If you weren't at least a teenager in the late 1980s, then you'll most likely have a hard time believing that Bobby Brown made headlines for his hits and not for his embarrassing run-ins with the law. In retrospect, the success of this former New Edition member wasn't supposed to happen and it surprised all parties involved--even Brown himself. After the flop album "King of Stage," Brown had one more chance to prove himself as a solo artist, and nobody was sure if "Don't Be Cruel" would be a hit. Fortunately for him, it was. It skyrocketed to Number One on the album charts, spawned a string of Top Ten hits, and his onstage dance moves made him a new teen heartthrob. What's more, "Don't Be Cruel" is credited as an album that helped put two things on the map: a) new jack swing and b) LA Reid & Babyface, the production team who did a handful of the material on this album. However, his most familiar single was the Gene Griffin/Teddy Riley-produced "My Prerogative," which is just as slammin' a new jack groove as anything Guy ever recorded. The hits "Every Little Step" (whose original album version is way better than the single remix, in my mind), "Roni," and the ballad "Rock Wicthca" are all bonafide jams that have that late-1980s r&b feel, while the album cut "I'll Be Good to You" also stands out pretty well. "Don't Be Cruel" isn't a perfect album, though. Brown's vocal style is limited and the second half of the album loses a bit of steam. But it's an overall fun r&b record that proves Brown did indeed have a life well before he made headlines as Mr. Whitney Houston.

When Bobby Brown released this cd in June of 1988, just one week after his former group New Edition released their Heartbreak cd with his replacement member Johnny Gill, few expected it to even offer competition to the NE disc. 18 months later, at the close of 1989, the Don't Be Cruel had sold 7 million copies, spent weeks at #1 on the pop chart, yielded Brown 6 top 10 pop hits, including the #1 smash "My Prerogative," and most signifigantly ended up as the year's top r&band pop album. He was, and has been, one of only 3 black males to do so (M.Jackson & Lionel Ritchie being the other two.) Brown then was considered the king of r&b and was one of the first artists to bridge r&b with rap. Hard to believe it's been 10 yrs since Brown's heyday and even harder to believe that from those lofty heights then he is regarded as nothing more than a punchline now. Still, Don't Be Cruel remains required listening for any current r&b male star, Sisqo included, so as not to forget who trailblazed it. Kudos to wife Whitney, who reminded the world of Brown's contributions to hip hop,pop, and r&b. Bobby, rest assured, this is one fan who has not forgotten! Long live the king!

You've heard of a one hit wonder, where an artist has one hit and then disappears. Well this is a one hit album. This album is amazing and brings back a lot of memories. At the time I thought he was going to be the next Michael Jackson. Little did I know that that would be his shining moment, besides marrying Whitney Houston. This is one of those albums where every song is a hit. It's too bad his career never got back up to these heights.

The "Don't Be Cruel" album was my first exposure to Bobby Brown as New Edition were virtually unknown in Australia.I liked the single "Every Little Step" when it first came out so I bought this album on the strength of that single and I wasn't dissapointed. Perhaps Bobby should look into having Babyface as a songwriter for some of the tracks on any future projects.His two most recent albums have been rather dissapointing (bar a few tracks on "Bobby") for a man of his talents.

When Bobby Brown gets talked about these days, it's mostly about the trouble that he's constantly in. However, this is a great album that will make you want to forget about all of that and just party like it's 1988. It's not absoulutely perfect; some of the non-hits can feel like filler for people who haven't heard them a lot, but songs like "Don't Be Cruel", "Roni", "Rock Wit'cha", and "Every Little Step" are some of the best New-Jack Swing ever.