Don't Be Cruel - 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

ニュー・エディション出身のバブルガム・シンガーを大人のスターへと導いたエポックメイキングなセカンド・アルバム。テディ・ライリーがガイの作法そのままに仕立てたニュー・ジャック・スウィング"My Prerogative"も熱いが、より広い層にアピールしたのはLAリード&ベイビーフェイスによる都会的な名スロウ"Rock Wit'cha"や"Roni"、そしてダンスの魅力を明快に伝えるポップな"Every Little Step"だった。リマスターも施されたこの35周年記念盤は、翌年の映画「ゴーストバスターズ2」主題歌だった"On Your Own"などを追加し、各ヒットのリミックス群を満載しまくりまくった特盛の2枚組!
bounce (C)出嶌孝次

Don't Be Cruel was to Bobby Brown what Control was to Janet Jackson -- a tougher, more aggressive project that shed his "bubblegum" image altogether and brought him to a new artistic and commercial plateau. With "My Prerogative" and the title song, Brown became a leader of new jack swing -- a forceful, high-tech blend of traditional soul singing and rap/hip-hop that's also associated with Guy and Brown's New Edition colleagues, Bell Biv DeVoe. Brown had been a strong advocate of rap since his days with New Edition, and on Cruel, he did even more rapping than before. But for all the tough-mindedness he exhibited on his new jack hits, the charismatic Bostonian hadn't lost his love of sentimental, old-fashioned R&B romanticism -- and he definitely excels in that area on his hits "Every Little Step," "Roni," and "Rock Wit'cha." Much of Cruel was produced by the ubiquitous production/songwriting duo L.A. Reid and Babyface, who've often been accused (and rightly so) of taking a formulaic, cookie-cutter approach to R&B. But here, their work is never less than inspired. ~ Alex Henderson