So why is Diana Ross & The Supremes’ Anthology on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
For me, Diana Ross & The Supremes are the purest distillation of the Motown sound.
So much so that it’s wild that Diana Ross herself would go on to have such a prolific solo career, including the sensational album simply titled Diana (#529 of best 1,000 albums ever) many years post-Supremes in 1980.
The Anthology album “cheats,” particularly in its current iteration (see more on this below), in packing 50 songs into a single collection, and there’s not a dud I can find in the bunch.
Even a relative deep cut like “When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” bursts through with energy and upbeat popping R&B and soul.
And that’s not even getting to the hits, of which there are of course a multitude.
Of these, I’d call “You Can’t Hurry Love” my favorite (and Spotify seems to agree with me, with nearly four million streams of the song as of this writing). It’s a glorious pop and bouncing soul song at the same time, with divine vocals from Ross and the backing Supremes.
I’ll certainly need you to Stop! Right now! For “Stop! In The Name of Love.”
Then I realized that this collection also includes “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” with its nearly pre-disco funk and R&B rhythm, and my thought bubble is that this is all just ridiculously good.
One more deep cut: “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)” is a smasher.
A fun side note if you’re as nerdy on this stuff as I am (which… I guess isn’t possible, so maybe if you’re half as nerdy!): I believe this is the first time that an album on the best 1,000 albums ever project has been ranked “higher” (meaning a lower number, ranked list-wise) than Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking. In other words, Anthology is #406 of the best 1,000 albums ever versus #452 for Rolling Stone’s MUCH punier 500 albums list.
Like I said, fun, right?
One more administrative bit if you can handle it: the release dates for Anthology are all over the place. I’ve seen it listed as both 2001 and 2002, though it seems the “first version” dates back to 1974, so I’m rolling with that.
Some stats & info about Diana Ross & The Supremes – Anthology
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? R&B, Pop Music, Soul Music, Motown, Compilations
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #452
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Anthology first released? 1974
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #406 out of 1,000
Diana Ross & The Supremes’ Anthology on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Diana Ross & The Supremes’ Anthology that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Stop! In the name of love, before you break my heart.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.