With its thick, multilayered soundscape, Guy's first single, "Groove Me," from 1988, came at the listener in a rush – head down, fists clenched – looking for a fight. Near the end of its five-minute beatdown, keyboardist-vocalist Teddy Riley announced, "It's not over!" Indeed it wasn't: The hits just kept coming. This Harlem trio – Aaron and Damion Hall are the other members – pumped up jams and chilled out hotties with swinging titles that included "Piece of My Love," "Spend the Night" and "My Fantasy." While Guy, the group's debut LP, sailed past platinum, Riley was becoming big-daddy producer, collaborating with messengers from the heavenly father above (the gospel quartet the Winans) and hip-hop homies from the street below (Heavy D. and the Boyz, Kool Moe Dee).

Yet brewing beneath the band's musical bliss were backstage violence – a member of Guy's crew was shot by one of New Edition's crew – and management hassles that could've resulted in a protracted wait for Guy's second album. Things didn't take so long to settle, fortunately, and The Future is here now. This project is a group effort; it more deeply involves the Halls, who co-wrote, co-produced and even played keyboards, and its theme is etched out in the cut "Total Control."

Though the album's first single, "Wanna Get With U," charts little new territory, The Future (a judicious blend of raunch and backbeat, balladry and funk) gets deeper on several other tunes, including "Long Gone" – a swaying dedication to dearly departed souls, from the jazz jewel Sarah Vaughan to Riley's half-brother Brandon Mitchell, formerly of Wrecks-n-Effect – and the Princely "D-O-G Me Out." The former tune, sung with off-key abandon by Riley, sounds like a version of "Bennie and the Jets" souped up for the Concorde age.

For the first time, Damion (who replaced Timmy Gatling after Guy was tracked) is featured, and on "Gotta Be a Leader," he raps it up with his partners and Wrecks-n-Effect. Although the tune names no names, it's clearly aimed at Guy's clean-scalped former manager, Gene Griffin, and his newest protégés in Basic Black, a Guy knockoff: "First things first/Burst the bubble of the baldhead trouble/Copycat us, this and that – tryin' to make a double.... Jump off the jimmy now Mr. Clean!"

Meanwhile, five lubricious ballads and the dance jam "Do Me Right" are directed at the females. Featuring overweight lover Heavy D., "Do Me Right" lays real emotions on the line, then warns, "Don't turn into an acrobat and flip overnight." These Guys want to be pleased, not deceived. Even in the future, some things never change. (RS 595)

HAVELOCK NELSON