Consumer Guide Album

Another Bad Creation: Coolin' at the Playground Ya Know! [Motown, 1991]
The lead kiddies have more trouble making the notes than Michael Jackson or Ralph Tresvant ever did. So I figure they'll wear off before they grow on me. But nonsexist Bell Biv Devoe is my idea of great concept--who cares whether their two best songs are "Poison" in disguise as long as neither beats up on the object of its terrified affections? Michael Bivins's juxtaposition of boy sopranos against dissonant jackbeats is pedagogy at its finest. "Spydermann," which also sounds kind of like "Poison," is in the great tradition of Mother Earth's "Marvel Group." And sampling their parents is a cute idea. B+