#218 TLC, 'CrazySexyCool' (1994)

Previously #379

TLC’s second album was a breakthrough; commercially and creatively. It was an album that rose to such heights that it cemented TLC as the best-selling American Girl Group of all time. It was a major shift in sound from their debut, amongst other things, owing to Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes’s dimished role on the recording due to forced stay in a rehab facility due to alcoholism and an arson charge (she had set fire to her boyfriend’s shoes, which spread to their mansion destroying it). Once again, the album was produced by Dallas Austin, Babyface and Jermaine Dupri, with contributions from Sean “Puffy” Combs (aka P Diddy/Puff Daddy), who steered the record towards a Hip Hop Soul sound.

The album opens with the #1 single, ‘Creep,’ going into ‘Kick Your Game,’ a Left Eye song. ‘Diggin’ On You,’ one of my favourite tracks on the record reminds me so much of late-career Michael Jackson. That would definitely be the Babyface influence. The centrepiece of the record is ‘Waterfalls,’ one of the biggest songs of the ‘90s, an enduring song that is such a part of popular culture, it feels as if it’s always been around. The album was nominated for 6 Grammys and won two. It has sold a staggering 14 million copies worldwide. Following a tumultuous life, Left Eye would die in a car accident 8 years after the release of this record. T-Boz and Chilli have continued on as a duo. This album is highly enjoyable, incredibly influential and a certified classic.

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