Ginuwine: 100% Ginuwine : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

That Star Search-ready technique of belting until you bust a gut has grown mighty tired, so it's refreshing when an R&B loverman gets smoove without the schmaltz. The bump-'n'-grinding set of granite abs known as Ginuwine doesn't flaunt the monster lung power of a Johnny Gill, yet superstar producer and soul savior Timbaland transforms G's vocal limitations into sonic soap-opera realness. Amping up the delicious excesses of Ginuwine's debut, Ginuwine . . . the Bachelor, Timbaland turns every track into high, often hilarious drama with libidinous lyrics, slow-burning hooks, cinematic sound effects and more crafty rhythmic maneuvers than the Oval Office. The bedroom action climaxes when the music halts midway through "Do You Remember" and an enraged mom flips out over what her daughter and Ginuwine did to the sofa. You know the man has showbiz on the brain when "She's out of My Life" sticks so true to the original that it reprises Michael Jackson's tearful sniffles. (RS 809)

BARRY WALTERS