Boyz II Men Cut Right to the Heart

Boy Power.

That’s what electrified the mostly teenage, mostly female, crowd at Boyz II Men’s show at the Great Western Forum on Sunday, and it’s also what’s made the Philadelphia quartet the biggest-selling R&B; vocal group of the decade.

What is boy power? For Boyz II Men, it primarily involves projecting an image that’s chaste and nonthreatening while providing, by means of their lush yet polite balladry, romantic and sexual wish fulfillment for millions of impressionable girls.

Which doesn’t mean Boyz II Men have merely catered to the teen set for the past eight years--you don’t score three of the biggest hits of the modern pop era through niche marketing. But that’s who showed up at the Forum, and judging by the gasps and ear-shattering squeals sprinkled throughout the two-hour performance, they didn’t walk away disappointed.

And there’s a good reason why. Boyz II Men’s stage show is nothing if not an act of mass seduction. First came the big come-on, as Wanya Morris, Michael McCary, Shawn Stockman and Nathan Morris hit the stage in a hail of fireworks to sing a few up-tempo numbers. A battery of dancers gyrated awkwardly as the group warmed up the crowd with some feel-good funk, including its first big hit, 1991’s “Motownphilly.”

But that was merely foreplay. This quartet is all about silky, smoldering balladry, and the heart of the set was devoted to its signature hits in that vein.

Boyz II Men are contemporary masters of buttoned-down soul--the streamlined melodies in songs such as “On Bended Knee,” “Water Runs Dry” and “End of the Road” were safely held in check to allow the singers to perform their melismatic flights of fancy. All four members are prodigious technicians, and no line was delivered without being broken down into countless vocal inflections.

Fortunately, maturity has reined in the group’s over-the-top tendencies somewhat. Whereas in the past the quartet has used its material as a vehicle to flex its singing muscle, for the most part the opposite proved to be true Sunday. They were practically models of restraint during the show’s “unplugged” section, where, accompanied by pianist James Hawkins, they paid homage to their ‘80s forebears New Edition with a tender version of “Can You Stand the Rain?”

But for all the progress Boyz II Men have made in harnessing their outsized vocal talent, practically all the material from their latest album, “Evolution,” seemed curiously myopic and shopworn. Amazingly, the Boyz haven’t permitted any other current musical strains to seep into their new songs, which only made the current material sound like a redundant echo of the old.

Too much energy was expended on hackneyed theatrical flash as well--eight dancers is just plain overkill, as are drum risers, hydraulic lifts and blue leather jodhpurs. At this stage in their career, Boyz II Men should worry less about Vegas shtick and more about finding material that will allow them to move forward creatively.

* Boyz II Men play tonight at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m. $20-$45. (714) 855-4515.