CD reviews: Elliott Yamin; Chrisette Michelle

Elliott Yamin, "Fight for Love" (Sony/Hickory)

In 2006, Yamin finished third on "American Idol" during the show's fifth (and highest-rated) season. His soulful voice is "Idol"-worthy, although there's not much soul to "Fight for Love," a mercenary-feeling product that's unabashedly commercial after his self-titled 2007 indie release.

The new CD is a superficial success -- well-produced, mostly contemporary-R&B-minded, flush with infectious hooks. And Yamin's vocals are distinct and strong, enriching the bumping vibe of "Let Love Be" and hitching a ride on the dance groove of "Don't Be Afraid." He hits his stride with rare excursions into timelessness, including on the natural-sounding hot soul of "Cold Heart."

Beyond the formulaic songs, the biggest problem with "Fight for Love" is Yamin's unvaried delivery. He has the voice of a great singer, yet he doesn't project enough charisma or alter his tone to convey shifting emotions. Listeners must rely on the lyrics to understand his alleged mood, and that creates another problem because the words are often inarticulate, little more than accessible clichés thrown together with no bigger meaning.

CHUCK CAMPBELL, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

Chrisette Michele, "Epiphany" (Def Jam)

Michele's old-timey 2007 debut, "I Am," should have thrived. Yet unlike Amy Winehouse, who was repurposing and updating 1960s soul music, Michele was rehashing it. Her capable, often outsized jazz phrasings were distracting, like showing off fluency on an abacus.

Yet here he has gone astray or become lazy. "Epiphany" is unusually labored. Ne-Yo's primary gift is creating lightness and space, but on the songs he helped write, such as "Epiphany (I'm Leaving)" and "What You Do," Michele yanks the words out of their natural rhythms and, in so doing, undermines them.

Most of the songs last around four minutes but feel far longer. The torpor lifts, briefly, toward the album's end during "Mr. Right," when Michele reins in her vocals in deference to the crisp arrangement, an agglomeration of multitracked backing vocals, nervous piano and blowsy, comedic horns. In essence it's a song in the Winehouse vein.