21st December - Jodeci's Diary of a Mad Band

Artist – Album: Jodeci – Diary of a Mad Band

Released: 21^st December 1993

Sounds Like: Diary of a mad man

Why did I choose Jodeci? It was a straight shoot out between this and a half-decent DMX album called …And Then There Was X. Honestly, I kind of assumed that Jodeci’s Diary of a Mad Band was a metal album and so I chose it to give us some respite from the countless R&B records we’ve been through recently. How wrong I was.

Jodeci are not a metal band. They do not rock in the slightest. They are, instead, early 90’s exponents of boring R&B and New Jack Swing (fun fact: those irritating manchilds JLS are named after the movement Jack the Lad Swing, a direct descent of NJS) who sound like a Boyz II Men tribute act. Never bad, it somehow tightrope walks that thin line of total indifference, which in it’s own way is much, much worse. Previous bad albums such as those infernal Dixie Chicks were terrible, but at least they left a mark – Diary of a Mad Band skips across my conscience like a skimmed stone. I’ve half a mind to give it a worse score than the lowest ratings I’ve yet meted out but I actually don’t want to honour it with that anti-accolade.

The album may have a pretty damn impressive claim to fame – it features the first ever album appearances from each of Timbaland, Missy Elliott and Ginuwine – but even those illustrious acts cannot save it from beige mediocrity.

Albumaday... rating: 5/10

1.       My Heart Belongs to U – 5:02

2.       Cry for You – 5:01

3.       Feenin’ – 5:10

4.       What About Us – 5:20

5.       Ride & Slide – 4:57

6.       Alone – 4:44

7.       You Got It – 5:56

8.       Won’t Waste You – 4:55

9.       In the Meanwhile – 4:22

10.   Gimme All You Got – 3:42

11.   Sweaty – 5:54

12.   Jodecial Hotline – 3:11

13.   Success – 4:41

Listen to ‘My Heart Belongs to U’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh5h2hYMjbo

Also released on the 21^st December:

1999: DMX - ...And Then There Was X