Guided by impresario Jazzie B (né Beresford Romeo) and Überproducer Nellee Hooper, Soul II Soul found success with songs that grooved, deceptively simple beats and the enthralling voice of Caron Wheeler. Positive racial messages were laid over seductive house beats and African percussion on 1989's Keep On Movin'.

But the vision soon unraveled. Vol. II – 1990 – A New Decade, the follow-up LP, lacked a clear focus, echoing the debut album's sentiments and tempos. Soul II Soul hit the global road with new vocalists (Wheeler had bailed for a solo career), shouting their dictum, "A happy face, a thumping bass for a loving race," while the intragroup squabbling grew louder. Musicians and dancers quit with dizzying speed, then Hooper left for more enticing projects like Björk and U2. Jazzie was alone.

Hooper's confident mixing of samples and rhythmic complexities was missed on the Jazzie-produced Vol. III: Just Right. He had fallen asleep at the wheel while acid jazz and trip-hop crept onto England's dance floors. Vol. V: Believe, a valiant effort considering the source, doesn't fail as miserably. But trite, warmed-over ballads like "Be a Man" and the haven't-I-heard-this-somewhere-before traditional R&B grooves of "Pride," "I Care (Soul II Soul)" and "Love Enuff" won't persuade anyone to stick around for long.

Yet gems emerge. The acid-jazz-inspired instrumentals "How Long," "Zion" and "Game Dunn" manage to charm (such numbers were more filler than propulsive entr'actes even on Vol. I). The Middle Eastern-flavored "Ride On" and "Sunday" show imagination; Jazzie still has an ear for the ladies: Charlotte Kelly and Penny Ford are warm-voiced stylists, and Caron Wheeler makes a welcome return.

But try as he might, Jazzie B can't persuade, er, fool, us again. Japan's acid-jazz king, DJ Krush, trip-hopper Tricky, American producer Dallas Austin and even Nellee Hooper have taken what positive things they could from Soul II Soul's carcass – the sudden but subtle tempo changes, the bold mixing of musical genres for effect, the use of offbeat instrumentation – for their own innovative purposes. (RS 720)

MARIE ELSIE ST. LÉGER