The Albums of Winter : **** Great Balls of Fire *** Good Vibrations ** Maybe Baby * Running on Empty

ALEXANDER O’NEAL “All Mixed Up.” Tabu

** 1/2

In the last few years, O’Neal has built a solid reputation as an R&B;/pop singer of considerable style and stature. It isn’t every day that someone comes along with the rugged soul sensibilities of an ‘80s-era Otis Redding and the kind of go-for-broke manliness that has lately threatened to become passe. Other R&B;/pop male singers currently dominating the air waves, such as Luther Vandross, Keith Sweat and Freddie Jackson, all have their strong points, but only O’Neal really fills the vocal he-man void.

Though he has several black chart-toppers to his credit, it’s still a bit early in his career for this Minneapolis-based belter to be hawking a “greatest hits” album, and that’s what this album amounts to. But if you loved very recent dance-floor gems of O’Neal’s such as the female-baiting “Fake,” or “Criticize,” then the steel-belted, extended remixes assembled here should prove satisfying.

Actually, there are two slightly different remixes of those aforementioned tracks featured, along with two reworked versions of “(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me,” all of which adds up to some painfully obvious album padding. Too much of a good thing can be just a convenient means of taking the easy way out. Call it nitpicking if you will, but some new material from O’Neal at this point would be the most sensible move.