Don't Be Cruel

1	Cruel Prelude 0:39
2	Don't Be Cruel 6:52
3	My Prerogative 4:57
4	Roni 5:58
5	Rock Wit'cha 4:47
6	Every Little Step 3:59
7	I'll Be Good to You 4:25
8	Take It Slow 5:22
9	All Day All Night 4:40
10	I Really Love You Girl 5:11
11	Cruel Reprise 0:18

Barnes & Noble

After leaving New Edition to go solo, Bobby Brown made the transition to manhood with music blaring, blowing up with this hit-filled set in 1988. Inevitably, each song will remind people of that party, that cookout, or that ride with the top down. Brown's dynamism and talent are the perfect match for producer Teddy Riley's down and dirty, razor-edged New Jack style. "My Prerogative," a multisyllabic rock-guitar-laden anthem, established the blueprint for the bad boy he's become, while "Every Little Step I Take" and the infectious title song feature heavy beat-oriented, multilayered tracks. Add to that Brown's sexy confidence on "Roni" and "Rock Wit'cha," and the whole album is as imposing and thick as a heady summer night. Martine Bury

All Music Guide

Don't Be Cruel was to Bobby Brown what Control was to Janet Jackson -- a tougher, more aggressive project that shed his "bubblegum" image altogether and brought him to a new artistic and commercial plateau. With "My Prerogative" and the title song, Brown became a leader of new jack swing -- a forceful, high-tech blend of traditional soul singing and rap/hip-hop that's also associated with Guy and Brown's New Edition colleagues, Bell Biv DeVoe. Brown had been a strong advocate of rap since his days with New Edition, and on Cruel, he did even more rapping than before. But for all the tough-mindedness he exhibited on his new jack hits, the charismatic Bostonian hadn't lost his love of sentimental, old-fashioned R&B romanticism -- and he definitely excels in that area on his hits "Every Little Step," "Roni," and "Rock Wit'cha." Much of Cruel was produced by the ubiquitous production/songwriting duo L.A. Reid and Babyface, who've often been accused (and rightly so) of taking a formulaic, cookie-cutter approach to R&B. But here, their work is never less than inspired. Alex Henderson