{"id":42062,"date":"2010-08-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-boss\/"},"modified":"2010-08-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-03T00:00:00","slug":"the-boss","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"The Boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diana Ross\u2019 first taste of disco success came in the form of her stellar Diana Ross <\/i>LP (from 1976) and its most memorable moment, the intoxicating \u201cLove Hangover.\u201d This only confirmed her status as one of America\u2019s great female performers of the day, and she carried on enjoying a string of hit singles and starring in two seriously good movies (Lady Sings The Blues <\/i>and Mahogany<\/i>). \u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n

By the time Ross released her ninth solo album, The Boss<\/i>, she was officially one of the original disco divas, and her sellout shows at Caesars Palace became explosions of all things disco.\u00a0 Mirror balls, roller-skating dancers, and folks dancing on tables were all part of the scene.\u00a0 Although The Boss <\/i>is not one of Ross\u2019 greatest achievements, it\u2019s still a solid disco\/R&B record and still sounds fabulous today.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Ashford & Simpson again wrote and produced the album for her, and their handling of her changing direction was superb, to say the least. Every song is treated with care and built up to showcase Ross\u2019 fine voice, which by now was truly something else. The only flat spots on the record were flat simply because they\u2019re not great songs and are shown up by some brilliant tracks that remain Ross classics to this day.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Of those flat spots, let me say the flattest would be \u201cAll For One,\u201d which is really just a one-note wonder and even a fine delivery by Ross can\u2019t give it the life it desperately needs. Closer \u201cI\u2019m In The World\u201d is a schmaltzy ballad that really would\u2019ve worked better as an all-out dance track (in the vein of \u201cI\u2019m Coming Out.\u201d) \u201cSparkle\u201d builds nicely into a sax-soaked mid-tempo groover, but it\u2019s not the stunner that it should\u2019ve been due to a little too much work from the producers; it\u2019s still a nice moment just the same.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

There is plenty here, though, to get excited about, and the title track is one of Ross\u2019 great songs that still remains a permanent fixture in the set every time she hits the stage. It\u2019s a classic disco track with some great string arrangements and punchy horns to accent the positives. It also has great lyrics that Ross nailed with a defiant delivery in which you can clearly hear just why she was Michael Jackson\u2019s number one idol.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Opener \u201cNo One Gets The Prize\u201d is a gorgeous song and again is a great marriage of voice and music; it sounds so easy it\u2019s ridiculous, but with the right direction and her famous work ethic (in the studio), Diana Ross is truly supreme. The charming little funkster \u201cIt\u2019s My House\u201d is so subtle and laidback that it actually stands out as one of the albums best and most original moments. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI Ain\u2019t Been Licked\u201d is another highlight and one of Ross\u2019 most elaborately produced songs.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot going on with this one, but it works so well for her and enhances the album greatly.\u00a0 And lastly, \u201cOnce In The Morning\u201d is the sexiest moment on the record and was no doubt inspired by \u201cLove Hangover,\u201d as Ross again plays the vixen role to perfection.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Boss <\/i>went on to be another million-plus seller for Ross; however, it was eclipsed the following year by her landmark diana<\/i> LP, which defined the disco era like no other record had.\u00a0 The beginnings of that magic, though, are clearly audible here, as are the sounds of a true diva in the making.<\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":30400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7892],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-42062","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-diana-ross","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42062"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}