Take Me Higher

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web|title=Take Me Higher|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/take-me-higher-mw0000645617|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=October 30, 2020}}

| rev2 = Cash Box

| rev2score = (favorable){{cite magazine|first=Gil L.|last=Robertson IV|title=Urban|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/90s/1995/CB-1995-09-23.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|date=September 23, 1995|page=11|accessdate=November 9, 2022|author-link=Gil L. Robertson IV}}

| rev3 = Music Week

| rev3score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite magazine|first= |last= |title= Reviews: Singles |magazine= Music Week |date= August 26, 1995 |page= 16 |accessdate= May 12, 2021 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1995/Music-Week-1995-08-26.pdf}}

| rev4 = NME

| rev4score = 3/10{{cite magazine|first=Keith|last=Cameron|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53554191273/|title=Long Play|magazine=NME|date=September 9, 1995|page=50|access-date=March 11, 2024}}

}}

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, editor William Ruhlmann wrote that "combining the work of four separate producers who mostly tried to fit Ross into contemporary dance trends, the album did feature a club hit in the title song, while the ballad "Gone" made the Top 40 in the UK. But Ross herself seemed to have spent more time posing for the many fashion shots in the booklet than singing the pedestrian songs." Vibe critic Elysa Gardner found that Take Me Higher was "mired in excess. There are too many collaborators, too much synthetic production and heavy-handed sentiment [...] the only palpable vision is a firm eye on the middle of the road."

In the United Kingdom, Take Me Higher debuted and peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Ross' first top ten studio album since Diana Ross (1976). Elsewhere, it entered the top forty in Austria and Scotland, reaching number 40 and number 37, respectively. In the United States, Take Me Higher underperformed, peaking at 114 on the US Billboard 200 and number 38 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, while selling a little over 100,000 copies.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Title track and lead single "Take Me Higher" became a hit on the dance charts, reaching number four on the UK Dance Singles, while topping the US Dance Club Songs. Follow-up "Gone" became Ross' 54th top 40 entry in the UK, while "If You're Not Gonna Love Me Right" reached number 67 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. "Voice of the Heart" peaked at number 28 on the US Adult Contemporary. "I Will Survive," Ross' cover of the Gloria Gaynor song, reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart. Her version got an extra boost from being played at a key scene in Frank Oz's American comedy film, In & Out (1997). Ross also performed it during a "Take Me Higher" megamix at her acclaimed Super Bowl XXX Half-Time show as she was whisked away in a helicopter.

{{Track listing

| headline = US edition

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| total_length =

| title1 = Take Me Higher

| writer1 = {{hlist|Sally Jo Dakota|Nikita Germaine|Narada Michael Walden}}

| extra1 = {{hlist|Walden|Mike Mani{{ref|a|[a]}}}}

| length1 = 4:18

| title2 = If You're Not Gonna Love Me Right

| writer2 = Monty Seward

| extra2 = {{hlist|The Boom Bros.|Seward{{ref|b|[b]}}}}

| length2 = 4:41

| title3 = Voice of the Heart

| writer3 = {{hlist|John Bettis|Bruce Roberts|Julia Turner-Stanley}}

| extra3 = Nick Martinelli

| length3 = 4:18

| title4 = Let Somebody Know

| writer4 = {{hlist|Bunny Hull|Brenda Russell}}

| extra4 =

| length4 = 4:55

| title5 = Keep It Right There

| writer5 = {{hlist|Babyface|Jon-John Robinson|Chris Liscomb}}

| extra5 = Jon-John

| length5 = 4:50

| title6 = Don't Stop

| writer6 = {{hlist|Anthony Bryant|Chuck Boom}}

| extra6 = The Boom Bros.

| length6 = 3:48

| title7 = Gone

| writer7 = Robinson

| extra7 = Jon-John

| length7 = 5:15

| title8 = Only Love Can Conquer All

| writer8 = {{hlist|Dakota|Preston Glass|Walden}}

| extra8 = {{hlist|Walden|Louis Biancaniello{{ref|a|[a]}}}}

| length8 = 4:10

| title9 = I Never Loved a Man Before

| writer9 = {{hlist|Gerry Goffin|Tom Snow}}

| extra9 = Martinelli

| length9 = 4:55

| title10 = I Thought That We Were Still in Love

| writer10 = {{hlist|Tom Snow|Liz Vidal}}

| extra10 = Martinelli

| length10 = 4:52

| title11 = I Will Survive

| writer11 = {{hlist|Dino Fekaris|Freddie Perren}}

| extra11 = {{hlist|Walden|Biancaniello{{ref|a|[a]}}}}

| length11 = 4:48

}}

{{track listing

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| headline = International edition

| title1 = Take Me Higher

| writer1 = {{hlist|Dakota|Germaine|Walden}}

| extra1 = {{hlist|Walden|Mani{{ref|a|[a]}}}}

| length1 = 4:18

| title2 = If You're Not Gonna Love Me Right

| writer2 = Seward

| extra2 = {{hlist|The Boom Bros.|Seward{{ref|b|[b]}}}}

| length2 = 4:41

| title3 = I Never Loved a Man Before

| writer3 = {{hlist|Goffin|Snow}}

| extra3 = Martinelli

| length3 = 4:55

| title4 = Swing It

| writer4 = {{hlist|Babyface|Robinson|Liscomb}}

| extra4 = Jon-John

| length4 = 4:14

| title5 = Keep It Right There

| writer5 = {{hlist|Babyface|Robinson|Liscomb}}

| extra5 = Jon-John

| length5 = 4:50

| title6 = Don't Stop

| writer6 = {{hlist|Bryant|Boom}}

| extra6 = The Boom Bros.

| length6 = 3:48

| title7 = Gone

| writer7 = Robinson

| extra7 = Jon-John

| length7 = 5:15

| title8 = I Thought That We Were Still in Love

| writer8 = {{hlist|Snow|Vidal}}

| extra8 = Martinelli

| length8 = 4:52

| title9 = Voice of the Heart

| writer9 = {{hlist|Bettis|Roberts|Turner-Stanley}}

| extra9 = Martinelli

| length9 = 4:218

| title10 = Only Love Can Conquer All

| writer10 = {{hlist|Dakota|Glass|Walden}}

| extra10 = {{hlist|Walden|Biancaniello{{ref|a|[a]}}}}

| length10 = 4:10

| title11 = I Will Survive

| writer11 = {{hlist|Fekaris|Perren}}

| extra11 = {{hlist|Walden|Biancaniello{{ref|a|[a]}}}}

| length11 = 4:48

}}

{{track listing

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| headline = Japan bonus track

| title12 = If We Hold On Together

| writer12 = {{hlist|James Horner|Will Jennings}}

| extra12 = Peter Asher

| length12 = 4:09

}}

Notes

• ^{{{note|a|[a]}}} signifies an associate producer
• ^{{{note|b|[b]}}} signifies an co-producer

{{Reflist}}

{{Diana Ross}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1995 albums

Category:Motown albums

Category:Diana Ross albums

Category:Albums produced by Narada Michael Walden

Category:Hip-hop soul albums