One Man

Ever the sensitive guy, R&B loverman Tank thoughtfully divides his sophomore disc in two, front-loading it with tender, sexed-up balladry and saving the up-tempo stuff for the second half. On the surface, it's an especially welcome gesture because, in the reverse of how this formula usually works, Tank is much more likely to lose listeners when he aims for the dancefloor than the bedroom. The slow jams here, while a trifle short in the personality department, are decent enough efforts; almost exclusively overseen by Tank himself, they include a pair of keepers with classic lineage. "Supa Sexy" is a successfully atmospheric rewrite of "Sexual Healing," while "Make Me Wanna Sing" uses a sped-up vocal sample from Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You" to create the album's most memorable tune. But when Tank brings aboard members of the Cash Money clan (plus some lesser-known producers) to establish his bangin' bona fides, One Man becomes one heck of a drag. The nadir is the lethargic shout-out "Club," unlikely to ever be played in one. If you make it that far, the shame of the sequencing soon becomes evident, because two of Tank's best efforts are buried at disc's end: the acoustic-based "Better Man" could nearly be neo-soul, and although it inhabits a large patch of R. Kelly territory, "I Still Believe" is still enjoyable melodrama. Minus the club cuts, this collection wouldn't be half-bad, but at least the CD programming won't require much effort. ~ Dan LeRoy