Customer Reviews

C.M.B.

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most likely when someone tosses out the term boy-band, N'Sync or Backstreet Boys come to mind. However, Color Me Badd was doing their thing years before those two groups, and much better. Ok, so New Kids On The Block were around too, but they weren't as badd. These guys have a "Best Of" out also, but the best of that is basically right on this album. Included is their biggest hit "I Wanna Sex You Up". That track was in the movie "New Jack City", and is also here in reprise form. Other hits were "I Adore Mi Amore", "Thinkin' Back", and the extremely catchy "All 4 Love". The bottom line is that these guys were so badd they were good, and where else are you gonna get George Michael, Terence Trent D'Arby, Vanilla Ice, and Kenny G on the same album?

Color Me Badd burst onto the scene in 1990 with a buoyant song from the New Jack City soundtrack, "I Wanna Sex You Up". A bouncy beat with nice vocals drove this song to #2 on the charts, setting the stage for this album which, despite three Top 2 hits, never garnered that much attention.

But Color Me Badd made some great radio singles, the best one being "I Adore Mi Amor", showcasing the different styles of the four singers: Ranging from low and smoky to high and nasal, from gyrating imp to seductive gentleman. The other chart-topper, "All 4 Love", was pretty silly, but notable for being the song that broke Mariah Carey's #1 singles streak by keeping "Can't Let Go" at #2.

CMB's songwriting and performances somehow all seem fresher and less calculating than the manufactured pop of forerunners New Kids on the Block or current darlings Backstreet Boys, and by not pretending to be street or tough, Color Me Badd wins points for honesty. They were kids singing about love and teen troubles, and their vocal prowess (and diversity, a weak spot in the current boy bands who generally can sing but all sound alike) helped make the recordings work within modest confines.

So I'm in between cities and I just moved into my parents place for the first time since the mid-90s. I start looking through my ancient tape collection, and I find the Color Me Badd debut. Forgetting the melody for which they were famous, I pop in the tape, I hear "I Wanna Sex You Up" and I am instantly transported to the land where In Living Color and Beverly Hills 90210 are the hippest shows on television, the San Francisco earthquake recently happened, LA Gears were the sh*t, and my best friend just dared me to walk through the park. At night and alone. With a boy.

And surprisingly, the music ain't that bad! (VH1 reveals they were discovered by Kool & The Gang, which means they can't be that horrible!) I am grooving on the a cappella twist, the paradoxically provocative yet innocent lyrics ("Make sweet lovin all night long/ I wanna sex you up/ Feels so right it can't be wrong"), and the drum machine! The ballads and the fast numbers are actually quite danceable; imagine the Fly Girls doing their hot little dance moves in the background.

I find the I can more easily admit to owning a Color Me Badd tape than an NKOTB tape, and their legitimate singing abilities and street cred (their first single "I Wanna Sex You Up" was on the "New Jack City" soundtrack) help in this. But actually "I Adore Mi Amor" is a surprise hit of the evening, one I keep rewinding again and again. See what another reviewer said about the showcasing of singing styles. (I'm down with the "seductive gentleman" voice myself.) I wonder how many couples chose this little number as their wedding song in 1992 (and how many will admit to it.) "Slow motion" also rules the school.

Shockingly, I think this tape is coming with me on my move. Color Me Badd deserves a revival among my twentysomething friends, who will surely squeal with delight when I drop these tracks. They will surely be riding the wave of the "Best of 90s" radio show coming to you in the next decade. Brace yourselves, CMB-haters!

Way back in 1992 I first listened to Color Me Badd and ever since I have loved their music! What I like about them is their great voices and the cool variety of music mixed in with an urban feel. My favorite singer of the band is Mark Calderon. He has such a wonderful voice and I love the songs that he has a good amount of time singing in. If you love Color Me Badd or love to hear a band that you are not familiar with then I strongly recommend that your purchase this CD today!

CMB rode the crest of their (New Jack City featured hit) biggest hit "I Wanna Sex You Up" to the hilt, and it all culminates on this album.

In truth, it's not all that bad for disposable pop, and as the other reviews state, it was far more honest than any of the other pop albums in the charts at that time. Chart hits "I Wanna...", "All 4 Love", and "I Adore Mi Amore" were the most celebrated, but "Slow Motion" was undeniably funky (featuring Bootsy Collins in the video, if I recall!), and "Thinkin' Back", while certainly a b-side at heart, was a nice bit of a-cappella singing at a time when we were all getting hammered with the BoysIIMen overkill.

CMB would go on to have another few hits ("Time And Chance,"Forever Love" and my personal fave "Choose"), but if you put them in the category of soul, a la Kool And the Gang, they don't rate too badly, even after all these years.

This is a great CD, I don't think it's CMB's best album (put next to Awakening and Time and Chance), but what can you expect? It was their first record ever and was a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

I bought this album when it first came out and I still listen to it time and time again. There are quite a few chart toppers on it, i.e I wanna sex you up, All 4 Love, I adore mi amor, Thinkin' Back (my personal fave), and Slow Motion.

I highly recommend this album to anyone looking for some nostalgic R&B/Pop groovin' music! This CD won't disappoint!

P.S. (...)

I got this cd when I was twelve, now I am twenty-three and still listen to this album. I listen to "Thinkin Back", which makes me reflect on certain things that happened with girls I dated. I listen to "I Ador Mi Amor", just for how beautiful it is to think of loving someone that strongly. "Roll the Dice" is a great song, one that actually makes you realize you have to take chances in life, it's not about always doing what is sure to be safe and easy. The big hits at the time "I Wanna Sex You Up" and "All for Love" were the reason I wanted the cd back then, but now just serve as fillers in between the previously mentioned songs and other r and b songs like "Slow Motion" and "Heartbreaker". The cd has some typical "boy band" sounds to it, but it also has some powerful and energetic beats. I recommend it to anyone looking for something to listen to when you are home alone and just wanna chill out.

THE FIRST CD OF A GREAT BAND CMB WAS A GREAT INTRUDUCTION TO SHOW THE WORLD WHO WAS COLOR ME BADD.

Not too long ago, I was watching an old episode of 90210 and I saw these guys. They were singing "i adore mi amor" acapella and it sounded awesome. I couldn't get it out of my head. Then a few days later, I was watching the Centric channel and the video for "thinkin back" came on and I loved it. I immediately went to youtube but, to my dismay, they didn't have the video. I was so desperate to hear the song that I did something drastic. I went on Amazon.com and bought the CD. When it finally arrived I popped it in the player and listened to it. It sounds a lot like many of the other New Jack Swing albums that came out back in the day (think P.M. Dawn, Ralph Tresvant, Shai), but like the other artists of that era, they brought something unique. I'm not a fan of every track on the album. In fact, they really could have done without songs like slow motion and the reprise of "I wanna sex you up", which really a bad idea. But The songs I love, I really love, especially the 2 that made my buy the album. The other 2 songs they released were really fun (all 4 love, I wanna sex you up. Most the other songs were generic but if you love early 90s R&B like I do, you enjoy them anyway.

i very much like this cd but save for one song i purchased this cd more for my son.