Brian Mcknight - Back At One

Quiet Storm never dies, although many of its love-man practitioners' discs blend together into a kind of ardent wallpaper. So it's a bit of a surprise to find Brian McKnight's fourth album, Back at One asserting itself as a committed, highly listenable sample of the genre. Putting his writing skills to work, McKnight manages to make one midtempo plaint after another stand out from its brothers on the disc. In combination with his assured but never overbearing vocals, songs such as the title number, "Last Dance," and "6, 8, 12" trump anything Babyface has done lately. McKnight makes a big claim on the style with this excellent album. --Rickey Wright