this boy made the best, sexiest slow jams ever in my book.....yes even better then Jodeci!

"night and day"
"touch you"
"no matter what you do" (with diana ross)
"so special"
"right now"
"u and I"
"playing games" (my fav)


People ragged om his uptempo's, but i liked 'em though:-

"misunderstanding" (radio remix.....the devante swing 7 min remix)
"Channel j"
"Sure! Thang"
"you excite me"
"see the lady"
"ooh for you girl"

and ballad "I never hurt you again"


Damn his backing vox is so creamy and lush.....check the bridge on "misunderstanging" amongst others.....

Al b is the man! Plus he produced for other acts like tevin campbells first album.....

shame he cant sing Live tho'

Paisley!

I must admit, I loved Al B. back in the early 90's and I loved all the songs you posted. I listen to some of those songs now and say to myself, "allllrighty..." Some of that stuff still holds up, but not all of it.
"Playing Games" does have a pretty decent keyboard solo by Devante'.
I've always loved "I'll Never Hurt You Again". Nice backing vox on that one.
Speaking of nice backing vox, I was just listening to Prince's "For You". Ah, a twenty year-old genius behind a heapin' helpin' of reverb. Dreamy.

I have his first album, and I think it's weak. The only song of his I've ever fully liked is Night and Day. To this day, I still think it's a classic. I just don't think any of his other stuff holds up.

RipHer2Shreds said:

are you kidding me? that album rocks! i love it and think it's a classic. his version of killing me softly is better than lauryn hill's too, im my opinion.

dancerella said:

Wow. I'm not a huge fan of Lauryn's version, but I'd say it's much better than his.

Some useless information. P Diddy's girlfriend and mother of his son, has a child by Al B. Sure. He looks just like Al. I wonder why Diddy hasn't hooked him up with a record deal.



Al's son is the oldest one in the pic.
[Edited 12/3/04 12:56pm]
[Edited 12/3/04 12:59pm]

Al b sure had a girlfreind that was in his dancey remix of "misunderstanding".....i wonder if that is the same one?

Iam quite surprised that Al never made another solo after the highly underated "sexy vs"(1992), Devante's own Jodeci just outsold him 4fold.....then by mid 90's Al b's lil'helper devante had dissapeared too.....2 people who helped redefine rnb (amongst others)

Al has such a smooth sexy voice, I think Devante may of rapped on a Jodeci record.....but i think that was his brother, mr dalvin? Al b had a hand in "forever my lady" don't ya know?

TheRealFiness said:

That's the first thing I thought. Saw Al B., Bobby Brown, and New Edition back in the day. Oh God. Ralph Tresvant wasn't bad, but he wouldn't make it on American Idol today. Johnny Gill outsang them ALL.

The rest of them were studio productions. The proof? What have any of them done musically after 1995?

[quote]

Alasseon said:

[/quote


? Al b I'll give u...Ralph has a voice that is smoove but not great! Bobby is all about swagger and he is one hell of a performer LIVE! Johnny OVERSINGS them all live, and only sounds really good when he does not go overboard, like "i'm still waiting" for example!

bobby could outperfrom usher back in the day.....

thesexofit said:

Bobby had some talent. He just threw most of it away with the drugs and alcohol. It's a great lesson for most young artists.

1) Learn an instrument. Learn how to play music. Even if you never produce your own music, at least you have an idea of what direction to go in.

2) Stay off the drugs and alcohol. It will only steal the best, most productive part of your career.

3) Work hard to stay relevant. Party hard, but WORK HARD. Go the studio. Learn a second instrument. Produce other artists.

Or...marry Whitney Houston and life is cool...

CinisterCee said:

I can tell u how...
What kinda love am i in? OOOOOH!!
(extended version)




My jamz:
Nite N Day
Oooh This Love Is So
If Im Not Your Lover
Off On Your Own
Missunderstanding
Bye The Way
Rescue Me

Alasseon said:

I saw that show too i think it was in 87' or 88' it was my first concert.

Ralph could sing when he was young. After his voice changed, well, he's like us. Al B was never about singing. It was the production of the songs that carried his album(s). His Killing Me Softly, by the way is great as is Lauryn's and Roberta's. They're all different enough to merit praise in their own rights.

Too bad Al couldn't hook himself up with some more jams like he did Tevin Campbell. Now he's a late night DJ in my hometown. He made out alright I suppose. It doesn't last forever you know.

A funny sidenote: My introduction to the Eagle's song "Hotel California" came courtesy of Al B Sure! At first I skipped it and went straight for the slow jams-- Touch You and So Special are still the shit. Eventually I sat through the whole thing and realized that the arrangement/ instrumentation though dated now was great. When I finally heard the original it was, musically, a let-down if you can imagine that. Now Al's singing on that track wasn't great and I prefer the Eagle's singing of the song.

I must admit that I lost interest after that second album and never paid much attention to anything he did (for himself) after that.
[Edited 12/4/04 10:05am]
[Edited 12/4/04 10:06am]

how can we discuss Al B without mentioning the beauty of Natalie...I love that song...


and to whomever said Al B hasnt done anything of late...hasnt he written a lot of Jodeci hits? and others?

the guy probably realized his moment in the limelight was over and that he was a much better songwriter than entertainer..

TheRealFiness said:

Co-sign. I saw Al B Sure sing once live, he sucked, sad to say. He sang off key a lot, and seemed to not be able to hit the correct note.

I agree that Al B wasn't a great live singer, but his music did fit well with the times. That first album was huge hit. Everyone I knew like it.

I disagree with some of the opinions about NE's ability to perform live. I have seen NE, BBD, Johnny Gill, Ralph T and Bobby in concert. I have enjoyed all of the shows. Ralph still can hold his own performing his hits. Ricky Bell is an underrated singer. He has improved the most of them all. Bobby was all about entertaining. His concert in the early 90s was very well done. Johnny can sing the best of them all. I don't think that was ever a question. Ron D (Blake C) and Mike Bivins are a good duo as rappers. To this day, the NE crew is still worth seeing live.

OdysseyMiles said:

Wow! I think "u and I" (ha) r the ony ones that still own his "sexy vs" album.....that keyboard solo is terrific stuff and "i'll never hurt u again" is gorgeous stuff!

Did u get his 3rd album? His best ballads r on thier I reckon, DOES KNOWONE LIKE HIS UPTEMPO'S? (except u Paisly, who likes 1 at least.....u got the 12" of "misunderstanding" right? The video makes me laugh, Al trying to dance is funny to c.....

[quote]

sosgemini said:

Oh yeah, i forgot that one.....I gotta hear it again but I remember it being good!

thesexofit said:

JOHNNY CAN GO OVERBOARD, WHEN I SAW HIM HE SANG ON NOTE AT LEAST 2 MINUTES. IF I HAD A GUN A BULLET BETWEEN THE EYES FOR JG

Listening to Al makes me wanna listen to songs by The Girlz. Remember them and their "love me or leave me" album. The songs that got radio airplay were "It's Over" and "It's all because of you" and remember "jam jam if you cam"
[Edited 12/4/04 22:18pm]

psychodelicide said:

-----
Co-Sign. The only time I have ever witness thousands of people running to the lobby at a concert. Al voice was awful.

debbiedean2 said:

johnny gill goes overboard on his albums...that whu whuw wu wu wu wanna be lutha sound he warbles... :ugh: good grief!!

he sounds good on a few ballads, but it's the uptempo's that I love him on, as Luther never did uptempo's!


"rub u the right way" (plus remix)
"the floor"
"provocative"
"Fairweather friend"
"wrap my body tight!

"rub u the right way" is a classic!

PurpleCharm said:

puff daddy looks like he is gonna have a ms puffy for a son...

Never understood what was up with the uni-brow.
Was never a fan, but surely liked some of his (co)productions.

honestly, i have no interest in him outside of his duet on "Black Tie, White Noise" with Bowie. he's good on that, though.