Leaving a pop group can be a tricky thing. Will the work you do on your own connect with audiences the same way it did with your bandmates? Ultimately, there’s only one way to find out: strike hard and make the music your own. Bobby Brown of New Edition delivered a master class in how to go solo with his second LP Don’t Be Cruel (1988) – and now, thanks to Iconoclassic Records, it’s getting its due on disc with a deluxe 2CD edition packed with remixes and rarities. As one fifth…
Cool It Now: New Edition Digital Reissues (And More) Unveiled
Ahead of an officially-sanctioned TV biopic of the lives and careers of New Edition, Universal Music Enterprises has digitally expanded four of the group’s studio albums plus an additional four spin-off projects. The band’s classic-era output for MCA Records, New Edition (1984), All for Love (1985), Heart Break (1988) and the reunion album Home Again (1996), as well as Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel (1988), Bell Biv DeVoe’s Poison (1990) and 1990 solo albums by members Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant, are available on digital providers like iTunes and Spotify, remastered and…
The Softer Side of UMe’s Budget Compilation Lines: “Ballads” Released
Having recently introduced some EMI-controlled artists to the ICON roster, Universal now incorporates some of those artists (and some of their most treasured R&B and country acts) into a new budget-oriented series, Ballads. And while none of the artists covered here really, truly need more compilations on the market – and, one can assume, the assembly of these is as low-impact as the ICON series – there’s actually some promise to be had here. The overall selection of artists isn’t terrible, particularly on the EMI side; new sets from culled from the catalogues of Peabo…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 23
Thanks to everyone’s favorite all-consuming pop star Lady Gaga, this week’s releases actually start a day earlier. Think of it as like being in England! New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys, NKOTBSB (Columbia/Jive/Legacy) Imagine a greatest hits EP for each band, augmented with three bonus tracks featuring all nine boy band members working together like some sort of insane, teenybopper Voltron. (Official site) The Monkees, The Monkees Present: Expanded Edition / Changes: Expanded Edition (Friday Music) / Monkeemania: The Very Best of The Monkees (Rhino U.K.) Between The Monkees’ 45th anniversary and a reunion…
Reissue Theory: Bell Biv DeVoe, “Poison”
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. One of the biggest R&B hits of 1990 is still an earworm today – but is there more lurking underneath the surface? The debut of Bell Biv DeVoe is reassessed. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcbMW2-Goog] Girl. I. Must. Warn youuuu…that if you listen to “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe one too many times, those herky-jerky New Jack beats will affix themselves to your brain. And they won’t let go. Since its release more than two decades ago,…
Even More “ICON” Titles on the Way
Mark your calendars, friends: a new batch of ICON budget compilations are due from Universal. Between May 3 and 24, UMe is releasing a clutch of ICON sets that run the gamut from country (Willie Nelson, Hank Williams) to R&B (New Edition, Kelly Price), from classics (The Mamas & The Paps, Louis Armstrong) to modern day heroes (Gin Blossoms, Rob Zombie). As usual, there’s not much in the way of brand-new or rare material, although some titles have some one-off tunes to their credit. Others, namely Willie Nelson and Louis Armstrong, cover the lesser-known…
