Pop albums

Montell Jordan: More to Tell; Def jam 533 191

Are you quite sure about that, Montell? Compared with what George Jones has lived to tell, there's not an awful lot going on here that wasn't covered in abundant detail on last year's debut, This is How We Do It, and for the most part, it is not told with anything like the same panache. Songs such as "Superloverman" (yeah, sure) and "What's on Tonight" find Montell still stuck in his fur-lined, satin-sheeted boudoir, oozing oleaginously over the laydeez. It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it, and Jodeci can't work non-stop 24-7 shifts. But really - "I'll be there in an hour/ Still wet from the shower" - quick, someone! Give the man a towel - or better still, throw a bucket of cold water over him.

The main points of interest on More to Tell are (1) the way Montell is already following Al Green and others by bringing Jesus into the secular lurrve equation on "I Say Yes"; (2) Slick Rick's entertaining automotive chat-up lines which preface "I Like"; and (3) the horny phone conversation prelude (to "Never Alone") now obligatory for the likes of Jordan and Jodeci. Someday, earnest young social science graduates will write grandiose themes on the Eroticisation of Telephone Communication in the Age of Aids. And nobody will bother reading them.