by Alex Henderson
Alexander O'Neal was among the most exciting male R&B singers of the mid-to-late 1980s, but by the mid-1990s, his popularity had decreased considerably. The late 1990s found O'Neal recording for Ichiban, and he was no longer working with the hit production/songwriting team of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Produced by Billy Osbourne, Nick Mundy and the Kazir/B-Cube duo (among others), Lovers Again isn't as strong as his 1980s work with Jam/Lewis, but isn't a bad album either. Although nothing on this CD is in a class with &Innocent,& &Saturday Love& or &Fake,& O'Neal demonstrated that he still had a fine voice on decent tunes ranging from the gritty &Do You Right& to the smooth &No One But You.& The thing is that when O'Neal was in his prime in the 1980s and had the guidance of fellow Time graduates Jam & Lewis, his albums weren't simply decent -- they were excellent. Not essential, Lovers Again is an album that only O'Neal's more devoted fans will want.