Jam With Teddy (Again) (The Future - Guy)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	The Future - Guy
Date:	31/08/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of big tunes

Disadvantages: Generally a step down from their debut

In 1990, Guy came back with their second and what would be their last for nearly 10 years, as the lead singer and producer Teddy Riley went on to form BLACKstreet soon after. "The Future" finds Guy returning with more of their innovative New Jack Swing material, mixed in with calmer ballad compositions too, just as with their 1988 debut where Riley teamed up with Timmy Gatlin and Aaron Hall.

1. "Her"

He album begins with them jumping directly into a lively and exciting Swingbeat composition, in which you find that Teddy decides that the "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" break is the perfect choice for backing as they do one which seems to combine the expected style with a little Chicago House material to for strong results with them getting down to some rap as well as the nice R&B vocals.

**Four Stars**

2. "Wanna Get With U"

This is a fly joint form them which has them doing things in a style which you would expect to get from Bobby brown at the time, all of the aspects of it, form the melody, to the beats to the way it is sung sounds like something he would do and its all down to the fact that Riley was behind much of Bobby's work post-New Edition.

**Five Stars**

3. "Do Me Right"

On top of more of the funky, lively beats you see that this one has them starting things with more of the raps before them chooses to get into a seductive bedroom joint. It takes you in and forces you to groove along with them in the way that they presented as they broke through on their debut record.

**Five Stars**

4. "Teddy's Jam 2" (Lude)

5. "Let's Chill"

Off a lively track from Teddy , where he lays down some of his best Hip Hop-inspired beats, this one has them changing the direction of the music, whereby they chooses to turn things towards the emotive side. You have early Voice Box usage form Teddy to try and implement this technique in the same way that Roger Troutman had with Zapp, but here for a much more calming effect.

**Four Stars**

6. "Tease Me Tonite"

Here they are seen to get into a sensual one, which would apparently be more of the workings towards future material which would be seen as Teddy moved on and formed BLACKstreet ass what you get from this seems to be a song which is of-the-time, but was adapted for something such as "Baby Be Mine" as they do a big slow jam here.

**Four Stars**

7. "D-O-G Me Out"

They are seen to move away from form the Quiet Storm material here in order to beat their Swing back, and I felt that through this funky single 9which samples James Brown's "I Feel Good", they were able to do things incredibly effectively here as they do one which is designed to attracted the males back, after perhaps being cut off by the couple prior to this.

**Five Stars**

8. "Total Control"

With more James Brown being used (His "Funky Drummer" wah-wahs in this case) this one has them grooving along to some energetic Swingbeat to show them exploring this kind of stuff to a greater degree here by having them show just how effectively they can take the raps of it as they make this the main attraction of it.

**Five Stars**

9. "Gotta Be A Leader"

This is a funky and hyped jam from the group, in which they are seen to get on top of some of the most attention-grabbing classic Funk and Hip Hop samples, and from her you see them going for the expected as they provide some raps in addition to the singing as they express how they lead the game.

**Five Stars**

10. "The Future"

The titular track form the album has them going for an expectedly futuristic one where, after throwing in some spacey sound effects, they give a potential possibly direction of the New jack Swing world on this one as they are seen to merge the typical Swingbeat and breaks with a song which takes on all the attributes of a typical mid-tempo song. It is strange, and takes a while to get into, but I felt that it worked.

**Four Stars**

11. "Let's Stay Together"

This is a nice one from them as they are seen to get into one where they get into some progressive New Jack Swing and are seen to take things in a direction which you don't tend to expect from this genre with their choice of bringing up the tempo of a love song inn order to pull together couples in a time of need.

**Four Stars**

12. "Where Did The Love Go" (Lude)

13. "Yearning For Your Love"

Covering The Gap Band, you see that with this one they work in a little throwback joint to add to the variety of the album. I felt that there made the most out of the material, and although they didn't make many drastic changes, they made sure that it was made to be theirs in this case with Teddy's beats.

**Five Stars**

14. "Smile"

This one is a freaky one form them and it gets them doing a song which was very much on-trend for the time with the choice in beats which were given and the way that they were used in a experimental way in order to show how well they can be moved on from the typical bedroom tune towards a much more general one which has them taking the time to appreciate the loving relationship they are in.

**Five Stars**

15. "Long Gone"

I was surprised that the final song on the album wasn't one which has them ending things in a suitably strong way in order to represent the general high standard which was found through the album. With this they get into one where they choose to do things in a different way as they choose to turn towards a more pop-styled song, and it ruins what came before, to just for the cheesy song, but for vocals which you can't excuse for their low standard.

***Two Stars**

Even went not taking the final track into consideration, I felt that this wasn't as strong an album as their debut with there being generally a feeling that it wasn't quite reaching the standards which were saw as they stepped in as a fresh act before. However, for anyone who was into the R&B of this time, you can't do without some of the tunes here and so you will need this album.

Summary: Guy's second album