RECORD REVIEWS

‘I Dreamed a Dream’

Susan Boyle (Columbia)

Grade: C

If the record companies could dream a dream, it would look a lot like Boyle: a singer with a moving backstory (ugly duckling plucked from obscurity) and a classic style that appeal to a boomer audience, the only people still buying CDs.

But who is this Scottish sensation? She’s certainly not a pop singer. Her solemn version of the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer” and her theatrical take on the old Skeeter Davis hit, “The End of the World,” sound surreal, almost parodic.

You’d think with her formal, almost operatic style, Boyle would shine brightly on devotional offerings like “How Great Thou Art” and “Amazing Grace.” But on both, she sounds oddly mechanical, like a whalebone Julie Andrews.

For some reason, Boyle seems to enjoy an emotional bond with her fans. But thus far, she hasn’t learned to make a similar connection with her material.

— David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Untitled’

R. Kelly (Jive)

Grade: B

No one writes pop songs about sex better than R. Kelly. Maybe practice really does make perfect.

Like most of his albums, nearly all of Kells’ latest “Untitled” (Jive) is about sex, either having it or pursuing it, though he does try to mix things up so we don’t get bored.

Truth be told, when Kelly is at his best, as he is on the irresistible, corrupting-influence pop of “Ignition” and “I’m a Flirt,” he’s basically unstoppable. The soon-to-be-smash “Number One” with Keri Hilson falls into that category, using songwriting as his latest metaphor, even spelling it out, this time, singing, “Having sex with you is like making hits ... I’m in your mix like a No. 1 record.” The pretty, yodel-infused “Echo” is almost just as unshakable, the kind of ballad Celine Dion might sing if she had a dirty mind.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

‘Just Like You’

Allison Iraheta (19 Recordings/Jive)

Grade: B+

Let the hate mail begin. We’ve never been a fan of “American Idol” — entertaining “reality” TV was that short-lived Britney/K-Fed series. That said, we won’t hold Allison Iraheta’s “Idol” affiliation (fourth place in season 8) against her or her debut, “Just Like You.” The 17-year-old graciously growls her way through 13 tracks, including the arena-ready “Pieces,” a rollicking, Gary Glitter-sampling “Robot Love” and Pink-ish “Holiday.” There are also a couple of ballads thrown in for good measure — “Scars” is a standout — and, through it all, Iraheta’s voice is the star. She may sing “D Is for Dangerous,” but this one earns a B-plus.

— Kevin Amorim, Long Island Newsday

‘Love’

Boyz II Men (Decca)

Grade: D

Like “Glee” only warmer and less vanilla, Boyz II Men, Philly’s cherished R&B hitmakers, have spent several seasons covering R&B classics in 2004’s “Throwback” and 2007’s “Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville U.S.A.” The trio (Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman), which began in 1988, is now missing a bass voice (Michael McCary), but the musky songs and pliable rhythms that filled those outings made up for BIIM’s missing bottom.

Not this time. With producer/“American Idol”-er Randy Jackson at the wheel, the local vocal trio steer into lame pop with songs decent (The Beatles’ “In My Life”), bombastic (“Open Arms” by Journey, a band in which Jackson spent time), and dull (Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now”).

While the trio’s dynamics on the heartbroken soul/C&W hit “Misty Blue” are lush and dreamy, it’s unimaginable they’d be unimaginative enough to redo the overrated, overcooked “Time After Time” or the Goo Goo Dolls’ limp “Iris,” into neither of which do they breathe life. Blame producer Jackson. Surely, having his senses bludgeoned by countless pitiful vocalists repeating pop’s worst for mass consumption and competition have bled his soul dry and left his ears deaf to what those who can sing, should.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer