One of the crowning achievements of
Alexander O'
Neal – a set that uses cool little intro tracks to help structure the standout songs on the set – giving the whole thing a much more well-conceived approach than other mainstream soul albums of the time! Some of the cuts draw from O'
Neal's own life and experience, and that feel is definitely augmented by the spontaneous, conversational feel of the intros and links – a really nice contrast to the wonderfully tight R&B production from the superteam of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis! Of course, lots of these tracks also struck big as singles for
Alexander – proof that the cuts are more than strong enough to stand on their own – yet taken over the course of the whole album, with all the extra bits, the whole thing really sounds great. Titles include "Hearsay", "The Lovers", "Fake", "Criticize", "Never Knew Love Like This", "To Make You Love Me", "Crying Overtime", and "Sunshine". Bonus tracks include "Fake 88", and mixes of "Criticize", "To Make You Love Me", and "Never Knew Love Like This".