There are certain verities in life that one can count on; the chilly winds of winter, the sizzling sun of summer, and the soothing sounds of Boyz II Men. These guys pretty much wrote the book on smooth, harmony-based soul in the post-Philly International era. For better or worse, they created the template a thousand boy bands, both black and white, would follow to overstuffed bank accounts. FULL CIRCLE finds the Boyz (who by 2002 were fully fledged men) playing to their strengths. There are no attempts here to play catch-up with any of the R&B stars that came on the scene since the Boyz first made their big splash. Though Faith Evans and Rob Jackson make guest appearances, and there is the occasional dollop of hip-hop flavor added to the arrangements, the overall approach here is quite rightly one of slow, romantic ballads full of elegant, melodic hooks and lushly harmonized vocals. Those who've been following Boyz II Men from the start won't be put off by what they find here, and those just arriving to the party will doubtless be intrigued as well; perhaps that's what they mean by FULL CIRCLE.