Circle of One
Artist: Oleta Adams

At the time of the release of her debut, Circle of One, Oleta Adams was best-known as the impassioned backing vocalist on Tears for Fears' 1989 album The Seeds of Love; most prominently featured on "Woman in Chains". About a decade later, she was best-known for "Get Here": a gospel-tinged belter later revived by one Justin Guarini as his... Read More

Singles
Artist: Paula Abdul
The Day
Artist: Babyface
Community Score: 7.80
Jon Secada
Artist: Jon Secada
Community Score: 7.20

Secada has a beautifully versatile voice, which would mean nothing if his material didn't equal his talents. Fortunately, this collection of smooth adult contemporary R&B does serve his talents well, making Jon Secada a satisfying and promising debut. ~ All Music Guide, All Music Guide Read More

Love Deluxe
Artist: Sade
Community Score: 7.27

Sade's fourth album, Love Deluxe, included the hit "No Ordinary Love" and marked a return to the detached cool jazz backing and even icier vocals that made her debut album a sensation. Although Sade's style is more suggestive than hypnotic and her production and arrangements are in an urbane mode rather than a jazz one, she maintained her... Read More

It's About Time
Artist: SWV
Community Score: 8.56

SWV (Sisters With Voices) electrified the urban contemporary world with It's About Time. Their deep, sensual harmonies, sometimes naughty lyrics and aggressive style immediately struck a responsive chord, particularly among male fans. Their CD shows their versatility, as they handled New Jack tunes, romantic ballads like "It's About Time," and... Read More

Paintings in My Mind
Artist: Tommy Page
Community Score: 7.00

Utilizing New Kids on the Block for two tracks on this album doubtlessly helped catapult Tommy to short-lived American stardom, but he shows that he can hold his own on the remaining, memorable songs. Paintings in My Mind is a fresh, innocent album full of youthful longings, all painted in melodic pop style. The tunes penned with New Kids... Read More

Martika
Artist: Martika
Community Score: 7.00

Not just the Madonna wannabe she is often remembered as, Martika had songwriting skills and enough savvy to choose some of the best hooks of the '80s for her debut album. You'll find yourself singing these songs months after you've heard them. And that's a good thing. Her voice is thin and a bit limited, but she surrounds herself with producers... Read More

The Greatest Hits: The Power of Great Music
Artist: James Ingram

James Ingram racked up a number of adult contemporary-styled R&B pop hits in the 1980s, many of them duets, and the bulk of those hits are collected on this 12-track 1991 compilation. His music may at times seem somewhat melodramatic, registering on the pop spectrum somewhere between Michael Bolton and Billy Ocean, but nonetheless exemplifies... Read More

Whitney
Artist: Whitney Houston
Community Score: 9.86

Whitney Houston became an international star with this album. It sold more than ten million copies around the world, yielded a string of number one hit singles across the board like "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," and "Love Will Save the Day," and established Houston as the era's top female star. She... Read More

A Closer Look
Artist: Babyface
Community Score: 8.33
#1's
Artist: Mariah Carey
Community Score: 9.50

Protest as she may -- and she does, claiming in the liner notes that #1's is "not a greatest hits album! It's too soon, I haven't been recording long enough for that!" -- it's hard to view #1's, Mariah Carey's first compilation, as anything other than a greatest-hits album. Carey was fortunate enough to have nearly every single she released top... Read More