Customer Reviews

Guy

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Guy" is one of those r&b albums that they don't make anymore. It put producer Teddy Riley on the map, nearly giving Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis a run for their money. Sample-free and bursting with originality, "Guy" is the album that would introduce the genre "New Jack Swing," .... "Groove Me," "Spend the Night" and "I Like" all sound fresh and vibrant, even if the production doesn't sound a day later than 1988. But so what? Modern r&b has gotten so vanilla to the point where it's now known as Black pop. Guy, on the other hand, made slammin' records that had soul. Even if you're from the younger generation, you should still pick up this disc and introduce yourself to the great talent that is Teddy Riley.

Im the sole controller of this merrygoround baby - merry go round of love!
Once you get on there's not tellin' what's gona happen baby....so ride this ride with me !
Brother's and sisters I am still playin these sounds in my car every day 18 years on. Guy, Bobby B, Today, Basic Black, Heavy D still going on!......there is no doubt the stuff coming out today is totally mainstream and has no soul - just trash. So I live in the past and it keeps me alive inside. I'm just so glad I grew up with this. This was the album which started it all for me......sure there was B Brown, but the GUY album took it to a whole new level. Groove me is still my ultimate track......The party ain't over for me - and it never will be.

Three things can be said about Guy's self-titled debut:

1. You can truly listen to this album through the years, over and over again without getting that, 'been there, heard that' feeling or the notion that the music is out of date.

2. Of all of the titles in my music collection, this album is the one that I have had to buy over and over again. See, it gets borrowed (uhh, stolen) but never returned (little sisters, friends, artists, etc.). The album walks. Lockdown your copy :-)

3. It is hard to purchase an album that you can play straight through without skipping over the boring songs. This is definitely one of these rare albums that you can play straight through!

A Producer's View:
Guy was one of the first top-selling albums to smoothly place R&B on top of Hip Hop-oriented backbeats. In that same era, we also had albums that did the converse, i.e. smoothly place Hip Hop on top of R&B-oriented backbeats (checkout various Eddie F. productions).

One of the things that makes this album work so well is the fact that, like your classic R&B songs, many of the songs on this album are bass line driven.

Producers and other close listeners will notice that Teddy Riley utilized some of the same equipment/instrumentation on this album that he used on the Keith Sweat's debut album as well as Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" and "I'll Be Good to You." The same can be said about another song released in that time period, Al B. Sure's, "If I'm Not Your Lover." Although you won't find a production credit for Teddy Riley as a producer, that song it is surely his.

The reach and influence of Teddy Riley's production is often understated (and in some areas overstated). But, in general, people tend to sleep on Teddy Riley (particularly those who do not know producers' general signatures by ear).

For every producer who outright copies Teddy Riley (not naming names here), there is another who admires his work but remains creative in his/her own right. Yet, many of the admiring producers are still somehow influenced by Teddy Riley's 'production sensibilities'.

One of those creative, yet admiring producers is Rodney 'Dark Child' Jerkins. As a relative newcomer, 'Dark Child' is taking us to other places (good places). Still, a quick listen to his work shows that many of his 'producer sensibilities' are clearly rooted in Teddy's New Jack Swing style. Listen to Toni Braxton's "The Heat" and then to the various Teddy Riley produced cuts on Michael Jackson's "Dangerous," particularly the title track.

Some other well known producers that have been influenced by Teddy include Dave "Jam" Hall and Timmy Allen.

Conclusion:
This album is a must have for producers and other music lovers.

I think I speak for a multitude of producers when I say, "thank you Teddy Riley!"

And, I am sure I speak for music lovers everywhere when I say, "thank you Guy!"

Peace,
Hassan

teddy riley is credited with being the founder of new jack swing. he already gave us a taste of what was to come on keith sweat's debut(namely "i want her"). so it was expected that not long after, a whole album would be dedicated to his new form of urban music. forming guy in the summer of 1987, the '88 release of guy dominated the airwaves and became the new form of urban music, otherwise known as new jack swing. It spun off five r&b hits, including the '88 anthem "groove me". The other chart toppers include "i like", "round and round", "teddy's jam", and "spend the night". Other notable tracks include the outstanding ballads "piece of my love" and "goodbye love" and the slickly produced "you can call me crazy". Guy has become one of the most influential albums ever released in all of music as countless urban and pop acts began to incorporate some form of new jack swing, reaching its commercial peak in 1990. even though new jack disappeared in the early '90s, guy remains standing.

If you are looking for an album that you can listen to again and again, GUY is the one for you. This trio of Aaron Hall, Teddy Riley, and Damion Hall,delivers a sound that signalled R&B's blend of soulful vocals,with hip hop beats. The opening song "Groove Me" starts off the party. Lead singer, and accomplished solo artist, Aaron Hall provides the signature voice that many artist have imitated, with a song devoted towards getting the attentions of a lady. But " It ain't over" as super-producer Teddy Riley exclaims, before "Teddy's Jam", an introductory lesson in the New Jack Swing sound of the late 80's and early 90's. Every song on the album is full of energy and emotion. The songs "Don't Clap, (Just Dance)" and Merry Go Round" keep you looking to take someone on the dancefloor. While "Spend the Night" and "You Can Call Me Crazy" give you Teddy Riley's synthesized wizardry at its finest. The two slow songs on the album are urban classics. "Piece of My Love" and "Goodbye Love", demonstrates the strength of Aaron Hall's voice, with comparisons of him to Stevie Wonder and Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band. Indeed, GUY is a must have for the days of good music that got you in the right mood everytime.Indeed when you hear this groove, you know "It ain't over"

Ronaldo Davis

Back in the late 80's early 90's New Jack Swing was dominating the R&B charts, a subgenre blending R&B with Hip Hop beats. We all owe it to Teddy Riley that invented the genre one year prior to this when he produced Keith Sweat's debut album Make It Last Forever but he would be perfecting his invention with Guy's debut album from 1988 with a band that were singing far too more uptempo's then Sweat ever did which worked better with it's tough sound. He was also a member of this trio together with Timmy Gatling and Aaron Hall and thus having more impact on the sound then before. Like aformentioned, most songs are uptemopo's here, and who can forget "Groove Me" and the super catchy "Teddy's Jam" or "I Like" but that's not all this album has to offer, sweet ballads like "Piece of My Love" or "Goodbye My Love" pretty much make up for the abundance of uptempos. The rest of the songs are all good aswell, infact It's listenable throughout without skipping anything.

Although New Jack Swing is yesterdays's news and most of the songs are very retro it would have a huge impact on music at the time and inspiriring countless of copycats aswell as Riley expanding his genre and populizing it with Bobby Brown'sDon't Be Cruel that became a major crossover, something that Guy's album never managed. However, it goes back to the time when R&B really was R&B and not Pop and it's consumers mostly being of the same race. This album is a blueprint and would be recommended for anyone interested in exploring New Jack Swing or is a music collector. So what happened after?, Guy released another album The Future in 1990 before disbanding (later reuniting) that album wasn't bad but there were simply too many simular sounding bands out there at the time that it didn't stand out. Riley continued producing and founded Blackstreet, produced MJ's Dangerous and also discovered producers the Neptunes. 5 stars. Check it out.

The late 80s and early 90s will forever be remembered as a time of great musical innovation. The best we can do with the past is reminisce and this CD is a great accompaniment of that. Teddy Riley and the guys set a trend that been hard to follow. With this particular CD they went so far where no other has gone. For all those past 20 years my favorite remains to be "Piece Of My Love", I can never get enough of this track.

YO - this is the CD that kicked off the RnB sound of the 1990s - NEW JACK SWING!!
Hip-hop infused RnB changed the game completely and forever.

'Groove Me' - possibly the funkiest jam of all time??!

Teddy Riley and Co. are musical gods!

It brings back much memories of my growing up in the 80's.

Guy S/T Album is my 2nd Guy album
[My First is The Future which is a timeless classic with tons of Killer Songs!]

I can't easily found their debut in Hong Kong,
so Finally I order it,
I can't forget how happy I could be when the cd arrived!

Groove Me - A Big Hit from this album,
A Best Opening for this classic album,
A Classic and Pure New Jack Swing Sample!
Smooth Butt-Shaking Beat, make you dance,
Simple, Repeative Chorus with Aaron Hall Great Voice! 10/10

Teddy's Jam - Although Aaron sing some melody,
but it's more like an instrumental song,
All you can hear is
Teddy Riley's Talent for make some Great Beat and melody
The Future album got a Part 2 of this Jam,
and that one is better! 9/10

Don't Clap... Just Dance - Hard and Heavy Beat,
Great Verse, Pre-Chorus and Great Hook!
Just a Very awesome NJS song! 9/10

You Can Call Me Crazy - The Beat sounds little bit dated now,
but Still very great!
And I Love the guy who sing this song,
I'm not sure who sing it [Teddy or the 3rd member?]
Nice Thin Voice!
The hook is very brainwash, after few listens,
I keep singing "You Can Call Me Crazy", OMG!!! 10/10

Piece Of My Love - KILLER SLOW JAM!
Great Vocal by Aaron Hall And I love those Lyrics,
Smooth Beat and Beautiful Bass Line,
I never listen a song as much as this one!
This song is already worth you buy this album! 10/10

I Like - Another one GREAT NJS tunes,
Aaron Hall Give us some Killer Vocal Line,
The Verse is Awesome and The Hook is unforgattable!
As Good As You Can Call Me Crazy! 10/10

the 2nd half of the album sadly not as good as the first half,
[but Goodbye Love is another Great Slow Jam!]
those song ain't bad at all, but after couple play time,
I kinda get tired of them,
Only the first half songs are timeless classic!


Lots of People said this S/T is better than The Future,
I think S/T is more important and groundbreaking
but The Future is little bit better!

Guy S/T is the Most Important NJS release,
and it's an absolutely Classic!!!
I highly recommend all of y'all,
if you wanna try/know what's NJS!
Go get It Now!