Review
New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe were the first to meld hip-hop rhythms with doo-wop harmonies, and Boyz II Men took New Jack Swing from gritty to pretty. The then-teenage Philadelphia singers gave a gentlemanly attitude and lush production to rock-steady urban soul. On their seventh album, the gorgeous arrangements are still firmly in place, and the wavery vocals more earnest than ever. The silk-sheet details — synthesized raindrops and slow-ticking cymbals — dreamily punctuate the pleaders “That’s Why I Love You” and “Oh, Well,” and their voices stand up to the complex rhythms of hard-edged numbers such as the brittle “Roll Wit’ Me.” In borrowing back the sound copped by recent boy bands, the Boyz prove once again that they’ll always do it prettier — full circle indeed.
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