loops of rhythm and even simpler melodies, Tony Rich expands the definition of New Jack R&B. Singing, playing and programming almost every note of this album himself, Rich wears his influences as well as his nonconformity on his sleeve. The jangly chords and semifalsetto choruses of "Hey Blue" recall Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover"; the acoustic percussion and dextrous fret work of "Nobody Knows" evoke an atmosphere Babyface created on "When Can I See You." But ultimately, Rich always takes these borrowed elements in directions neither Prince nor 'Face would try.

It's the little things that make all the difference: some Al Green-inspired organ on "Grass Is Green"; a lead guitar tuned to resemble humpback-whale songs on "Ghost"; the gospel hand claps at the end of "Leavin'." Just when you're expecting to hear something trite or ordinary, Rich invents a tasty, utterly charming piece of ear candy. His voice has the soft, earnest lilt of a country choirboy. His lyrics have the emotional depth of vintage Otis Redding but not the syntactic clarity; Rich typically relies more on free association than straight-forward exposition. For example, on "Little Ones," Rich shifts points of view so many times, you can't follow what he's singing about until you abandon logic and let your subconscious locate the meaning. Narratives that are more linear – like "Nobody Knows" – exist, but they represent the less-exciting, less-provocative side of his songcraft. When Rich wants to talk about unwed fathers ("Billy Goat") or urban psychopaths ("Grass Is Green"), his approach is intentionally more oblique.

Tony Rich attained this ability to compress dense narratives into tuneful bullets of song by churning out soulful demos for friends back in his native Detroit. Embraced in 1993 as a potential peer by the likes of Dallas Austin, Pebbles and Antonio "L.A." Reid, Rich has become part of a world-class stable of songwriters, producers and talent brokers that provided all the creative nurturing needed to bring Words into vibrant being. (RS 727)

CAROL COOPER