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	Motown A Journey Through Hitsville USA Boyz II Men Decca, 2007 average customer review:based on 43 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Boyz II Men is the most successful R&B male vocal group of all time. They've recorded five #1 R&B hits between 1992 and 1997 and have since sold more than 90 million albums and 50 million singles.

Three of their #1 hits, "End of the Road", "I'll Make Love to You", and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), set and broke records for the longest period of time a single remained at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when Motown truly was "The Sound of Young America".

Once upon a time four talented young students at Philadelphia's High School of Creative and Performing Arts formed an R & B vocal quartet. Before long Michael, Nathan, Wanya and Shawn would come to be known as Boyz II Men. And the rest as they say is rock and roll history. Throughout the 1990's Boyz II Men would amass an impressive total of ten Top Ten hits on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. Remarkably, five of these tunes would make it all the way to number one!! In 2004 Michael McCary would be forced to leave the group due to a chronic back ailment. Fast forward to the fall of 2007. Boyz II Men is now a trio and Decca Records releases the groups latest album "Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA". This disc features a baker's dozen of some of the most enjoyable Motown tunes of all time. It is an absolute joy to listen to!
Of all of the songs on "Motown" perhaps my favorite is the remake of Stevie Wonder's 1967 smash "I Was Made To Love Her". I had never heard any other artist do this tune and the guys prove to be more than equal to the task. Outstanding! I also thoroughly enjoyed the groups rendition of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". This 1962 classic was really Motown's first big hit and Boyz II Men inject new energy into this venerable tune. Among my other favorites on this disc are "All This Love", "It's The Same Old Song/Reach Out, I'll Be There" medley and most especially "War". This 1970 anthem originally recorded by Edwin Starr has never sounded better! And I would be remiss if I failed to make mention the final track on this disc. Brian McKnight leads the guys in a memorable acapella version of Boyz II Men's biggest hit "The End of The Road." Fans of group harmony will find this track to be simply irresistable.
"Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA" proves to be one of those rare albums with multi-generational appeal. Younger fans who enjoyed the groups work in the 1990's will certainly not be disappointed. And those of us who are quite a bit older and purchased these original Motown 45's when we were teenagers will enjoy this disc as well. I thought that most of the arrangements were outstanding and the vocal performances stunning. Having said that I am sorry to report that according to my ears special guest Patti Labelle's performance on "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" left a lot to be desired. But that one minor negative aside "Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA" turns out to be one of the most enjoyable new discs I have heard in quite some time. I think you will agree. Highly recommended!

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FABULOUS!!!

This is the best Motown CD ever. I listen to it all the time. If you love Motown, this is the CD for you. It is absolutely fantastic.


Boyz/Motown

As a baby boomer, it was quite refreshing as well as enjoyable to hear the selections by Boyz to Men of Motown
classics. All in all, it is an excellent CD


One question: WHY?

Over the years, many artists have sought to recapture the unique sonic glory that was Motown, most notably Michael McDonald (Motown and Motown Two). Motown's hit-producing team under Berry Gordy included house band the Funk Brothers (Standing In The Shadows of Motown), whose unique sound forged nearly every Motown hit into an enduring classic, and the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland (Heaven Must Have Sent You: The Holland/Dozier/Holland Story). Boyz II Men felt a need to revisit several Motown standards such as Stevie Wonder's I Was Made To Love Her, Smokey Robinson's The Tracks of My Tears, Edwin Starr's War, Lionel Ritchie's Easy, Barret Strong's Money, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing, Marvin Gaye's Mercy Mercy Me, The Temptations' Just My Imagination, and the Four Tops' It's the Same Old Song/ Reach Out.

My first and foremost question is WHY Boyz II Men felt the need to update these classics. Several labels including Hip-O Select are still producing remastered Motown box sets (Hip-O Select's Complete Motown Singles are worth the price). My opinion on Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA fell into two camps: first, some of the rerecordings are made to sound nearly identical to the originals, down to the Funk Brothers' backing tracks (I Was Made To Love Her, the aptly political and time-sensitive War and Mercy Mercy Me), which begs the question of why a duplicate version was necessary. Other songs such as Got To Be There sounded like watered-down elevator music. Patti LaBelle's duet on Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing was a nice thought, and the album could have benefitted from other Motown stars making appearances.

That's not to say that Motown doesn't have its redeeming qualities; it has the potential to reach out to younger generations raised on Boyz II Men but who are ultimately unfamiliar with the original Motor City classics. I appreciated the attempt to pay tribute to such an enduring and influential musical movement. It makes for pleasant background music, but pales next to its inspirations.

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Not as good as it could be

Okay, I've seen the boyz sing the songs live. I've seen them dancing, jumping, turning, having fun, exhausting themselves and still the songs sounded ten times better than on the album. Needless to point out that something must have gone awfully wrong during production of this cd.
And there is one other gripe I have. When the guys perform the songs from this cd on stage, you can hear bass parts being sung and spoken. When you look at the boyz you know it's not coming from any of them. This leads me to thinking that the boyz know that they're sorely missing a bass voice. The group just isn't whole without Mike, and they should realise that. I've read an interview with the remaining fellows indirectly confirming that there had been some tensions within the group that, aside from his back condition also lead Mike to leave, which is a shame. Since he's still out there, active, producing, acting, making music, for Pete's sake get him back! He is Boyz II Men as much as any of the other guys, and although the vocals on this album are grand as ever, anyone who's known the group from the beginning is missing the round perfect harmonies.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9



Tracks
It Was Just My Imagination - The Temptations | It's The Same Old Song/ Reach Out, I'll Be There - The Four Tops | Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye | Tracks of My Tears - Smokey Robinson and The Miracles | Money (That's What I Want) - Barrett Strong | Easy - The Commodores | I Was Made To Love Her - Stevie Wonder | All This Love - Debarge | Ribbon In The Sky - Stevie Wonder | Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell | Got To Be There - Michael Jackson | War - Edwin Starr | End of The Road - Boyz To Men

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