BBD stands for Bell Biv DeVoe, named after the three New Edition members (Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe) who made up this 80's new jack swing outfit. It also makes sense that the letters stand for Bewildered, Baffled, and Dumbfounded, which is what one will be after listening to this collection of tunes. After all, does a halfway-decent, spin-off band (best remembered for the phrase "Smack it up, flip it, rub it down") really merit a greatest hits collection? And only seven years after Hootie Mack--their last, largely unnoticed album--came out? Probably not. But there's a certain pleasure in hearing cuts poised pleasantly between cheese and nostalgia, such as the group's biggest hits "Poison" and "Do Me!", as well as lesser-known, giggle-inducing tracks such as "She's Dope! (a.k.a. Dope!)" and "Ghetto Booty." However, given that the Guy reunion album disappeared from the scene only moments after it dropped, it's probably safe to say that new jack swing isn't quite ready to make a comeback anytime soon. --Sylvia W. Chan
The 20th Century Masters series is the best-selling single-artist line in music history and is being re-released by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in its ground-breaking, environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable, continuing the company's long-standing commitment to being "green."To further reduce the amount of paper in the Eco-Pack, the CD booklet will no longer be offered. Official liner notes are easily accessible on the Internet at http://www.ilovethatsong.com/green.UMe is the first North American music company to replace the traditional jewel case with recycled paperboard sleeves and the plastic tray with trays made from PaperFoam®, a new packaging technology from Shorewood Packaging, a business of International Paper, that is paper-recyclable and biodegradable. Shorewood Packaging is the first North American packaging supplier to produce disc trays from PaperFoam®.
