Pleasure & Pain

On Pleasure and Pain Atlanta's 112 (One Twelve) recaptures the vocal magic that powered its multiplatinum predecessors 112, Room 112, Part III and Hot & Wet, as well as hit singles like "Peaches & Cream." Speaking to every aspect of a relationship—falling in love, cheating, falling out of love, one-night stands—group members Daron, Slim, Q and Mike leave no stone unturned as they mix contemporary R&B with its classic, soulful counterpart. The former is represented by such songs as the sexy, chart-climbing single "U Already Know," while the latter is felt in the Temptations-like a cappella harmonies on "We Goin' Be Alright" and "What the H**l Do You Want." The ballads are convincing as usual, with "That’s How Close We Are" touchingly carrying the Motown torch. And though ballads are 112's stock in trade, the group holds its own on the club joints "If I Hit" (featuring T.I.) and "Closing the Club" (featuring Three 6 Mafia). Since the hit "Peaches And Cream" the group’s secret weapon in the fight for relevance has been a dalliance with high-tech Eurodance. That interest survives, barely, in the robotic stomp of "Damn".

What's more surprising? That Pleasure and Pain, 112's fifth album, is not a greatest-hits compilation named after a song off their 1996 debut, or that it comes with a parental advisory label (a first for the once "clean" group)? In nearly a decade of existence, the group has amassed enough charting singles to warrant a concise best-of, and not many artists coming up with them during the mid-'90s are still active. They've taken the opportunity to work with a mostly new pool of collaborators, including Mario Winans, Jermaine Dupri, and Bryan Michael-Cox, who each pitches in once or twice. They remain self-sufficient otherwise, with member Daron Jones handling a good portion of the production duties.

Equally rooted in gospel, soul and hip-hop, 112 was the first and most successful urban vocal group to emerge from Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Records roster. Not only was the group's eponymous 1996 debut popular, but also the group could be heard on records by such Bad Boy artists as Puff Daddy. Unlike most artists on Bad Boy, 112's image was clean, pure and wholesome, which helped the group cross over to a more mainstream audience. The four members of 112 met each other while attending high school in Atlanta, Georgia. The quartet began to play talent shows at school and local churches, eventually gaining the attention of Courtney Sills and Kevin Wales, who soon became the group's managers. Sills and Wales brought 112 to the attention of Sean "Puffy" Combs at Bad Boy Records. Combs signed on as the executive producer of 112's eponymous debut album, which featured songs the group co-wrote with such professional songwriters as Stevie J, Wayna Morris of Boyz II Men, and Combs himself. "Only You," the group's debut single, was released in the summer of 1996 and climbed to number three on the R&B charts, peaking at number 13 on the pop charts. 112 was released in late 1996, and it steadily worked its way to gold status as the group's second single, "Come Seem Me," reached number 15 on the R&B charts. Room 112 followed in 1998, Part III was issued three years later. Hot & Wet was released in 2003.