The legendary R&B group New Edition shocked the world when they signed with Bad Boy Records in October 2002 following a successful summer “Hits” tour. Initially planning to release their seventh album the following fall to coincide with their twentieth anniversary, the album would not arrive in stores until Nov. 9, 2004.
“Hot2Nite” was the album’s first single, and while younger audiences may have liked the song, NE felt that the music did not cater to their maturing audience. As you know, I am a diehard NE fan and could spend all day discussing the group’s catalog and this album in particular. However, this is slow jam Saturday, and I want to focus on one of the group’s strongest ballads.
While the first half of the album focuses on up-tempo radio-friendly material, New Edition gets their grown man on in the album’s second half. NE reunited with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis for track number fourteen, “Re-Write the Memories.”
The opening chords are textbook Jam & Lewis, with a spoken intro by Michael Bivins. Ralph Tresvant then comes in on the first verse with his tenor sounding smoother than an aged cognac. As Tresvant croons, about the pain he has caused his lady and finally owning up to his mistake; you feel everything this brother is singing.
With background assistance from Ricky Bell, Johnny Gill comes in on the second verse with some more grown wisdom as he croons:
“So much To talk about
But nothing to say
‘Cause words are
So empty
When you feel betrayed I can’t find a way
To justify
The reason I just lied
But I did it all to spare you any pain”.
Like Tresvant in the opening verse, Gill and Bell allow the listener to feel everything they are singing. “Re-Write the Memories” was such a favorite song of mine; during my Slow Jam Mix CD days as DJ Aftermath, I always made room for it. I even remember playing the song during a huge DJ Gig I did in the summer of 2005, and the crowd responded favorably.
Unfortunately, Diddy put little promotion into “One Love,” and great songs like “Re-Write the Memories” did not get their deserved promotion. Nevertheless, the song is one of the best in New Edition’s discography and puts some singers who entered the music industry after 2004 to shame.
Final Grade: A
“Re-Write the Memories” from One Love is available on all streaming platforms.
Be sure to tune into the American Music Awards this Sunday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. on ABC as New Edition engages in a friendly battle of the bands titled Battle of Boston with fellow Beantown group, New Kids on the Block.
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