Evolution (Boyz II Men album)

Evolution is the fourth studio album by American R&B quartet Boyz II Men, released on September 23, 1997. It is their final album released on Motown Records. A Spanish language version, Evolución, was also issued. The Spanish edition won the Billboard Latin Music Award for Pop Album of the Year by a New Artist.^[5]

Evolution
Studio album by Boyz II Men
Released	September 23, 1997
Recorded	1996–1997
Genre	R&B, soul, pop, hip hop soul
Length	61:48
Label	Motown
Producer	Boyz II Men, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence, Keith Crouch, Shawn Stockman
Boyz II Men chronology
The Remix Collection (1995) Evolution (1997) The Ballad Collection (2000)
Singles from Evolution
"4 Seasons of Loneliness" Released: September 8, 1997 "A Song for Mama" Released: November 25, 1997 "Can't Let Her Go" Released: 1998 "Doin' Just Fine" Released: July 28, 1998

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	C[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]
Rolling Stone	[4]

History

On August 20, 1997, Boyz II Men held a press conference to talk about their first album since 1994's II. They were under pressure with their last two albums cumulatively selling almost 30 million copies worldwide. With Evolution, they worked with their regular collaborators, including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Babyface. They appeared on many talk shows including The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Vibe Show, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show and MTV Live.

The album was released on September 23, and that night, Boyz II Men signed copies of the album at the Virgin Megastore in New York City. Evolution debuted at number one in the Billboard 200 with 215,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album also debuted at number one on the R&B Album Charts. However, the album spent only one week at the number-one spot and quickly fell down the charts. Evolution sold two million copies in the United States and over four million copies worldwide, a disappointment compared with the successes of Cooleyhighharmony and II. Evolution was not received well by critics. In October 1998, Boyz II Men went to Japan and Europe to promote the album, and during that year they embarked on the Evolution Tour.

Singles

The first single released from the album, "4 Seasons of Loneliness", was released on September 8, 1997.^[6] The song was Boyz II Men's highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles. It debuted at number two, behind Mariah Carey's "Honey". The following week, the single went to number one, became their fifth (and to date, last) chart-topper. 4 Seasons of Loneliness became Boyz II Men's sixth platinum single. Later that year, the second single, "A Song for Mama", was released, a track which already appeared on the Soul Food and its soundtrack The single reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B Singles Chart, making Boyz II Men the only group in history to have seven platinum singles in the United States.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Doin' Just Fine"	Shawn Stockman	Stockman Boyz II Men[a]	5:30
2.	"Never"	Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Michael McCary Nathan Morris Stockman Wanya Morris	Babyface Boyz II Men[a]	4:48
3.	"4 Seasons of Loneliness"	James Harris III Terry Lewis	Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis	4:52
4.	"Girl in the Life Magazine"	Edmonds	Babyface Boyz II Men[a]	3:29
5.	"A Song for Mama"	Edmonds	Babyface	5:02
6.	"Can You Stand the Rain"	Harris Lewis	Boyz II Men	4:02
7.	"Can't Let Her Go"	Sean Combs Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence Steven Jordan McCary W. Morris Stockman N. Morris Gregory Johnson Larry Blackmon	Combs Lawrence Stevie J	4:30
8.	"Baby C'mon"	Keith Crouch McCary W. Morris Stockman N. Morris	Crouch	4:36
9.	"Come On"	Combs Jeffrey Walker McCary W. Morris Stockman N. Morris Chad Elliott George Pearson Gordon Sumner	Combs J-Dub Boyz II Men	5:01
10.	"All Night Long"	John "Jubu" Smith Crouch McCary W. Morris Stockman N. Morris	Crouch	5:15
11.	"Human II (Don't Turn Your Back on Me)"	Harris Lewis McCary W. Morris Stockman N. Morris	Jam and Lewis	4:43
12.	"To the Limit"	Walker McCary W. Morris Stockman N. Morris Combs Jordan Bobby Caldwell Alfons Kettner	Combs J-Dub Stevie J Boyz II Men	5:02
13.	"Dear God"	Durrel Bottoms Jamar Jones McCary W. Morris Stockman Todd Huston Vivian S. Green Richard Smallwood	Boyz II Men Bottoms Jones[a]	4:58

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Just Hold On"	Edmonds	Babyface	4:49
15.	"I Can Love You"	McCary W. Morris Stockman N. Morris	Boyz II Men	4:56

French edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Can't Let Her Go (Original Mix) (Featuring Driver)"	Sean Combs Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence Steven Jordan McCary W. Morris Stockman N. Morris Gregory Johnson Larry Blackmon	Combs Lawrence Stevie J	4:15

Spanish version

1. "4 Estaciones De Soledad (4 Seasons of Loneliness)"
2. "A Mi Me Va Bien (Doin' Just Fine)"
3. "Te Doy Mi Amor (I Can Love You)"
4. "La Chica De La Revista (Girl in the Life Magazine)"
5. "Una Canción Para Mamá (A Song for Mama)"
6. "Yo Te Voy a Amar (I'll Make Love to You)"
7. "No Dejemos Que Muera el Amor (Water Runs Dry)"
8. "Me Rindo Ante Ti (On Bended Knee)"
9. "Yesterday (Spanish Version)"
10. "Al Final Del Camino (End of the Road)"

Notes

• ^{^[a]} denotes co-producer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1997) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 6 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[8] 45 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[9] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10] 7 European Albums Chart[11] 18 French Albums (SNEP)[12] 7 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 8 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14] 8 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] 6 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 25 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 20 UK Albums (OCC)[18] 12 UK R&B Albums (OCC)[19] 2 US Billboard 200[20] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[21] 1 Zimbabwe Albums (ZIMA)[22] 10

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 91 US Billboard 200[24] 68 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[25] 45 Chart (1998) Position US Billboard 200[26] 66 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[27] 53 Singles Year Song[28] Hot R&B Singles U.S. Hot 100 1997 "4 Seasons of Loneliness" 2 1 "A Song for Mama" 1 7

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[29]	Gold	35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[30]	2× Platinum	200,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[31]	Platinum	20,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[32]	2× Platinum	400,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[33]	Silver	60,000*
United States (RIAA)[34]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1997 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1997 (U.S.)

References

1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r315633
2. Helligar, Jeremy (September 26, 1997). "Evolution Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 13, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
3. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Boyz II Men". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
4. Hardy, Ernest (October 10, 1997). "Boyz II Men: Evolution : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
5. Lannert, John (April 18, 1998). "Latino Artists Honored With Billboard Awards". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 16. p. 77. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
6. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. September 6, 1997. p. 53.
7. "Australiancharts.com – Boyz II Men – Evolution". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
8. "Ultratop.be – Boyz II Men – Evolution" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
9. "Boyz II Men Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Boyz II Men – Evolution" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
11. "Hits of the World - Eurochart". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 25 October 1997. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
12. "Lescharts.com – Boyz II Men – Evolution". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Boyz II Men – Evolution" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
14. ボーイズ・II・メンのCDアルバムランキング │オリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE
15. "Charts.nz – Boyz II Men – Evolution". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
16. "Swedishcharts.com – Boyz II Men – Evolution". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
17. "Swisscharts.com – Boyz II Men – Evolution". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
18. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
19. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
20. "Boyz II Men Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
21. "Boyz II Men Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
22. • Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: albums chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
23. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 1997". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
24. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1997". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
25. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1997". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
26. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1998". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
27. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1998". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
28. "Artist Single Chart History - Boyz II Men". Billboard.com. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
29. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
30. "Canadian album certifications – Boyz II Men – Evolution". Music Canada. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
31. "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1997". IFPI Hong Kong.
32. "Japanese album certifications – ボーイズIIメン – エヴォリューション" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved July 15, 2012. Select 1998年1月 on the drop-down menu
33. "British album certifications – Boyz II Men – Evolution". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
34. "American album certifications – Boyz II Men – Evolution". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 15, 2012.

External links

• "Can't Let Her Go" Music Video on YouTube / VEVO official channel
• "Doin' Just Fine" Music Video on YouTube / VEVO official channel
• Evolution at Discogs (list of releases)