Cooleyhighharmony [Expanded Edition]

Performer: Boyz II Men
Artist: Michael Bivins
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Boyz II Men: Nathan Morris, Michael McCary, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman. Additional personnel: Nakia Keith, Nichole Williams (spoken vocals); Rick Criniti (guitar); Troy Taylor (piano, keyboards, bass, percussion); Dallas Austin (piano, percussion); Rick Sheppard (samples, drum programming). Producers: Dallas Austin, The Characters, Troy Taylor, Charles Farrar. Engineers include: Dave Way, Dennis Mitchell, Darin Prindle. Boyz II Men: Michael Bivins, Michael McCary, Wanya Morris, (vocals), Nathan Morris (vocals), Dallas Austin (piano, percussion); Rick Criniti (acoustic guitar); Troy Taylor (piano, keyboards, bass, percussion), Nicholle Williams, Nakia Keith (background vocals); Rick Sheppard (samples). Producers include: Troy Taylor, Charles Farrar, Boyz II Men, L.A. Reid, Babyface. Personnel: Michael Bivins, Tony Scott (rap vocals); Rick Criniti (acoustic guitar); Troy Taylor (piano, keyboards, drums, percussion); Dallas Austin (piano, percussion); Rick Sheppard (programming, sampler); Aaron Bobby Campbell, Fred Jenkins (programming). Audio Mixers: Chris Trevett; Dallas Austin; Dave Way; Dennis Mitchell ; Jim Hinger; Mark Partis; Darin Prindle; S. Steve Berg. Audio Remixers: Dallas Austin; Rex Salas; Fred Jenkins; Rico Anderson. Liner Note Author: Amy Linden. Recording information: Doppler Studio, Atlanta, GA; Soundworks Studio, NY; Studio 4, Philadelphia, PA. Photographer: David Roth. Arrangers: Dallas Austin; Michael Bivins; Nathan Morris; Shawn Stockman; Wanya Morris. Boyz II Men's debut contains all the seeds that helped the vocal quartet blossom into one of the most popular and best-selling R&B acts of all time. Released in 1991, and quite unlike anything else in the mainstream at the time, COOLEYHIGHHARMONY ushered in an era of retro-leaning new jack soul that referenced doo-wop, vintage Motown, seductive R&B bedroom balladry, and dance-influenced grooves all at once. While aided greatly by polished, contemporary production, the center of Boyz II Men's success was their phenomenal, complex harmonies, which sounded so old-school they were newly hip. The album's artistic success was reflected commercially. Both of the album's singles made significant chart inroads, with the elegant "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" and the smoothly grooving theme song "Motown Philly" becoming radio and MTV staples. Yet even the deeper cuts stand up, making for a thoroughly solid album that ranks as one of the best R&B releases of the '90s. And while the group's harmony-heavy R&B may have become a bit formulaic with future releases, it sounds plenty fresh and vibrant on COOLEYHIGHHARMONY. No mere breakthrough, 1991's Cooleyhighharmony was one of the decade's biggest debuts, setting Boyz II Men well on their path to becoming what the RIAA certified the most successful R&B group of all time. Their sound, dubbed "hip-hop doo-wop" and aided in large part by the productions and arrangements of Dallas Austin, was a shrewd and flexible mix of contemporary and throwback elements. Fully exploiting the members' stunning vocal chops on ballads as a close harmony group, while hardly washed out when matched with densely layered upbeat material (new jack swing was still in full flight), the group put a mature collegiate spin on what were, at the time, the last two New Edition albums, updating the techniques reminiscent of the doo wop covered on Under the Blue Moon within a set that was as modern-sounding as the singles off Heart Break. It contains that rare mix of hot singles with several album cuts that could have just as easily been hits, the ultimate measure of a release that is both commercially and creatively successful. While the album was carried by four Top Ten R&B singles, two of which -- the swinging, anthemic "Motownphilly" and an a cappella version of the Cooley High soundtrack's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday," the tear duct activator of 1991/1992 -- went Top Five on the pop chart, there is substantial depth. The non-single highlights include the sweet slow jam "This Is My Heart," sonically somewhere between Gwen Guthrie's "Outside in the Rain" and an organic Babyface ballad, and the frantic new jack swinger "Under Pressure," perhaps too much like "Motownphilly" or Dallas Austin's most chaotic Bomb Squad-inspired productions. In its original ten-song form, in fact, Cooleyhighharmony is a brisk 40-minute set built for front-to-back listening, though the sequencing is more natural with the "adagio" and "allegro" halves switched up. For many of those responsible for its multi-platinum status, it is the album of the early '90s, "Uhh Ahh"'s amusing libidinal melisma notwithstanding. [The Expanded Edition, released in May 2009 by Hip-O Select, contains the 1993 17-track version of the album on the first disc and a 13-track second disc filled with a pile of remixes -- a collector's dream -- as well as a pair of decent unreleased songs produced by Troy Taylor and Charles Farrar.] ~ Andy Kellman

Entertainment Weekly (7/26/91) - "...a virtual catalog of contemporary black-pop grooves..." - Rating: B- Q (10/99, p.160) - Included in Q Magazine's Best Motown Records Of All Time - "...street corner soul balladeers whose mellow, lovelorn sound is an obvious heir to The Miracles. Add to that some modish and well-done hip hop and dance inflections and they were millionaires..." Q (1/93, p.78) - 3 Stars - Good - "...a succession of spectacular, deep breathing ballads..." Record Collector (magazine) (p.79) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] stone cold classic; close harmonies, quiet storm, touches of doo wop on Side One....Sexy, seductive and, despite the technical brilliance, full of feeling..."

While rap music was the music of choice on the urban charts and radio playlists by the late 1980s/early '90s, vocal group Boyz II Men re-introduced the merits of soul and contemporary R&B, laden with perfectly executed harmonies. The group became one of the most successful chart acts of the '90s, especially when their 1992 single, "The End of the Road," set the record for most weeks atop the Billboard charts, a record which they would subsequently reclaim in 1996 with the duet with Mariah Carey, "One Sweet Day."

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25