Icon Love Songs (CD)

It's not as if Icon: Love Songs is necessary to distinguish itself from McKnight's abundant socio-political, novelty, and hate-spewing material, but the disc does avoid the uptempo singles, emphasizing the singer's romantic ballads. It's a decent, if stylistically focused, sampler of McKnight's catalog through his Mercury and Motown years, touching upon his 1992 debut through 2005's Gemini. Not all of his Top 20 R&B singles are here, but it does contain the likes of "One Last Cry," "Crazy Love," "Anytime," "The Only One for Me," and "Back at One." His cover of "Distant Lover," taken from the Marvin Is 60 tribute album, is a smart inclusion. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi