Published on Apr 16, 1998
Remember the old saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it
too?” A ’90s translation of that would be: You can’t be successful
in two different fields and expect to be experts in both. (Look at
Chicago’s own beloved Michael Jordan, when he retired from
basketball to play baseball. ‘Nuff said.)
This is a message that California-based R&B group All-4-One
would have been wise to heed on their self-titled debut album.
Their ballads are incredibly powerful, but when they try to get
funky, it’s laughable.
Jamie Jones, Tony Borowiak, Delious and Alfred Nevarez make up
this four-piece harmony group, and almost immediately you can tell
they’re gunning for Boyz II Men. Their cover of “So Much In Love”
is proof enough of this – though they do a respectable job on this
number.
The smash hit, of course, is “I Swear,” which topped the
Billboard charts for 11 weeks. You gotta admit, it’s a beautiful
song – and it will always have special meaning for me, as it was
the first song my wife and I danced to at our wedding reception.
(This one was her choice – immediately after, we danced to mine,
Richard Marx’s “Now And Forever”.) The pleading and devotion of
love that is vocalized in this song is immediately appealing and
overwhelming – and there’s little doubt why it topped the charts
for so long.
In fact, most of the first side of
All-4-One is comprised of such moody, slower-tempoed ballads
in which the singers plead for the love of their lives to come back
and give them one more chance. “Oh Girl”, “A Better Man” and
“Without You” stand out among the best on this album.
Ah, if only All-4-One had left well enough alone. Side two has
the four lads gettin’ jiggy with it – and with one exception, it
just doesn’t work. C’mon, going from promising that your cheating
days are over to declaring that she “puts the motion in the ocean”
on “(She’s Got) Skillz” is stretching credibility like so much
taffy at a church fair: sooner or later, you’re gonna get tangled
up. And in the case of All-4-One, they tangle in their own web
really quick.
There is one exception to this second side mess – “The Bomb,” a
track I can’t help liking despite the style shift. It’s a track
that sounds like numerous hits you’ve tapped your foot to before,
yet you can’t quite place your finger on it. Whatever the case, it
works here.
Still, it would have been better for All-4-One to have selected
one vein of R&B to tap, especially on their first outing. And
judging from the smash hit of “I Swear,” it doesn’t take a genius
(or even the artist formerly known as genius) to figure out which
way to turn.
All-4-One is still a somewhat enjoyable listen, especially
the first half of the album. But when the gloves come off midway
through, be ready to swerve out of the way.