Full Circle

1	Relax Your Mind / Faith Evans 4:04
2	The Color of Love 4:50
3	Ain't a Thang Wrong / Rob Jackson 4:09
4	Oh Well 4:54
5	Whatcha Need 5:04
6	On the Road Again 4:14
7	Makin' Love (Interlude) 1:57
8	Roll Wit Me 3:31
9	Right on Time 4:59
10	Howz About It 4:01
11	That's Why I Love You 5:14
12	I'm OK, You're OK 4:51
13	Luv N U 5:08
14	I'll Show You 4:14

Barnes & Noble

Perhaps Boyz II Men's sixth disc, Full Circle, sounds so refreshing because pop and R&B fans have been bombarded by so many Disney-manufactured boy bands in recent years. Nothing against Justin T. and the rest of the talented 'N Sync posse, but it's obvious the boys from Orlando patterned their soul-lite crooning after this veteran Philly quartet. With some of their younger, more TRL-friendly competition slacking off ("Bye, Bye, Bye" Backstreet Boys), Wayna, Shawn, Nathan, and Michael hope to woo back their crossover audience as they express their musical maturation from, well, boys to men, even more so than they did on 1997's transitional Evolution. While they've struggled throughout their career to get jiggy wit it, the fellas -- now in their 30s -- finally strike a pitch-perfect balance between engaging, up-tempo tracks such as "Relax Your Mind" (featuring Faith Evans) and "Ain't a Thing Wrong" and heavenly ballads such as "The Color of Love" and "Oh Well." While the disc still indulges the scented-candle fantasies of their core female fan base with several sugar-and-spice ballads on a par with "I'll Make Love to You" and "On Bended Knee," lyrically, the clean-cut crew step their mack game up a notch with the sexy, escalating soul of "Right on Time," on which the guys moan in Prince-ly unison, "Oooh, you're mine.../Your love is right on time." From the splendid four-part harmony of 1991's "Motownphilly" into the new millennium, the soul of Boyz II Men has come Full Circle. Tracy E. Hopkins

All Music Guide

Boyz II Men grew up with 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, providing a really fine, mature urban soul album, but not many noticed, so it was time for another new start in 2002. They left Motown and signed with Arista, where Antonio "L.A." Reid had successfully set up shop, breaking new acts and re-establishing old ones -- with the latter clearly in mind when he executive produced Boyz II Men's Full Circle, with the Boyz handling production duties. Everybody involved apparently decided that the best way to bring the boyz into the 2000s is by hedging their bets: offering a little of the stilted, early-'80s funk-influenced hip-hop that marked modern soul, while offering a lot of adult contemporary balladry. Although the group doesn't delve too hard into funk, it still doesn't mesh particularly well together, especially since the material, while well-sung as ever, isn't particularly distinguished. That doesn't mean it's bad -- the album is pleasant enough as it spins -- but it's simply not that memorable, which is quite a disappointment after the very, very nice Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya. Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Vibe

Full Circle, their sixth album, is the most confident of their illustrious career. Although the CD breaks no new musical ground, it's buoyed by A-list production from a diverse range of talent. Jason King