Enter The Dru

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

Take the rebel romanticism of Jodeci and the pleading sincerity of Boyz II Men, and add a dash of the martial-arts mythologizing of the Wu-Tang Clan. Let simmer, and you'd have something approximating the R.-and-B. vocal quartet Dru Hill. Dru Hill's vocal recipe doesn't always work--the group sometimes settles for flashy sentiment instead of striving for true emotion. Still, numbers like the thoughtful remake of The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind) and the delicately felt ballad Angel make this CD really cook.

--By Christopher John Farley