New Edition: Johnny Gill, Michael Bivins, Ralph Tresvant, Ricky Bell, Bobby Brown , Ronald DeVoe (vocals).

Liner Note Author: Steven Ivory.

Recording information: 1984 - 1997.

A chance to both re-experience the 1980s and explore the roots of '90s R&B luminaries like Bobby Brown and Bell Biv Devoe is provided by this New Edition best-of, which features the decade of big shoulders' answer to the Jackson 5 in full-on bubblegum mode. Brown features heavily here as a band member and in his later all-grown-up solo incarnation singing hot old-school dance tracks like "My Prerogative" and "Don't Be Cruel," while Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison" is a fine example of vintage New Jack Swing. But GOLD's main pleasure lies in tracing New Edition's career path, from the early, squeaky voiced "Cool It Now" to the urbane, silky smooth R&B of "Can You Stand the Rain."