164. Tevin Campbell - Back To The World (1996)

This album by Tevin Campbell makes me kinda sad. There are a couple of Tevin's albums much higher on the list and the thing that differentiates them from this album is the simple fact that Tevin's voice broke before recording this album. Nothing he could do about that of course but it almost feel's like we lost a great voice when that happened. Tevin can still sing better than most of course but it's not the voice that gave us all those fantastic songs a few years prior.
The album is a chance to see how Tevin has grown up, both in the content of his lyric and his musical expression. As was popular at the time we have a gaggle of producers providing tracks for Tevin and the result is a mix of differing styles and sounds. Some suit Tevin more than others bu the result is a bit jumbled.

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165. Montell Jordan - More... (1996)

Montell's second album is another nice outing that starts off bouncing from the get-go with 'Super-Lover Man' and continues on in the same vein with the catchy 'All I Need'. 'Tricks on My Mind' keeps the tempo up till we get a little more mellow with 'Fallin' and 'Whats on Tonight'. Neither are great songs, its definitely the uptempo numbers that make this album. The last song worth checking out is 'I Like' featuring Slick Rick but after that it's filler and what sounds like an attempt by an A&R to get Montell to replicate 'This is How We Do It' with 'Bounce'. I like Montell so i'm blaming it on the A&R. ;)

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166. Mya - Mya (1998)

Being able to sing is always great but if you have some crappy production behind you, you are always going to struggle to sell albums. Luckily for Mya (and us), an all-star cast showed up to produce her first self-titled album.

'Movin On', 'Keep on Lovin Me' are cool up tempo jams while 'Its all About Me' and 'If you were Mine' hold it down on the softer side of things. I'm not going to pretend this is a classic but its good for a listen or two so check it out.

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167. Next - Rated Next (1997)

I'm not a huge fan of Next, but i believe that they are good enough that they should be represented on the list. RL has a good voice and there are a couple of songs on here that I kind of like. 'Stop Drop and Roll' and 'Penetration' is the extent of it but thats better than a lot of albums...


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168. Intro - New Life (1995)

Intro are a group that I struggle with when it comes to describing why I like them. I probably couldn't name more than a handful of their songs yet whenever a song of theirs comes on I rarely hit the FF button. I'm guessing the most likely reason is the voice of Kenny Greene (RIP). Kenny had such a distinctive and fantastic voice that you could listen to it and not realize that the song just wasn't that great. Having said that this album has a couple of songs that I just love. 'Funny How Time Flies' is a personal favourite, while 'Strung Out On Your Lovin', 'Feels Like The First Time' and 'Spending My Life With You' are nice tracks that show off Kenny's vocals nicely. The highlight of the album and probably the jewel in the crown of Intro's career (IMO) is the simple yet emotional 'My Loves on the Way'. 1995 was a great year for R&B and this is one of my favourite tracks from that year. Get the album just for that track alone and you won't regret it.

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169. Damian Dame - Damian Dame (1991)

allmusic says "Some excellently produced but otherwise routine New Jack R&B, urban contemporary, and hip-hop-tinged material that's most noteworthy for the fact that it's on the record label owned by LA Reid and Babyface. Damian Dame sang with earnestness and style, but lacked either the distinctiveness or the authority to make these songs memorable."

Screw that, 'Virgin Island' and 'Right Down to It' are excellent songs, as is 'Exclusivity'. Sure Babyface as producer gets them bonus points but they certainly did enough to make the album their own. On top of that I would be hard pressed to name another boy/girl group that I have ever liked so they were starting from behind the 8 ball as it was. If you haven't read about the sad story of their deaths you can do so here.

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170. Donell Jones - My Heart (1996)

The second Donell Jones record on the list is his debut 'My Heart'. This album shows Donell's promise and reveals an artist trying to find his sound. Later albums would show an ability to craft catchy, and often beautiful original compositions, whereas this album tends toward competent, if unremarkable, songs There are a few nice moments on here however such as 'No Interruptions', 'Waiting on You', 'I Want You To Know' and 'My Heart'. 'All About You' is a nice familiar sounding mid tempo track and 'The Only One You Need' makes good use of a sample from Mobb Deep's 'Shook Ones Pt 2'. A nice little album to add to your collection.

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171. Eric Cire - Ericcire.com (2005)

Damn. This album came out of nowhere for me. Being somewhat of a collector of albums (among other things) I don't get to listen to a lot of the stuff i acquire straight away. This one sat in the 'to listen to' pile for quite a while before I got around to giving it a listen but once I did i was annoyed at myself for not getting to it sooner. When I first heard it I think i described it to my wife as 'Brian McKnight meets Jagged Edge'. If you knew my taste you would know that thats a big rap from me. You can damn near listen to this album front to back but there are a few standouts. The album starts off with 'Ghetto Love Song', a catchy as hell way to start off an album. 'Love Vowels' and 'Ride It' are the kind of songs that I remember when i've finished listening and that burrow themselves into my brain, urging me at every opportunity to listen to them again. One complaint may be that some songs sound quite similar but its a small complaint. I sincerely hope we can get to hear another album from Eric sooner rather than later. It would be a shame if this ended up being his only album.

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172. Nuttin' Nyce - Down 4 Whateva... (1995)

Welcome to the latest installlment of 'wtf happened to?'

I first heard Nuttin Nyce on the 'Low Down Dirty Shame' Soundtrack with their track 'Down for Whateva' which borrowed from Soul II Soul's 'Back To Life'. It was a nice enough song that i went and picked up the album. For the most part the album gets bogged down in the kind of female braggadocio found in some albums of the time (thanks Adina Howard). Songs such as 'Froggy Style' give you some idea of the kind of themes found on the album but despite this there are a few nice tracks there worthy of your attention. 'U Aint Gotta lie to Kick it' is a nice upbeat track which is very typical of this period of time in its sound. 'Dont Make Me Wanna Do Ya' is a funky slow jam and 'What Can I Say To You (To Justify My Love)' is a nice little duet with Hi-Five. This album won't be for everyone but if you have a hankering for some mid-nineties nostalgia, you could do worse.

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173. 112 - Pleasure & Pain (2005)

This is a tough one. When I had finished my list and saw that there was a 112 album so far down on the list I was tempted to change it. Truth be told, I always tend to give 112 the benefit of the doubt whenever they bring out a new album just because their early albums were so stellar. Unfortunately every album invariably gets compared to its predecessors and usually comes off poorly as a result. So imagine if you will that this album is your naughty child that has been sent to the corner (173) for getting a B instead of an A on a Maths test. Compared to the kid next door who eats dirt and misspells his own name your kids a genius but when you get straight A's, a B just isn't good enough. There a number of very good songs on here (which is frustrating in itself). 'Let This Go' is just a cool song, 'What If' is a warm fuzzy little ballad, 'My Mistakes' is a harmless but nice little song, 'If I Hit' is a contagious if lyrically uninspired track and towards the end 3 6 Mafia lend a little (welcome) street thump to 'Closing the Club'. There is a lot of filler on here though, which for such a talented group is just unacceptable. 'Pleasure and Pain' sits at 173 with dunce hat perched precariously on top of its head.

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174. Brian McKnight - Anytime (1997)

Brian McKnight finds himself bowing to commercial pressure on his 3rd album by employing the services of Puff Diddly and Mase (Gasp!) on 'You Should Be Mine'. Wow, Brian McKnight is so cool! This is probably due to the fact that left to his own devices, a BM album can tend to lean a bit too far in the MOTR direction, you know, the kind of music people play at weddings and funerals. Alright I'm being unduly harsh but I think that's a valid appraisal. Having said that, I personally think BM is a supremely talented individual and having just bagged him for his MOTR tendencies, I freely admit that this is also the quality I like most about him. You know what you are going to get with BM release and you are never going to have to worry about your grandma accidentally hearing you listening to songs about doing things that people shouldn't be singing songs about. So, the tracks. 'Show Me the Way Back to Your Heart' is one of BM's best songs. It typifies what makes his songs great with it's lush instrumentation, heartfelt lyrics and a great melody. 'The Only One For Me' is in a similar vein, as is the title track 'Anytime'. The other standout is 'I Belong to You', a simple acoustic ode to the kind of love only found in fairytales (or my house - hi baby!).

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P.S If you ever get the chance try to pick up Brian's contribution to the 'Music in High Places' dvd series. Great stuff. Check it out HERE

175. Ray-J - This Ain't A Game (2001)

Ok, ok. I know i'm going to cop flack for this one. Sure the only reason Ray-J ever got a deal was his familial ties. Sure he hasn't got the greatest voice. Sure, trying to sound like a thug just sounds silly coming from Brandy's lil' brother. Still......still, theres something about this album. My brain is telling me no, but my ears have a mind of their own sometimes. I could try and say that its only due to the Neptunes beats found throughout the album, I could say that it's only because it's got Lil Kim on a track. I wont though, Ill man up and say, yeah, i dig this album because its kinda tight. The production is (on the whole) nice. It's kind of unique in its sound and it has some genuinely good tracks. 'Keep Your Head up' is a really nice track. 'Out the Ghetto' sounds like a leftover from Kelis' album but thats not a bad thing. 'Wet Me' is a surprisingly DeVante sounding song considering its (supposedly) a Dalvin track. 'Where Do We Go From Here' is a great note to finish on. So while there may be some damn near unlistenable tracks ('U Need It - U Dont') the album has enough going for it to make it worthy of recommendation. Just dont tell anyone I said so...

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176. Night & Day - Night & Day (2000)

When I came to post this album I discovered that Night and Day actually have 2 albums. Apparently their debut album called 'Day & Night' was released in 1996. If anyone has it I would really appreciate if you can hit me up with it.

This album though is another one that leaves me wondering why the hell there wasn't a follow up. This is a really strong album, slightly reminiscent of Ruff Endz, another favourite group of mine. People might know 'Dante's Girl' but my favourite songs include the awesome 'Is It U', 'Ill Make You Say Oh', 'You Pulled Me Out The Game' and 'Testify'. I might be a bit blinded by the 'wailing' (as my wife likes to call it) on this album (or 'sangin they asses off' as I like to say), but I think that anyone who is a fan of really strong male vocals will love this album. If I had a big rubber stamp of approval I would smack it on this album by Night and Day.

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177. Monifah - Home (2000)

Monifah never had the strongest voice but I always found her very engaging. Her delivery has a genuine quality to it that has often made up for some rather pedestrian lyrics and production. When this album first came out I was quite surprised that Monifah had done well enough to justify 3 albums. I liked her first two albums but at the time I was pretty sure I would have been in the minority. As it turns out I'm glad she did get to a third album because we get the pleasure of listening to songs like 'I Can Tell', the boppy "How ya Gonna Love Me' and 'Feva'. Unfortunately that was it for Monifah, but hey, she did a lot better than a lot of other artists of the time.

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178. Craig David - Slicker Than Your Average (2002)

I was working in a music store in a busy shopping centre when this album came out and I remember playing 'Eenie Meenie' so loud that centre security came by to tell me that people were complaining and could i please turn it down. Honestly I may have been a little over zealous as Craig's first album was just amazing and there was a huge amount of expectation on my part before this came out. I may have been looking for greatness rather than really listening. Looking back now, its an alright album but not something i often seek out to listen to. I still love 'Eenie Meenie' (especially - and strangely - Craig's attempt at rapping toward the end) 'Hidden Agenda' and '2 Steps' and there are more tracks that don't get the FF treatment if they pop up on the ipod. I have a lot of time for Craig David even though I've been quite disappointed with his stuff more recently. I'm looking forward to a bit more 2 step/garage-ish stuff from him once he gets over his seeming obsession with breaking into the American market.

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179. Pressha - Don't Get It Twisted (1996)

Heres another one that might be a case of my own personal taste differing from popular opinion. There are a couple of songs on here that I dig. 'Down Under' is a simple sparse little song that occasionally sounds slightly awkward but somehow managed to get under my skin. 'Don't Get it it Twisted' is a mid tempo but low-energy track that bubbles away nicely, and my favourite song is 'My Angel', another slow jam with little in the way of instrumentation. Chart-wise, the album did nothing but in my collection Pressha's one and only album is a quiet little winner.

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180. J-Shin - My Soul, My Life (2000)

This is a nice little album from an artist that I will assume not many people will know about. (Not you though dear reader, i'm sure you know your stuff). Why J-Shin never made more of a splash I don't know because this album is really quite strong. A lot of the production sounds fresh (well it did in 2000) and there are some really catchy songs on here. J is a great singer (imagine the lovechild of Donell Jones and Tony Thompson - on second thought probably best not to) and obviously has an ear for a good melody. My favorites tracks include 'I'll Do It', 'Givin U Love' (try not singing along to that), 'Player Hater', 'Sex is Not'...damn i could go on and on. Matter of fact, can I change this album's place on the list? No? Well, anyway, DL it and have a listen, you wont be sorry.

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