#452 Diana Ross and the Supremes, 'Anthology' (1974)

Previously #423

It will never stop irking me that they’ve included Greatest Hits compilations in the list of Greatest Albums. Rolling Stone says “As in 2003, we allowed votes for compilations and greatest-hits albums, mainly because a well-made compilation can be just as coherent and significant as an LP, because compilations helped shaped music history, and because many hugely important artists recorded their best work before the album had arrived as a prominent format.” I get that for certain artists, but it kinda feels like a cop out to me. Anyway, onto the album compilation.

The Supremes were a hit machine. They enjoyed 5x #1 albums (which makes it even weirder to include a compilation), 12x Top 10 albums and 12x #1 singles, making them the most successful American group on the US Billboard Hot 100, amongst other achievements. The bulk of their success came with Diana Ross at the helm. The “classic” era also includes Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson, although this compilation encompasses various eras of the group.

It’s a long listen, running 2 hours and 26 minutes with a total of 50 songs (the original 1974 release only included 35 tracks, but I didn’t realise that and listened to the 1986 version). The anthology is essentially split into 6 parts; The Early Sessions, The Big Boom, Non-Stop Hitmaking, New Horizons, Versatile Stylists and Memories, Moving on. Most of the songs I knew. Includes classics such as ‘Baby Love,’ ‘Come See About Me,’ Stop! In The Name Of Love,’ ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ (did Jet rip this into off for ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’?) and many many more. Towards the later part of the compilation, I wasn’t too familiar with the songs, even though I did listen to this last time around. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard ‘Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone’ before, but I really loved it. Overall, an enjoyable listen, albeit long. Took me a while to munch through it.

#rs500albums