* * * * <i> Great Balls of Fire</i> * * * <i> Good Vibrations</i> * * <i> Maybe Baby</i> * <i> Running on Empty : </i> : DIAPER RASH

* * “BANGIN’.” The Outfield. Columbia. It’s appropriate that the Outfield’s second album cover features the diapered lower torso of a toddler. This English trio is the ‘80s successor to the Babys: nice, clean Anglo popsters with plenty of teeth in their smiles but none in their music. They’ve added a measure of ponderous REO/Journey gloss to their Police-meets-McCartney sound for a package that’s--as a song title puts it--”Better Than Nothing,” but just barely. The album’s nadir is its opening song, “Somewhere in America,” a lame bit of sociology that shouldn’t even be allowed to exist in the same universe as Los Lobos’ infinitely better “One Night in America.” The strong rocker “Main Attraction” and the pseudo-Beatlish “Better Than Nothing” (which actually includes the line “I want to hold more than your hand”!) make for decent toe-tapping. Still, it’s only ear candy--chew on it for a couple minutes and it’s gone.