II is the third studio album by American R&B quartet Boyz II Men, released on August 30, 1994, on Motown Records. It contained the No. 1 singles "I'll Make Love to You" and "On Bended Knee", the latter of which replaced the former at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, making the group the third artist to replace themselves at No. 1 in the United States after Elvis Presley and The Beatles and the first to achieve the feat in 30 years.
"I'll Make Love to You" also spent 14 weeks at the top of the Hot 100 making them the first artist to achieve consecutive double digit runs at the top, with their prior single "End of the Road" topping the charts for 13 weeks and also equaled the record set by Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" for the longest run at the top, a record which they held previously with "End of the Road". Other singles released achieved major success, including "Water Runs Dry", which reached No. 2, and "Thank You", which reached No. 21. "Vibin", however, only reached No. 52.
| rev2 = Robert Christgau
| rev2score =
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score = A
| rev4 = Rolling Stone
| rev4score = (favorable)
| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev5score =
| rev6 = Select
| rev6score =
The album debuted at No. 1 in the Billboard 200 with 350,000 copies sold. It spent a total of five weeks at No. 1 and was the third best-selling album in 1995 in the United States and sold 12 million copies in the United States.
It did not make a huge impact in the United Kingdom, where it only made No. 17 on the UK Albums Chart. A Spanish language version, II: Yo Te Voy a Amar, was also issued. The album also won Best R&B Album at the 37th Grammy Awards. The album was ranked #495 on the September 22, 2020 edition of Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Track listing
Notes
- "Thank You" contains a sample from "La-Di-Da-Di", performed by Doug E. Fresh, and written by Richard Walters and Douglas Davis.
- "All Around the World" contains samples from "Kid Capri" by Daddy-O.
- "U Know" contains a sample from "Don't Change Your Love", performed by The Five Stairsteps.
- "Jezzebel" contains a sample of "Hootie Mack" by Bell Biv Devoe.
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Weekly chart performance for II
! scope="col"| Chart (1994–95)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (RPM)
| 3
|-
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)
| 16
|-
! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| 1
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 9
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)
| 13
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Zimbabwe Albums (ZIMA)
| 3
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+1994 year-end chart performance for II
! scope="col"| Chart (1994)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 14
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 98
|-
!scope="row"|French Albums (SNEP)
| 27
|-
! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 40
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 22
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)
| 10
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+1995 year-end chart performance for II
! scope="col"| Chart (1995)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
|-
!scope="row"|European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)
| 73
|-
!scope="row"|French Albums (SNEP)
| 15
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 3
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)
| 4
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Decade-end chart performance for II
!Chart (1990–1999)
!Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 13
|}
Certifications
Release history
{|class="wikitable"
|+Release dates for II
! Region
! Date
! Label
! Format
|-
| United States
| August 30, 1994
| rowspan="2"| Motown
| rowspan="2"| Cassette, CD
|-
| United Kingdom
| September 12, 1994
|}
See also
- List of best-selling albums in the United States
- List of number-one albums of 1994 (U.S.)
- List of number-one albums of 1995 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1994 (U.S.)