In Brief

*** Brian McKnight, “Brian McKnight,” Mercury. The sophisticated sheen of this album is that much more remarkable when you consider that McKnight--younger brother of Take 6’s Claude McKnight--is just 22. He can pull out the musical stops on “Is the Feeling Gone,” then simply sing with bare piano accompaniment on “Never Felt This Way” and succeed on the less-is-more level. One of the best new talents to come along in ’92. Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).