''Heart Break'' is the fifth studio album by American R&B quintet

New Edition New Edition is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B/Pop music, pop group from the Roxbury, Boston, Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by singer/rapper Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a new edition of the Jackson ...

, released June 20, 1988, by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. It is the first album to return the Boston-reared band as a quintet after the public exit of original member

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, he is recognized as a pioneer of new jack swing: a fusion of hip-hop and Contemporary R&B, R ...

, and the first album to feature

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/ pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has rel ...

as a member of the group. The album was certified double platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Background

By 1987, New Edition was a group in transition. The band members were aging out of their teens into their twenties, and sought for their image and sound to reflect their coming of age. In addition to employing the famed production team of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis to help steer their music into a new direction, they also recruited

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

–based baritone/tenor

—who, in 1984, had scored a hit with R&B singer Stacy Lattisaw on "Perfect Combination". The New Edition members had actually known Gill since they released their hit "Candy Girl" in 1983 and Gill released his R&B Top 30 hit "Super Love" that same year. They had joked that they would let him in the group if he could improve his dancing skills. Prompting Gill’s entrance into the group was when lead singer

Ralph Tresvant Ralph Edward Tresvant (born May 16, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the lead singer of R&B group New Edition. As a solo artist, Tresvant released his double platinum-selling debut album '' Ralph Tres ...

considered recording a solo album. To circumvent New Edition being left without a lead singer,

Michael Bivins Michael Lamont Bivins (born August 10, 1968) is an American singer, rapper, manager, and producer, and a founding member of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe. Biography Bivins was born and still lives in Boston. He and his wife, Teasha, have four ...

suggested bringing in 20-year-old Gill to replace him. Gill accepted the invitation, joining the group in the spring of 1987. Tresvant, however, wasn’t ready to leave resulting in New Edition, inadvertently, becoming a quintet again as they began production on their fifth album, ''Heart Break''. While most of ''Heart Break'' features principal vocals by Tresvant, with occasional solos by Ricky Bell, Gill’s voice is significantly displayed as the secondary lead throughout the album. Gill took the lead on the track “Boys to Men”- a song in which the singer initially resisted and resented recording, feeling it was too juvenile. "Boys To Men" became one of the album's most popular numbers, despite it never being officially released as a single. Another standout album track was "Competition", a song written by Tresvant that addresses the disappointment felt over the departure of Bobby Brown two years earlier. One song, "Where It All Started", was a thinly veiled jab at

New Kids on the Block New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block had ...

. The group was discovered by their former producer

Maurice Starr Larry Curtis Johnson (born November 19, 1953), better known by his stage name Maurice Starr, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his production work for boy bands New Edition and New Kids on the Block. H ...

as a direct response to New Edition severing ties with him on less than amicable terms. In an ironic twist, Jam & Lewis—the writers and producers behind the song would also work with New Kids on the Block's lead singer Jordan Knight on his 1999 self-titled debut a little over a decade later. The two groups would later team up for a duet on the latter's 2008 reunion album '' The Block'' and perform a medley together at the 49th Annual American Music Awards over a decade later.

Critical reception

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editor Craig Lytle called ''Heart Break'' an "outstanding album overall" and found that it displayed "New Edition's growth and maturity due in part to the production work of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and the addition of group newcomer Johnny Gill." Similarly, ''

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'' critic Joe Brown noted that "New Edition has grown up visibly and audibly, and it doesn't hurt that they've taken on D.C.'s own Johnny Gill as frontman. The lyrics on ''Heart Break'' exemplify the changes—as usual, Jam-Terry Lewis spent some time hanging out with the group, then tailored the tunes with an autobiographical slant."Brown, Joe.
Review: ''Heart Break''
. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'': n.23. November 4, 1988.

Commercial performance

''Heart Break'' peaked at numbers twelve and three on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and R&B Albums Chart respectively, selling 500,000 copies by August 19, 1988.Gold & Platinum: Searchable Database
.

(RIAA). Retrieved on 2009-10-18. On September 28, 1988, it was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

in sales by the

(RIAA), following sales in excess of 1 million copies in the United States. After sales of 2 million, it earned double platinum certification from the RIAA in July 1994. ''Heart Break'' spun off five singles: "

If It Isn't Love "If It Isn't Love" is a song by American contemporary R&B, R&B quintet New Edition, and the first single from their fifth studio album, ''Heart Break'' (1988). The song was released on June 9, 1988 by MCA Records. It became the biggest hit from the ...

", " You're Not My Kind of Girl", " Can You Stand the Rain", " Crucial", and " N.E. Heart Break". "Boys to Men" was released as a sixth single on September 24, 1991.

Influence

Many have called this particular album the most seminal New Edition album. Four fans from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in particular were inspired by one of the songs on the album. "Boys to Men", the song that Johnny Gill hated recording, ended up becoming the name of the group who changed their name to

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

. The group would end up being managed and mentored by Michael Bivins. Boyz II Men names New Edition as one of their most influential bands. The album also saw a successful concert tour for the group as well. Through 1988 and 1989, New Edition toured all over the world with opening acts, ex-New Edition member

(who had also found big time success with his breakthrough album, ''

Don't Be Cruel "Don't Be Cruel" is a song that was recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956.Victor (2008), ''The Elvis Encyclopedia'', p.115-116 It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was ranked No. 197 in ' ...

'') and Al B. Sure!. R&B group Jagged Edge named their sophomore album '' J.E. Heartbreak'' as a tribute to ''Heart Break''.

Track listing

All tracks written and produced by James Harris III and Terry Lewis, unless otherwise stated. ;Notes *"If It Isn't Love", "Crucial," and "Competition" contain dialogue at the end of each song. *"Where It All Started" is excluded on some vinyl releases of the album. *"Superlady" was a bonus track not included on original vinyl and cassette copies of the album.

Personnel

* James Harris, III: producer, arranger, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, drum programming, percussion * Terry Lewis: producer, arranger, bass guitar, percussion, synthesizers *Jellybean Johnson: producer, arranger, electric guitar, drum programming *Steve Hodge: engineer, mixing *

: producer * Ricky Bell: lead and background vocals *

: rap, lead and background vocals *

Ronnie DeVoe Ronald Boyd DeVoe Jr. (born November 17, 1967), is an American singer and rapper known as one of the members of the R&B/ pop group New Edition, and the R&B/ hip hop group Bell Biv DeVoe. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Career DeVoe wa ...

: rap, lead and background vocals *

: lead and background vocals *

: lead and background vocals *Jim Shea: Photography and music video director

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

*
Heart Break
' at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{Authority control 1988 albums New Edition albums MCA Records albums Albums produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis