Diana Ross: The #1's : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The biggest Supremes and Diana Ross hits in one place in the spirit of recent collections by the Beatles and Elvis, the folks entrusted with the Motown catalog have remixed and remastered the biggest hits by the ultimate girl group, the Supremes. Both a primer for young listeners and motivation for old fans to buy beloved classics one more time, The No. 1's includes not only the threesome's fourteen chart-toppers, eight Ross solo smashes and a sophisticatedly funky post-Ross Supremes jam ("Stoned Love") but also a few extra seconds of unheard music at the tail end of many hits. Some of the differences may shock: "Stop! In the Name of Love" now comes to a full, sudden stop.

A new audio clarity sharpens the details -- the instrumental precision and swing, the vigor of the background cries -- behind the booming Motown sound. Regardless of the changes, milestones such as "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Love Child" remain some of R&B's richest pop symphonies.