‘UNITED,’ UNEVEN

“UNITED.” Commodores. Polydor. Since Lionel Richie left the Commodores, the group’s music has been plagued by unevenness. For instance, the title track of last year’s “Nightshift” LP was a smash single and Grammy winner, but the tune was largely surrounded by filler. On “United,” it’s uncertain whether they have the killer song, but they definitely have the filler. Part of the problem may be too many cooks: “United” is the product of several songwriting and production teams--most of which don’t include members of the Commodores. The first single, “Goin’ to the Bank,’ is a slice of synth-funk highly reminiscent of a Prince project, right down to the conversational passage. Elsewhere, there are more conventional dance tracks and dreamy ballads. But it never moves beyond an assembly-line pastiche because there’s no single voice imparting a sense of cohesiveness or identity to the material.