Al B. Sure: In Effect Mode
May 3, 1988



Guy: Guy
June 13, 1988



New Edition: Heart Break
June 20, 1988



Bobby Brown: Don't Be Cruel
June 20, 1988



Have fun!
[Edited 4/8/10 20:40pm]

1.) Don't Be Cruel
2.) Guy
3.) Heartbreak
4.) In Effect Mode

1 - Heartbreak
2 - Don't Be Cruel
3 - Guy
I've not listened to In Effect so it defaults to last place. Sorry Al.

Ewww Al B. Sure has a unibrow.

It's kind of hard to rank these, Don't Be Cruel has the strongest singles but the weakest album cuts.

From top...

New Edition: Heart Break
June 20, 1988



Guy: Guy
June 13, 1988



Bobby Brown: Don't Be Cruel
June 20, 1988



Al B. Sure: In Effect Mode
May 3, 1988


...to bottom.

Order adjustment edit:
Due to a preference for Jam/Lewis production over Teddy Riley.



Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records
[Edited 4/8/10 20:53pm]

Both Guy and Don't Be Cruel seem to be tied up though...

Timmy84 said:

Isn't 'Round and 'Round & My Prerogative the same song?




Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

theAudience said:

If You're not My Lover and I'll Be Good To You are the same also.

1. Guy
2. Bobby Brown
3. New Edition
4. Al B. Sure

Al B Sure is getting no love. Nobody liked Nite and Day.

1. Guy - the introduction of New Jack
2. Bobby - Don't Be Cruel
3. Al B Sure - In effect Mode
4. Heart Break - New Edition

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I do. It's just that compared to the other three, he's on his own.

theAudience said:

Duh.

1. Guy
2. Bobby Brown
3. New Edition
4. Al B. Sure

What a great thread! This is a hard one...

1) Al B. Sure - In effect mode
2) Guy - Guy
3) New Edition - N.E Heartbreak
4) Bobby Brown -Don't be cruel

Can we add Keith Sweats debut album? Was that 1988? Great album!

No that was 1987.

Bobby Brown- Don't Be Cruel
Guy-Guy
New Edition- Heartbreak
Al B Sure- In Effect Mode

I think Heartbreak could've done fine with some production by Teddy Riley. Jam and Lewis did great on the album but tracks like That's The Way We're Livin' and Competition could've killed with Teddy's production

1. Guy - Guy (the most consistent album by far)

2. Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel
3. Al B. Sure! - In Effect Mode
4. New Edition - Heartbreak

After #1, it's extremely close. I love all these albums.

Yeah, this is a tough one. I never dug New Edition until NE Heartbreak, thanks to Jam & Lewis. In Effect Mode was the soundtrack of my life at that time and could be listened to from beginning to end. So I'll go with:

In Effect Mode
NE Heartbreak
Don't Be Cruel
Guy

It’s the 1988 Battle of New Jack Swing, eh? That’s cool. Next we can rate NJS albums from 1989-1992.

Although my opinion has shifted over the past 20 years, when these albums were released this was my preference:

Guy
Al B. Sure
Bobby Brown
N.E. Heartbreak

These days it’s more like
Guy
N.E. Heartbreak
Bobby Brown
Al B. Sure

Sales wise, Bobby's DBC and the remix lp that followed owned all their asses....COMBINED! As a producer Teddy may have been King of New Jack Swing, but in terms of sales MJ's Dangerous is the only thing Teddy did comparable to Bobby's DBC.

Adisa said:

That's actually one of the endearing qualities of Guy IMO. They managed to be extremely successful without ever crossing over to the pop charts. The debut and The Future both went platinum purely based on R&B radio, BET, and R&B fans. Those 3 other albums all achieved a measure of pop success, but Guy was truly all ours.

1) Al B. Sure - In Effect Mode
2) Guy - Guy
3) New Edition - N.E Heartbreak
4) Bobby Brown -Don't Be Cruel[/quote]


Oddly enough,I wasn't a huge fan of 'Don't Be Cruel' These days,the only song I can listen to is "Every Little Step".A cool song that has aged well.

'In Effect Mode' still sounds fresh and vibrant,imo.

AlexdeParis said:

Agree. Everyone in the hood loved Guy. It didn't matter if you were 5 years old or 50 years old. LOL. The juke joint that my aunt and uncle used to own had Guy's singles on the jukebox, and them old people used to bump that shit! The mebers of Guy were young in age, and their sound was fresh, but they had an old soul about them that made people love them. Same thing with Boyz II Men when they first came out.

Timmy84 said:

this.

SoulAlive said:

Oddly enough,I wasn't a huge fan of 'Don't Be Cruel' These days,the only song I can listen to is "Every Little Step".A cool song that has aged well.

'In Effect Mode' still sounds fresh and vibrant,imo.[/quote]

Like me, you put it at the top. I'm trying to get In Effect on CD!

JackieBlue said:

Between Amazon and eBay, what's stopping you?

theAudience said:

1) New Edition - "Heartbreak"
2) Guy - "Guy"
3) Bobby Brown - "Don't Be Cruel"
4) Al B. Sure! - "In Effect Mode"

This is how they rank on my list of 1988 albums:

13. Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel
14. R.E.M. - Green
15. All About Eve - All About Eve
16. New Edition - Heart Break
17. Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars
18. Sade - Stronger Than Pride
19. Roachford - Roachford
20. Brownmark - Just Like That
21. Guy - Guy

I sold my In Effect Mode album years ago so naturally that means it's last among those four.

All of those were horrible except for Bobby Brown and it was simply decent.