In addition to employing the famed production team of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis to help steer their music into a new direction, they also recruited Washington, D.C.–based baritone/tenor Johnny Gill—who, in 1984, had scored a hit with R&B singer Stacy Lattisaw on "Perfect Combination".

Tresvant, however, wasn’t ready to leave – resulting in New Edition, inadvertently, becoming a quintet again as they began production on their fifth album, Heart Break.

[4] While most of Heart Break features principal vocals by Tresvant, with occasional solos by Ricky Bell, Gill’s voice is significantly displayed as the secondary lead throughout the album.

[5] Another standout album track was "Competition", a song written by Tresvant that addresses the disappointment felt over the departure of Bobby Brown two years earlier.

[6] In an ironic twist, Jam & Lewis—the writers and producers behind the song – would also work with New Kids on the Block's lead singer Jordan Knight on his 1999 self-titled debut a little over a decade later.

[7] AllMusic editor Craig Lytle called Heart Break an "outstanding album overall" and found that it displayed "New Edition's growth and maturity due in part to the production work of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and the addition of group newcomer Johnny Gill.

"[8] Similarly, Washington Post critic Joe Brown noted that "New Edition has grown up visibly and audibly, and it doesn't hurt that they've taken on D.C.'s own Johnny Gill as frontman.

The lyrics on Heart Break exemplify the changes—as usual, Jam-Terry Lewis spent some time hanging out with the group, then tailored the tunes with an autobiographical slant.