MONDAY, MAY 3, 1999

Naughty By Nature's new CD not so nice

By Wes Woods

On-Line Forty-Niner

Sometimes it is best to stick with a signature sound.

Naughty By Nature's fourth album, "Nineteen Naughty Nine Nature's Fury," has what seems to be a winning combination. Slick productions go from Southern-styled bounce beats to smooth rhythm and blues-flavored tracks, and there are a few harder-edged, drum- driven instrumentals.

Guests range from Mystikal and Krayzie Bone to Big Punisher and R and B crooners Next.

But it is not Naughty By Nature.

From 1991's self-titled debut featuring the classics "O.P.P." and "Everything's Gonna Be Alright," to 1993's "Nineteen Naughty Three" - featuring "Hip Hop Hooray" - and 1995's "Poverty's Paradise" with "Feel Me Flow," Treach, Vinnie and Kay-Gee have always managed to provide singles and album tracks that feature melodic keyboards and sing-along choruses. But on the trio's latest offering, the group sadly attempts to try and fit in with a 1999 hip-hop audience. The first listed single, "Live Or Die," featuring No Limit soldiers Master P, Silkk The Shocker and Mystikal, sadly sounds like a poorly conceived wild western song gone awry. The slow beat is not bad, but Vinnie and Treach struggle to find an adequate tempo on the unfamiliar track.

The two run into the same problem on most of the disc.

"Wicked Bounce" features the No Limit Records sinister, synthesizer-driven Southern sound and "Dirt All By My Lonely," has a twinkling keyboard melody featuring sampling from the group's 1992 classic "Uptown Anthem."

However, in both songs, the group is unsure of how to deliver its lyrics, varying between a rushed, speed-of-light flow or a much-too-slow-for-the-beat rap.

One song, "Holiday," featuring Phiness, spotlights the Naughty By Nature lush keyboard that slowly yet smoothly snakes along for four minutes and a singing hook that is impossible to forget.

Both Vinnie and Treach spin their signature-sounding lyrics on the song, seemingly reintroducing themselves to the world.

Unfortunately, the effort stands as the album's only Naughty By Nature track.

And while danceable efforts such as "We Could Do It" (with Big Punisher) and "Jamboree" (featuring Zhane) are memorable - as is the guitar and scratch driven "Radio" (with Rustic Overtones) - they do not surpass the group's classic material.

Even Treach's ode to everyone who has stood behind him, "Would've Done The Same For Me," finds the veteran lyricist slightly varying his sound (adding echoes to his vocals like Tupac in parts) on the laid-back funk track to mixed results.