Diana Ross's THE WIZ solo album

[Mr. Nowack]

Has anyone else heard the recently released album?

[Scarywarhol]

It's on Spotify, and boy is it strange. 

[FindingNamo]

Utter shyte.  She couldn't possibly sound less invested.

[Mr. Nowack]

My sentiments exactly. Her "performances" as the lion and Wizard are wonderfully baffling. And the hackneyed dialogue thrown in here and there ("Miss one... munchkins... where are you... where...*sobs*) as well as her occasional random useless sounds.

 

I can see why it was delayed for 40 years 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Is "Wonder Wonder Why" any good? That may be the only commercially released recording of the song in existence.

[Mr. Nowack]

I found it completely unremarkable personally.

[FindingNamo]

It sounds like she barely showed up to do a single take and then they just put standard low budget crap production of the era around her.  

 

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

This album is so random lol
Like what are you thinking when you produce something like this

[tazber]

Had the movie been a hit they were going to release it as a companion album.

 

I downloaded it from itunes because I'm always up for hearing The Wiz songs. 

 

It's so soporific that I can't even stay awake through Be A Lion.

 

Let me be your canary in the coal mine. Don't spend your $ on it.

[Theater_Nerd]

Mr. Nowack said: "Ross's performance on her solo album of songs form THE WIZ confirms the assertion that she was indeed cracked out during the production of the movie."

 

 

I was reading up on the Diana Ross Sings Songs from The Wiz release. It seems that Motown/Universal released it because fans have been asking for it for years and they decided to finally do so to capitalize off of the recent "Wiz: Live" broadcast, which is a Universal Television production.

 

This album was far from finished, from the information that I've gathered backing vocals and other production elements were never added because Motown decided to shelve the project after the film's box office failure.

 

So what they had in the vault and what has been released is not what was intended as the finished product.

[philly03]

I agree this is a pretty lackluster recording, but I enjoyed "Believe in Yourself." Can you imagine if they had gotten her as Glinda for the live telecast!? 

[Mr. Nowack]

No amount of post-production could help make her vocal quirks throughout less baffling.

[Theater_Nerd]

Mr. Nowack said: "No amount of post-production could help make her vocal quirks throughout less baffling."

 

 

These were generally first takes. I'm sure had the project gone as planned she would have recorded several takes of these songs and the best of those sessions released. This collection is not the finished product and was never intended to be released as-is.  It's a curiosity at best and Universal decided to release it to (a) capitalize off of the recent live broadcast and (b) appease those die-hard Diana Ross fans who were clamoring to hear this aborted project.

 

I think by Universal releasing it it does a great disservice to Diana Ross because people are unfairly judging this as if it were the finished product which it clearly is not.

 

 

 

 

 

[skies]

As a fan of Dianna Ross I'm the first to admit she didn't have the strongest vocal chops to begin with, so releasing what appears to have been prelim/single takes on a proposed Wiz album is disheartening.  

Her sound was unique and this album doesn't present her well.

 

[thommg]

I'm going to stick up for my girl here. As stated above, this recording was far from finished. It was to be a Diana Ross Sings and Tells the Story of The Wiz. In addition to singing the songs as the character, she recorded speaking portions that would connect them as the story progressed. Lee Holdridge created background music for these spoken sections. That is why there is some dialogue at the beginning and ends of some songs. As the project was shelved before completion, Ms. Ross likely did not finish her vocals to her usual standards. But, there is nothing wrong with her vocals on these recordings. Some of them are pure fun (So You Wanted To Meet The Wizard) and some of them have a nice, hearty resonance (Feeling That We Had). At no point do you get the feeling she is phoning in her performance. It is a fun diversion from a standard soundtrack or OBC recording.

My question is.... why didn't Atlantic remaster the original Broadway Cast recording to coincide with the telecast. Now, that is something I'd like to have!

[MichelleCraig]

thommg said "My question is.... why didn't Atlantic remaster the original Broadway Cast recording to coincide with the telecast. Now, that is something I'd like to have!"

 

They'll probably get around to it when the revival opens on Broadway. 

[best12bars]

Wow, these are all really ... bad.

[javero]

"Can you imagine if they had gotten her as Glinda for the live telecast!?"

 

Yes, we can.  And that's why we're relieved she didn't curse the latest iteration of the THE WIZ.  

[FindingNamo]

At no point do you get the feeling she is phoning in her performance.

 

I get that feeling at every single point in the performance and I listened to the whole entire terrible thing.