| R&B group Boyz II Men will issue an album of covers, including Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," on Aug. 24. "Throwback," the debut release on the group's MSM Music Group label, marks its first album since 2002's "Full Circle" (Arista), which sold 345,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Pared down to a trio following the retirement of founding member Michael "Bass" McCary, Boyz II Men now consists of Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanya Morris, whose surname initials make up the MSM moniker.
A version of Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love" featuring a guest appearance by rapper MC Lyte will be the 11-track set's first radio single. Other songs the group tackles on "Throwback" include Hall & Oates' "Sara Smile" and the Dazz Band's "Let It Whip."
"This is our chance for creative expression, considering we've been tied to major record labels for our first 12 years in the business," Morris says. "The labels would think that an album like this wouldn't be financially viable for them. But we decided that our first album back would be something that we wanted to do."
First signed to Motown, Boyz II Men released four albums on the venerable imprint before a corporate reshuffle found them on Universal Records for two releases. "Full Circle" was its sole Arista release.
FYI: This was already released in Japan and the release date in for the U.S. is August 24th. | |