20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Diana Ross & the Supremes [Digipak] by Diana Ross & the Supremes

Diana Ross & The Sup - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium - Cd

Diana Ross & The Supremes: Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson (vocals). Includes liner notes by Brian Chin.All tracks have been digitally remastered.This is part of MCA's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series.If you absolutely had to limit a Supremes greatest hits collection to a mere 11 tracks, chances are this is the album that would result. Everything here was all but ubiquitous on '60s radio, from the group's first Top 10 hit "Where Did Our Love Go" in 1964, to their commercially canny farewell "Someday We'll Be Together" in 1969.In fact, these songs are so familiar to several generations of music fans that they're practically implanted on a genetic level. If you feel the need for more, however, Motown's 25-track ULTIMATE COLLECTION is a good one-disc alternative.

The Best of Diana Ross & the Supremes (20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection)

The Supremes' catalog (as well as that of every other hit-making artist who ever recorded for Motown) has been packaged and repackaged so many times that yet another go-round of the same material would seem pretty uninviting if the music weren't so good. The songs collected here certainly constitute some of the Supremes' prime stuff. But like many of the entries in MCA's 20th Century Masters collection, it's a product of flawed logic. The set is made up entirely of No. 1 hits, except for "Reflections," which charted at No. 2. It's unclear why that song takes precedence over two of the group's other No. 1s, "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" and "The Happening" (both of which end up on Volume 2). The album could have stuck to the Supremes' early period, before Diana Ross became front woman in name as well as in fact. In that scenario, earlier hits could have subbed for "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together," and those songs saved for a subsequent volume. Maybe these are quibbling arguments, but the perpetual mishandling of Motown's peerless catalog continues to puzzle. --Daniel Durchholz