There was a time when Larry Blackmon's yowl was a definite signal to be on the lookout for the funk. Cameo's leader and main vocalist is the owner of a wonderfully whiny-horny mocking blurt of a voice. Over the years, on hits like "She's Strange," "Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck" and, most of all, "Word Up," Blackmon and crew have unleashed vicious beats and sly lyrics. Cameo always seemed to be ahead of the game, no matter what the current rules were. But on Real Men ... Wear Black, Cameo appears to have abandoned its position as a trendsetter and settled for being one of many good funk groups on the scene. It's a damn shame, 'cause there are flashes – especially in "Attitude" and the tough single "I Want It Now" – when Cameo's old snarl and snap break through. What isn't on this disc is the stream-of-consciousness babble that was Cameo's forte. Only on "Get Paid," which features a pointed jab at Manuel Noriega's relations with the U.S., do the rhymes approach the total Cameo experience. Conversely, "Nan-Yea" is so ridiculous that Blackmon must have run out of ideas.

It's not that Real Men isn't a good record. It is. It will no doubt be the hit of many a late-summer jam. It's just that for those Cameo fans who have come to expect a little something beyond the ordinary, Real Men is a bit of a letdown. The irony is that if this album were a debut, it would be pretty damn impressive. It is to Larry Blackmon's credit that his past triumphs make you wish his current stuff were more adventurous. (RS 586)

AMY LINDEN