Hugh's Favorite 2000 Albums

Boyz II Men — Nathan | Michael | Shawn | Wanya
Various Producers

After gaining great success with super-producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis (On Bended Knee) and Babyface (End of the Road), you wouldn't expect much from a Boyz II Men effort without them. As it turns out, this is by far Boyz II Men's best album with the Boyz showing off that they have become bonafide musicians and songwriters as they take more control of the reins. You'll find a good diversity of songs: Step On Up is an awesome party jam; Beautiful Women is Latin-infused pop (I guess Latin is in fashion now); and What The Deal features a great guitar performance from Professa Funk.

But as always, Boyz II Men really shine on the ballads: The Shawn-penned Pass You By and the wonderful acapella I Do (written and produced by Mervyn Warren of Take 6 fame) compete for best track on the CD. I also like the cleverly written pick-up song Thank You In Advance (written and produced by Shep Crawford) which includes the lyrics: "Girl you look like my first wife, but I've never been married before".

This is a phenomenal album that would be a shame to miss.

Al Jarreau — Tomorrow Today Produced by Paul Brown Jarreau's first album on GRP records is one of his best ever. Almost every song is perfect! The dance-infectious title track is a marvelous fusion of salsa and jazz, thanks to the brilliant contribution of Freddie Ravel. The ballads Let Me Love You and Through It All are as good as any Jarreau classic. Also features Vanessa Williams on God's Gift To The World.	BeBe Winans — Love and Freedom Produced by BeBe Winans & Various Producers Superb album features some great collaborations including Stevie Wonder's harmonica and Luther Vandross' background vocals on the title track. Brian McKnight and JOE guest vocal on Coming Back Home. But the album's crowning moment is all BeBe's on the inspirational Stand.	George Benson — Absolute Benson Produced by Tommy LiPuma George Benson's first primarily instrumental album in over a decade is absolutely fantastic. The set kicks off in Latin style with Donny Hathaway's The Ghetto which marvelously ties into El Barrio. My favorite track is the Joe Sample penned Deeper Than You Think (Sample's wonderful piano and keyboards are featured on every track).
Jill Scott - Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds, Vol. 1 Various Producers Jill Scott is one of the few deserving winners of the Grammy for Best New Artist. This impressive debut redefines the "neo-soul" genre with smart lyrics and smooth grooves like on the hit A Long Walk and Gettin' In The Way.	Various Artists — A Love Affair: The Music of Ivan Lins Produced by Jason Miles If you follow Quincy Jones, you should be familiar with the beautiful music of Ivan Lins. This absolute gem of an album features his compositions performed by a great collection of musicians from Sting (She Walks The Earth) to Vanessa Williams (Love Dance) to the wonderful Lisa Fischer and James "D Train" Williams duet on You Moved Me To This.	Toni Braxton — The Heat Various Producers Fresh from her bankruptcy and litigation, Toni Braxton is back and this time she's taking charge. My favorite track is the Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins produced He Wasn't Man Enough. Other standouts include the Diane Warren penned Spanish Guitar and Just Be a Man About It (features Dr. Dre).
JOE — My Name is Joe Various Producers JOE is one of the most talented crooners today and is on top form on I Wanna Know. The album also features Nsync and Mariah Carey. However, be warned: Like his other efforts, many of the songs here are raunchy (in my opinion, gratuitously so and detracting from the good music).	Jeffrey Osborne - That's For Sure Produced by Jeffrey Osborne & Various Producers A welcome return by one of my favorite vocalists. This album doesn't measure up to his eighties albums but there are some gems like Can't Find An Easy Way.