A lot of fans were dissapoitned with the departure of Dawn Robinson during the recording of "EV3", but it's a shame it didn't sell well as "Funky Divas" because "EV3" is much better in my opinion. The production is less-outdated and there seems to be more shared vocals, putting newer groups like Destiny's Child and 3LW to shame. Dawn's vocals are present throughout the record, but she only sings lead on the massive hit "Don't Let Go (Love)" and the Diane Warren-written "Too Gone Too Long."

The first song and leading single "Whatever" produced and written by Babyface failed to do that well on the charts but fortunately gained enough popularity to let "Ev3" get at leased 1 million copies sold (but nothing compared to the astonishing 5 million of "Funky Divas"). My personal favorites are: "Eyes of a Child", "Does Sitting By Heaven's Door" and "Love Makes Ya Do Thangs." Anyone who appreciates pure R&B/Soul should get this album. If you don't like female R&B groups who are too commercial like Destiny's child and 3LW then you should get this album. It's one of those CD's that you can listen to all the way through without skipping a single song. It's also one of those CD's where you can appreciate the artist/group for their voices alone and less for their image. Maxine, Terry and Cindy sound great together. The production is beautiful and only one song ("Let It Flow") reminds you of the old En Vogue. I think most people went into shock with the fact that EV changed their style but I think it's great they always re-invent themselves. If you end up liking "EV3" then I also reccomend their next release after this "Masterpiece Theatre." Overall grade: A+ BUY IT!!

The departue of Funky 4th member Dawn Robinson during the recording of this album was a bad sign. Even worse was the fact that she called her new group Lucy Pearl. Not only was she mad enough to leave one of the world's most successful groups, but initial indications of the first single without her (she sings on Don't Let Go - one of the most brilliant songs ever) Whatever, were not good. Fortunately there are plenty of tracks which make up for that song which is very awkward & not very good at all. Let It Flow is En Vogue 2 da max - makes me smile, while Too Gone Too Long is superb. Written by Diane Warren, the gals let rip on an offending lover & mark his goodbiye cards for him. Foster & McElroy only work on part of the album (having co-written & prduced all of the first 2) & if the truth be told, their contributions are slightly lacking. There's not enough grit on them to make them work. The first 7 tracks are really where it's at & if the album was released with only those 7, you would say it's a masterpiece. You're All I Need is uplifting vocally, & Damn I Wanna Be Your Lover is rich & textured. The overall flow of the album is not as layered & quirky as Funky Divas. This has probably been EV's intention - to give their fans something new to listen to. The girls are all loved up & it does show. A few harder hitting trax in the vein of Free Your Mind or My Lovin may have been what the doctor ordered. Still, a commendable work. Worth buying alone for Don't Let Go & Too Gone, Too Long

This album title got a double meaning, it stands for their third album but also the group getting reduced to a trio after the departure of Dawn Robinson. After the magnificient Funky Divas that featured the unmistakable hit singles "Free Your Mind" and "My Lovin (You're Never Gonna Get It)" the band took a 5 year hiatus and alot of things happened in the music industry during that time, their brilliant fusion between R&b, Dance, Hip Hop and Rock was no longer that trendy and 5 years is long enough for any group to lose it's popularity, but the three remaining members do the best of the situation and together with trademark producers Foster/mcElroy they're still able to satisfy most listeners. What differs is that they only produce half of the songs here and the rest is giving to in-demand producers/writers like David Foster, Dianne Warren, Organized Noice and Babyface. "Don't Let Go (Love)" ended up being one of their alltime biggest hits, reaching #2 on the charts and still to this day a very enjoyable power-ballad. Babyface's slick contribution "Whatever" is one the other hand one of his alltime weakest and lack a great hook or melody that his songs normally have. "Damn I Wanna Be Your Lover" sounds almost exactly like "Don't Let Go (Love)" and not too surprsingly it comes from the same producers. Dianne Warren's power-ballad "Too Gone, Too Long" on the other hand is a standout and one of her better songs, eventually becoming a top 40 hit. "Let It Flow" with a guest rap and "What A diffrence a Day Made" is perhaps the closest you get to the sound of their past. Other then that most of this album is adult contemporary ballads and from time to time even a edgy power-ballad. However, there are many good numbers, and En Vogue without Dawn Robinson still manages to make a good album.

This album get's 3 and a half stars. En Vogue's first attempt at working with new producers is a great idea. The only problem is that they may have chosen the wrong producers to work with (with the exception of Organized Noize.) EV3's standout tracks are "Whatever" produced by Babyface, "Don't Let Go (Love)" by Organized Noize, "Too Gone, Too Long" by David Foster and "Damn I Wanna Be Your Lover" by Ivan Matias. While a good idea to branch out and try working with new producers, some of the producers were unable to capture what En Vogue is capable of and result in producing less than outstanding tracks for the group. Long time producers Foster/McElroy didn't produce as well as they're capable of either.

EV3 - a must have for En Vogue fans. Should En Vogue work with other producers in the future, they should make sure to choose eminent producer's (Organized Noize, DarkChild, P. Diddy, Missy Elliot, David Foster, The Neptunes...)

EV3 came in a time R&B tunes didn't gave to much space for funkyness, the deaprture of Dawn Robinson to a supposed solo career didn't hurt the group in the vocal aspect, perhaps, what went wrong in EV3 wasn't the lack of another girl to make the quartet, in fact was the quality production that the group lack of. "Whatever" the outstanding track of this album, was a slow funky R&B tune that somehow aimed for better airplay that it ultimate received, and of course was the only saveable track. The hole album is influence in that slow R&B beat, not the funky jams of En Vogue that fans were acostume to. Even the highly anticipated ballad produced by no other than David Foster "Too Gone, Too Long" felt in the space of being pure pop, and pretty close too be another flop, but the voices of each En Vogue member shine, specially Maxine's in the bridge part of the song, something that it's caracteristic of EV3 is that was really crowed by filler cuts and really bad ones. In the name of music the only other joint that can be saved from being lost in creativityless, are "Eyes Of A Child" poppy friendly song. Despite the singles releases, and the later mention this album was such a dissapointment for many fans that expected a little more from the "Funky Divas" because after this they should be call "The Amazing Boring Divas".