U.K belatedly in 1974.

Her duet with the king of Motown, Marvin Gaye, Stop! Look! Listen, To Your Heart was a masterful ballad that features strong, emotive and passionate performances from both Diana and Marvin. On this edition of the album, the track is featured in it's alternate mix though there is barley any difference. Stop! Look! Listen, To Your Heart was released as a single in the U.K where it hit No.25 on the main singles charts.

Together was a pleasantly mellow ballad that features a heavenly performance from Diana, was recorded back in 1975 and eventually surfaced on the Ross (1978) album. This glorious number, again produced by Michael Masser, origanally was featured as the B-side to her 1975 hit, Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right.

After You was swiped from her glorious, Diana Ross (1976) album. It's another mellow, sophisticated ballad with a forceful and full-throated performance from Diana. The mesmerising, Too Shy Too Say was a dazzling Stevie Wonder compostion thats hauntingly atmospheric in it's content. Too Shy To Say had origanally been featured on the Baby It's Me (1977) album and used as the B-side for the American single, You Got It (which also appeared on Baby It's Me).

Come In From The Rain was another truly touching and tear-jerking ballad that again was directly swiped from the Baby It's Me set. Though overly schmaltzy, the song is touching purley in it's mere simplicity whilst Diana delivers this beautifully (as she does every song on here). Never Say I Don't Love You is a more modern-sounding ballad where Diana is joined by an effective backing choir on the tracks chrous. Never Say I Don't Love You had also been used as an album track for the Ross (1978) album.

Share Some Love was a previously unreleased track and is nothing out of the ordinary for Diana Ross though her performance is still as engaging as ever whilst the fun, mid-beat, Dreaming Of You on which she duets with the fabulous Lionel Richie, is one of the more enjoyable rarities to be found on here.

Of course her most famous work with Lionel Richie was on the unforgetable classic, Endless love which raced to the top of the American charts, remaining there for nine weeks and became Motown's biggest ever selling single to that point. There was an interesting transistion of harmonies combined on Endless Love with Lionel Richies strong and assertive tone to the yearning vulnreability that you can easily detect in Dianas vocal delivery. A monster classic that is still timeless and no one has done it better than Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (even Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross' version pales in comparison).

The album then closes on another golden rarity with the heart-felt and breathtakingly beautiful, We're Always Saying Goodbye. This closes this timeless, sophisticated album on a high!

On it's origanal release in mid 1981, To Love Again became a Top 40 seller on both sides of the Atlantic and was deleted in the early 1990's so it's re-issue on CD is much welcome and long over-due.