Search - Boyz II Men :: Cooleyhighharmony (Plus Spanish Tracks)

It has my all time favorite song "End of the Road"

A. Lawson | 10/06/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't care how good or bad the other songs may sound, but nothing tops end of the road, I can still hear that song everyday and I'll never get tired of it. It means so much to me that when I die, I want the song to be played at my funeral."

Reissue With Extra Tracks Makes it Irresistable

Josephll | CET | 02/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Boyz II Men and Jodeci were almost formed at the same time but throughout their careers they were complete opposites, Jodeci were the cool and sexy tough guys when Boyz II Men were the sensitive laidback nice guys that made a legacy out of mature ballads mostly written by Babyface. Their career in the beginning of the 90's was second to none, they almost sold 25 million copies with their first two albums, this one and II and scored with several hits that would became some of the longest-running number one pop singles in history. There are few other R&B groups that can compare to that. Members Nathan & Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman and Michael McCracy also differ from Jodeci, New Edition and simular groups in the sense that they work excellent as a quartet but few could point of the names of the individual singers, on the other hand few sing as good together as Boyz II Men or were capable of making as memorable hits as they did and that's why they sold better then anyone else. They debut album from 1991 "Cooleyhighharmony" differ from their latter music though, on this release they're still searching for their trademark sound and we have an album divided into two categories, New Jack Swing Uptempo's and classic Ballads, to make it even more interesting we also get a few a cappella songs that would make 60's Doo Wop groups proud. Babyface, Michael Bivins ( New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe) and Dallas Austin stands for the production.



For those of your that bought the album back in the day probably recall another album cover and a way shorter playlist, this version is actually a reissue and feature a few more songs. A few remixes, one spanish version and two more songs that were left out of the original release, the beautiful a cappella cover of the Five Satins 1956 hit "In The Still of The Night" and Boomerang soundtrack "End of the Road" that quite surprisingly didn't appear on the original release. The song spent an incredible 13 weeks as #1 on the singles chart, a record at the time. The album starts with four romantic ballads, "Please Don't Go" and "Lonely Heart" and "This Is My Heart", "Uhh Ahh" all alright but no standouts. Two a cappella songs follow, the splendid "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday". With the lyrics "It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories/ To be my sunshine after the rain" I think the song is about how hard it is to look back at old memories and accept that they are part of the past and will never come back, it could be about a relationship but also about childhood memories or old friends that you never see again. There is also another version of it with sound, but I like the A Cappella better. "In The Still Of The Night" is also A cappella song about old memories, this time most defenitely about a girl. Dallas Austin and Michael Bivins show their best sides with the upcoming 3 songs, "Motownphilly", "Under Pressure" and "Sympin" all catchy New Jack Swing!. "Motownphilly" was a big hit single and reached #3 it also feature a cameo from ?uestlove from The Roots (minus that afro). This is their best uptempo and shows the tender lovermen suddenly finding street cred. Next song is called "Little Things" and it got this somewhat caribbean beat and is a midtempo and they sing "Little things mean a lot

Appreciate what you got/If you give all what you have/It's forever we'll last/Don't sit around and wait for all The great things in your life", I couldn't agree more with that. "Your Love" is another midtempo with a sound quite typical for it's time. The last song "End Of The Road" closes the album and it's a good way to do it cause this is one of the sweetest love songs of all time. Babyface is a genius and few other one's sing it like the Boyz. The song is about the end of a relationship where one part don't want to let go. I'm sure most people can see themselves in this song, like aformentioned it spent 13 weeks at #1 making it the biggest hit of 1992.



Overall, This was a great album but with a few additions it became even better. It's especially hard to Imagine that "End of The Road" didn't appear on the original album release. With the perfect mix of uptempos and ballads it's also unique in the Boyz II Men catalogue and that's why "Cooleyhighharmony" is a special album worth purchasing for anyone interested in early 90's R&B. Having said that, this is simply a classic.

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