POP MUSIC REVIEW : New Edition Bill Turns Into Sure! Shot

It promised to be quite a showdown Sunday night at the Forum: New Edition, the veteran R&B; teen quintet, playing on the same bill with its former lead singer and red-hot solo artist Bobby Brown.

But who would have thought that the real star of the show would be Al B. Sure!, who was sandwiched between the two other, higher-profile acts?

Sure!, who reached the Top 10 last summer with the silky ballad “Nite and Day,” was by far the most musically sophisticated of the three acts. In fact, he seemed out of place on a bill with New Edition, which is attempting to move from its teen base to credibility as a mainstream attraction.

New Edition’s first hits five years ago were light, fluffy songs in the vein of such early Jackson 5 records as “ABC.” The Boston-based group is now trying to progress--as the Jacksons did--to a more adult approach. A giant step in that direction came with its funky new album, “Heart Break,” which was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who shaped Janet Jackson’s first “adult” album, “Control.”

But the group took several steps back at the Forum, relying on lightweight oldies like “Cool It Now” and teen-oriented devices like cute matching costumes and banal, obviously scripted patter. The group can’t realistically be expected to make an overnight break with its past, but the success of the new album should have given it confidence to move a lot more aggressively than it did.

This was New Edition’s first Southern California show in two years, since Johnny Gill replaced Brown in the lineup. Gill, who at 22 is the group’s oldest member, has a hard-edged voice that brought a touch of grit to a super-slick show.

But the group has a long way to go if it is to make the transition to adult stardom. Remember: After five years in the spotlight, the Jackson 5 had advanced to galvanizing, completely contemporary hits like “Dancing Machine.” The latest New Edition smash, “If It Isn’t Love,” is an engaging cream puff ballad, but it’s still basically teen-crush fodder.

Sure!, whose “In Effect Mode” album has sold more than 1 million copies, has one of the sweetest falsettos in pop since Philip Bailey. His “Nite and Day,” a graceful mid-tempo ballad in the tradition of Earth, Wind & Fire, is one of the classiest hits of the year.

But Sure! isn’t just a balladeer: Touches of funk, rap and rock make his sound tougher and more contemporary. It’s the combination of these disparate elements that makes him so compelling. His remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (his current single) is both smooth and funky, and a valuable new take on a pop classic.

The 19-year-old Boston native is a witty, lighthearted performer, whose mix of intelligence and playfulness recalls shows by Prince and Morris Day. He’s a Sure! thing.

Because the order of acts on the bill was decided months ago, Brown--who among the three has sold by far the most records this year--opened the show. His sweaty, aggressively sexual performance quashed the teeny-bopper image he had in New Edition, and established him as a bold, macho performer in the tradition of Marvin Gaye.

Brown--also 19--performed most of the songs from his “Don’t Be Cruel” album, which has spent the last two months in the Top 10. The highlight was his new single “My Prerogative,” the sassiest declaration of independence in pop since Janet Jackson’s “Control” and one of the best funk records since Cameo’s “Word Up.”

The show repeats Wednesday and Thursday at the Forum.