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This time, she's teamed up with producers who have worked with Houston, Carey, Toni Braxton and Anita Baker, and even produces a few of her own songs. The main problem, however, seems to be an over-abundance of weak material, in this case bland love songs that don't show off what she's capable of vocally.

An uneven effort that you'll remember more for its strengths than its weaknesses.

Aerosmith's 12th studio album takes a major step back into the band's not-so-pretty past with uber-hair-producer Kevin Shirley (Journey, Silverchair) at the controls.

This 13-song collection, recorded on Sept. 26 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York with Madonna's longtime producer Patrick Leonard, shows off Adams' indisputable strength as a live performer.

The material is that now predictable mix of pop and R&B; with the emphasis on ballads written by hitmaking producers and songwriters whose credits include 'N Sync, Boyzone, Monica and Brandy.

This 12-song collection is more of the same muscular jock rock, lewd lyrics and power-chord playing propelled by lead singer Brian Johnson's throat-bleeding vocals and Angus' anthemic guitar riffs.

The blonde pixie with the big voice tackles both dance songs and more traditional fare, making for mixed results on her first Christmas album.

The joyful "When You're Falling" is a good indicator of the mostly upbeat vibe present throughout this 12-track collection.