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DVDfever.co.uk – Boyz II Men: Love CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
UMTV Records
- Released: November 2009
- Rating: 4/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Grammy winners struggle most of the time.
Now that the boys (sorry boyz) really have become men, and you cant get into the charts with your own songs, what do you do? Record a covers album, a second one at that. Their first was the totally pointless Full Circle in 2002.
This Grammy-winning trio, (apparently set to become a quartet again) have scoured the music planet for well known ballads.The tracklisting, it has to be said, is pretty tasty, but can the men really handle these songs? We all know few cover versions ever work as well as the originals.
So, Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris and Wayne Morris from Philadelphia roll the dice and try their luck, putting their commercial reputation on the line. They like the songs, but do the songs like them?
For the record, the R&B cum Soulsters are the most successful R&B male vocal group of all time (surprised?), based on 60 million sales, including 8 platinum singles in the USA (wow!), with only Elvis and Jacko boasting more. Back in the mid -90s, they did some magical things on their mega-hits End Of The Road, Ill Make Love To You, On Bended Knee and blockbuster single One Sweet Day with Mariah Carey staying at a record-breaking 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Yet remarkably, they remain faceless (if one passed you in the road you wouldnt know it) and have had little artistic influence (well, with the exception of All-4-One maybe) over the past 20 years.From the original five starting out as Unique Attraction Nathan Morris, Marc Nelson, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman and Michael McCary, only three remain Nathan, Shawn and Wanya.
In fairness, these guys have a great collective voice, as they span multiple genres.
Their justification for doing Love is as follows. Shawn says, We remember how these songs made us feel when we first heard them, and we wanted to relive that experience by rerecording them now in our own way. Ok, fair enough. Wanya said, We love the lyrics to all of the tracks, as theyve each had a huge emotional impact on so many people including us. Fair enough, again.
Now down to business, track by track. Take Thats Back For Good is very disappointing, basically due to the sub-standard arrangement, though they fare better on the Detroit Spinners Could It Be Im Falling In Love, which sounds just like the original. Chicagos If You Leave Me Now is too, er, karaoke.One of the greatest love ballads EVER, Amazed by American soft-rockers Lonestar is stunning but I Cant Make You Love Me is pure saccharine.
Eventually, they do a dazzling Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper) that shows off their immaculate vocals, with a stunning and unique arrangement. This is the first song, so far, that really suits them, and surprisingly, they make a fist of it on (the brilliant) Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, but once again its tragic karaoke time on Sam Cookes Cupid.Shining Star by The Manhattans (1980) is a direct copy and more like their territory. I wont even mention the Beatles In My Life! Aghhh.
Trying to match Journeys Steve Perrys unbelievable vocals on Open Arms was always going to a big no no. And its a no no.Nat King Coles When I Fall In Love is, well, interesting. Michael Buble guests, adding a touch of schmaltz.
On Dorothy Moores masterpiece Misty Blue, Boyz II Men (at last) come into their own this is fabulous actually, but much too late.
The verdict Prefer the originals.
Weblink:Boyz II Men.com
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Back For Good
2. Could It Be Im Falling In Love
3. If You Leave Me Now
4. Amazed
5. I Cant Make You Love Me
6. Time After Time Kick Version
7. Iris
8. Cupid
9. Shining Star
10. In My Life
11. Open Arms
12. When I Fall In Love (featuring Michael Buble)
13. Misty BlueView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.