Da Band - Too Hot for T.V. (CD)

All Music Guide

It goes without saying that Da Band, the second group to be put together through the reality series Making the Band, blows the original series' O-Town down the hallway, out of the window, and down the road. Unfortunately, that's not saying a whole lot, and it's not much of a selling point for them to get by on. Those who didn't miss an episode of the television series will at least be fascinated to hear the end result, but nothing can prevent Too Hot for TV from being a middle-of-the-road and forgettable debut. The whole process wasn't for naught, however. "Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That" was a smart choice for the first single, and not just because the title demonstrates that P. Diddy has fully embraced his hand-picked crew as full-fledged members of the Bad Boy family. Despite the fact that RB-oriented vocalist Sara is nowhere to be heard (she did take provocative stroll through the baseball field in the video, however), the song is easily the best track on the album, boasting some of To...ny Dofat and P. Diddy's most infectious production work and just enough room for the remaining members to trade off rapid-fire lines. This is the one track where the "get as many members in on the action" gambit works. On most other songs, just when you're starting to get into someone's flow, someone else grabs the mic and disrupts a good thing. Puzzlingly enough, Mr. Bentley gets the uninterrupted spotlight to himself on "Cheers to Me Mr. Bentley," a track where Da Band is M.I.A. The lacking lines ("We're the hottest thing since microwave popcorn, dog") and derivative flows are all par for the course as far as debuts are considered; as a saving grace, at least half of the members prove to have a future well beyond this disc, including Freddrick, whose ravaged rasp is probably gruff enough to make the D.O.C. wince. - Andy Kellman, All Music Guide Read more Less