Maps of Music

Take Me Higher (1995)

Where the lyrics of Take Me Higher take you, and where it was really made.

Ross's first regular studio album in four years reached number 10 in the UK but peaked at only 114 on the US Billboard 200.

Place unknown

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Follows The Force Behind the Power (1991)
Producers include Narada Michael Walden, Mike Mani, Louis Biancaniello, Jon-John, and the Babyface protégés The Boom Brothers
Title track and lead single Take Me Higher hit the dance charts, reaching number four on the UK Dance Singles and topping the US Dance Club Songs
Follow-up Gone became Ross' 54th top 40 entry in the UK
Ross' dance cover of Gloria Gaynor's disco anthem I Will Survive (1978) reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart
That version gained extra exposure from a key scene in Frank Oz's comedy film In & Out (1997)

1	Take Me Higher	4:18
2	If You're Not Gonna Love Me Right	4:41
3	Voice of the Heart	4:18
4	Let Somebody Know	4:55
5	Keep It Right There	4:50
6	Don't Stop	3:48
7	Gone	5:14
8	Only Love Can Conquer All	4:10
9	I Never Loved a Man Before	4:55
10	I Thought We Were Still in Love	4:54
11	I Will Survive	4:48

Diana Ross was born March 26, 1944 in Detroit, Michigan, and was the lead singer of the Supremes.
The Supremes joined Motown in 1961 under the name chosen by Florence Ballard, after the group first formed as the Primettes.
The Supremes became Motown's most successful act in the 1960s and one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.

The Supremes' members included Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and later Cindy Birdsong.
Ross left the Supremes in 1970 and began a solo career.

The Supremes remain the best-charting female group in history, with 12 number-one pop singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ross's solo career produced six Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Endless Love".
Ross starred in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), earning Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and later starred in Mahogany and The Wiz.
Ross has sold over 100 million records worldwide as a solo artist.
Ross was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as a member of the Supremes and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

Cash Box's Gil L. Robertson IV described the album as a strong, polished comeback built with top producers, first-rate song selection, and production
He praised Ross's vocals and predicted major success across pop, urban, and adult contemporary formats
NME critic Keith Cameron argued that the contemporary production nullifies Ross's distinctive voice and leaves the album lacking substance
Cameron judged the record an uneven effort in which Ross is most effective when she sounds like herself
Vibe's Elysa Gardner called the album mired in excess, citing too many collaborators, synthetic production, and heavy-handed sentiment

AllMusic editor William Ruhlmann wrote in a retrospective review that four producers mostly tried to fit Ross into contemporary dance trends
Ruhlmann noted that the title song was a club hit while the ballad Gone made the UK Top 40
He said Ross seemed to spend more time posing for the fashion shots in the booklet than singing the songs

UK Albums Chart: debuted and peaked at number 10, Ross's first top ten studio album since Diana Ross (1976)
Austria: top forty, number 40; Scotland: top forty, number 37
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: number 38
US Billboard 200: peaked at 114
US sales: a little over 100,000 copies

Photographer Ruvén Afanador shot the album cover and also the fashion-forward video shoot that Ross used for promotion
Ross's cover of I Will Survive got an extra boost from a key scene in Frank Oz's In & Out (1997)
At her Super Bowl XXX Half-Time show, Ross performed I Will Survive during a Take Me Higher megamix as she was whisked away in a helicopter
The album was Ross's first top ten studio album in the UK since Diana Ross (1976)
The album came after four years without a regular Ross studio release, following The Force Behind the Power (1991)