In Brief

* * * Jodeci, “Diary of a Mad Band,” Jodeci, MCA/Uptown. You’ve heard it all before: the racy bedroom chatter, the anguished pleas to a turned-off mate, the giddy declarations of everlasting love. But not quite like this. On its second album, this vocal quartet energizes the tired R&B; formulas with soulful harmonizing and some of the nastiest slow grooves you’ll ever hear. A big improvement over their excessively dramatic, cliche-ridden first album.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).